The only way I've used firm/extra firm tofu is to season it, bake it to render out the water and chop it in salad. If anyone has any suggestions or recipes for an actual meal using tofu, that would be great, thanks.

On May 11, 5:10 am, Artistic Taste Artistic.Taste.
wrote:
The only way I've used firm/extra firm tofu is to season it, bake it to
render out the water and chop it in salad. If anyone has any suggestions
or recipes for an actual meal using tofu, that would be great, thanks.

Long before foodbanter was created I posted this to rec.food.cooking
in 1999. It's quite mild, but tasty.

Mushrooms and Tofu

Preparation.

Soak 10 med. size dried Chinese mushrooms (aka shiitake) in hot
water.
Cut tofu into cubes.
Mix 1/2 TB cornstarch with 1/4 Cup cold water and 1/4 tsp sesame
oil.
Clean and slice two scallions on the diagonal into 1" pieces.
Mix together 1 TB dry sherry, 1 TB soy sauce, 1/4 tsp sugar, 1/4
tsp MSG (recommended, but omit if you're among the 5 percent or
so who are allergic).
When mushrooms are soft, squeeze excess moisture out of them, cut
out stems, slice into 4 pieces.

Cooking.

Heat a heavy pan or skillet, when hot add 1 to 2 TB peanut oil,
cook the mushrooms for 2 minutes. Add 1 Cup of the mushroom
soaking liquid (pour carefully to avoid the sediment in the
bottom), simmer for 2 more minutes. Add the tofu and the
seasoning mixture and the scallions, cover and simmer for 2 more
minutes. Uncover, turn the tofu over if necessary to color the
top side. Now add the cornstarch slurry, stirring all the
while, until sauce thickens to the degree you like. Serve with
plain rice.
-------------------

And in 2002 I posted this. It has pork and considerably more
spiciness if you get the right Chinese condiments.
Cooking for one tonight, don't want anything heavy, let's see what I
have....
Half a package of firm tofu, some ground pork in the freezer, that's
about
it plus the staples. Okay,

Soak 5 med. shiitakes in very hot water till soft, slice.
Get the rice started.
Chop a couple cloves of garlic, slice a couple of scallions.
Thaw 1/4 lb. ground pork in the microwave.
Melt about a cup's worth of frozen chicken stock cubes in the
microwave.
Slice the tofu into bite-sized pieces.
Get the wok hot, stir fry the mushrooms in hot oil flavored with a
slice
of ginger for about two minutes.
Add the pork and half the garlic. Stir fry until all the pink is
gone.
Add a heaping TB of brown bean sauce, stir well, add the chicken
broth,
about a TB of soy sauce, about 2 TB of rice wine, the rest of the
garlic,
about a tsp. of chili bean curd, stir well again, then add the tofu.
Turn
the heat down and let it all simmer until the rice is done. Add the
scallions about a minute before serving.

Very tasty, though I have no name for it.
----------------
In addition to these, google "ma po tofu" for a nice spicy Sichuan
classic dish. -aem

"Artistic Taste" wrote in
message news:[email protected] .com...

The only way I've used firm/extra firm tofu is to season it, bake it to
render out the water and chop it in salad. If anyone has any suggestions
or recipes for an actual meal using tofu, that would be great, thanks.

Freeze it, thaw it, press out the water, marinate it in whatever you want,
then cook it however you like.

Subject

"Good" & "Tofu" are mutually exclusive terms.

Lew

Artistic Taste wrote:

The only way I've used firm/extra firm tofu is to season it, bake it to
render out the water and chop it in salad. If anyone has any suggestions
or recipes for an actual meal using tofu, that would be great, thanks.

http://hilojen.orangellous.com/spam_soup.php

brooklyn1 wrote:
Artistic Taste wrote:
The only way I've used firm/extra firm tofu is to season it, bake it to
render out the water and chop it in salad. If anyone has any suggestions
or recipes for an actual meal using tofu, that would be great, thanks.

http://hilojen.orangellous.com/spam_soup.php

I thought the hot-pink and white things in that picture were radishes.
(I think thickly sliced red radishes would be better in that recipe
than surimi, but they would go in earlier with the other vegetables)

Bob

Stu wrote:

Thai Seared Tofu

This recipe was stolen from Cooking Light magazine,
April 1997 issue.

The complete recipe can be seen he

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/re...pe_id=22 3722

On 5/11/2010 2:10 AM, Artistic Taste wrote:
The only way I've used firm/extra firm tofu is to season it, bake it to
render out the water and chop it in salad. If anyone has any suggestions
or recipes for an actual meal using tofu, that would be great, thanks.


Mapo Tofu or Mabo Tofu is a popular dish here. I like it cause it's
tasty and I can whip up a batch in less than 15 minutes. Serve it over
hot rice.

Brown 1/2 pound ground pork in pan

Add some Black Bean Garlic Sauce - about 1 T.

Add some Chili Garlic Sauce - about 1 T. You can use a little red chili
paste instead.

Salt and pepper.

1 can chicken stock - use more if you like.

Heat through and thicken with cornstarch slurry

Add 1 - 14 oz container Tofu cut into cubes. You can use firm, I use
soft. I cut the cubes into small pieces some people will cut it into
large cubes. Some people will put the soft tofu in the pan and break it
into irregular pieces.

Heat through, garnish with green onion or scallions and serve. This dish
can range from spicy to flaming hot. Use more chili sauce/paste or
Sriracha sauce to your heat level.

Thank you to everyone so far. Much better ideas than I expected. Can't wait to try them all.

"Artistic Taste" wrote

The only way I've used firm/extra firm tofu is to season it, bake it to
render out the water and chop it in salad. If anyone has any suggestions
or recipes for an actual meal using tofu, that would be great, thanks.

There are as many ways as there are cooks. The proper way though to render
the water is to place it on a plate with a towel under then lace another
plate on top. Let that press it down and decant any water that develops.
How long you do this depends on how dry you want the tofu.

cshenk wrote:

There are as many ways as there are cooks. The proper way though to render
the water is to place it on a plate with a towel under then lace another
plate on top. Let that press it down and decant any water that develops.
How long you do this depends on how dry you want the tofu.

This is interesting; I eat tofu all the time and I've never
pressed, frozen, or otherwiserendered the water out of it.

Steve

On Wed, 12 May 2010 06:21:54 +0000 (UTC),
(Steve Pope) wrote:

cshenk wrote:

There are as many ways as there are cooks. The proper way though to render
the water is to place it on a plate with a towel under then lace another
plate on top. Let that press it down and decant any water that develops.
How long you do this depends on how dry you want the tofu.

This is interesting; I eat tofu all the time and I've never
pressed, frozen, or otherwiserendered the water out of it.

Steve

I press mine. I learned this from a variety of sources...including
Deborah Madison.

Christine

Christine Dabney wrote:

On Wed, 12 May 2010 06:21:54 +0000 (UTC),

This is interesting; I eat tofu all the time and I've never
pressed, frozen, or otherwise rendered the water out of it.

I press mine. I learned this from a variety of sources...including
Deborah Madison.

I was vaguely aware that some people do this; it's just not
something I've run across and I don't subjectively feel
that tofu needs less moisture, in the ways I use it.

Tangentially, Mollie Katzen recommends _The Book of Tofu_ by
Shurtleff and Aoyagi.


Steve

In no particular order:

(1) Add diced tofu to any sort of egg dish (scrambled eggs,
omelet, frittata, quiche)

(2) Tofu sandwich. I usually fry a slice of tofu in a
cast-iron pan, applying some soy sauce and black and red pepper,
and use this in a sandwich.

(3) Tofu and salad greens in a sesame/soy sauce/rice vinegar dressing.

(4) Tofu as a minor ingredient in potato salad.

(5) Tofu pizzaiola -- a pan-fried slab of tofu covered with
tomato sauce, and possibly mushrooms.



Steve

Steve Pope wrote:

cshenk wrote:

There are as many ways as there are cooks. The proper way though to render
the water is to place it on a plate with a towel under then lace another
plate on top. Let that press it down and decant any water that develops.
How long you do this depends on how dry you want the tofu.

This is interesting; I eat tofu all the time and I've never
pressed, frozen, or otherwiserendered the water out of it.

Steve

Depends on how it is meant to be used. When we put tofu in soup, no need
to press. But for stir- or deep-frying, less water is better.