I grew up eating meat as the centerpiece for most meals with my family. Around 15, I started paying a little more attention to animal rights and tried to go vegetarian. I didn’t know how to cook for myself and didn’t even really like vegetables. Cue 10 more years of being on again off again vegetarian to vegan to eating slices of deli turkey directly out of the fridge when I would cave. It was difficult to unlearn a lifestyle that was represented everywhere and I initially relied on the many excellent vegan restaurants in (believe it or not) Salt Lake City for good meals. It really came down to learning how to cook for myself and make real balanced meals that satisfied me and the people I cook for. I’ve been a full time vegetarian for 4 years now and it all started because I finally learned how to use tofu.
The highlights:
- Pressing tofu
- Seasoning tofu
- Cooking tofu
- Pairing tofu with other good shit to make a meal out of it.
- Pressing
First things first, you DON’T need a tofu press. While they might make it easy to control the pressure, I’m rude enough to declare them a scam. If you’re not familiar, a tofu press is 2 pieces of (usually) plastic with screws on all 4 corners. The tofu slab goes in the middle, you tighten the screws and leave it to drain. They usually run for $30 – $50. Maybe someday I’ll provide a link to one I recommend. <<
The easiest way to press your tofu is with a dish towel and 5-7 pounds of weight. The dish towel will absorb the extra moisture, leaving you with a protein-packed blank palette ready for any flavors you’re interested in using. [Note: Some people use paper towels and that can be wasteful. You can just lay the dish towels out flat to dry and wash with your next load of towels].
Start with a very clean surface. I use a large bamboo cutting board and a clean, thick dish towel spread out on it. Slice open your tofu container and pour out the water. Use your hands to gently squeeze out water from the tofu until it’s just dripping a little. Tightly wrap your tofu in your dish towel to avoid breaking it and do your best to not have lumps in your wrap so it can be pressed flat. Use another cutting board or a few cookbooks to stack on top of your wrapped tofu. Don’t overdo it on weight so the tofu stays intact. I usually press mine for at least 20 minutes if I’m frying bite-sized chunks for crispiness (see the Popcorn Tofu recipe) and about 10 minutes if I’m just putting it in ramen retains some moisture but so it can absorb some soup broth.
- Seasoning
As Kristen Bell in The Good Place said “Be quiet and eat your white sponge.” She was right! Tofu picks up whatever flavors you marinate it in, just like a sponge. Except it’s a sponge made of protein. After a few years of eating tofu, I love the taste of raw tofu by itself as a snack with a soy sauce, rice vinegar, and chili oil on top. But if you’re just getting into making tofu for yourself, use the seasonings you like to make it taste how you want.
Once you’ve pressed the moisture out of your tofu, you can marinate it in soy sauce or vegan Worcestershire or lemon juice or really whatever you want. Marinating means the tofu will soak up flavor and be juicy, while dry seasoning chunks of pressed tofu for frying means you’ll get a chewy, chicken nugget-y texture that tastes like whatever you coat it in. My favorite way to season is cubing the pressed tofu and shaking the cubes up in dry mix in a lidded tupperware. See my recipe for Popcorn Tofu for ideas!
- Cooking
You can grill it or fry it or bake it. You can sort of treat it like a chicken breast when it comes down to it, but it takes some mastering to get texture right. I’m not a big fan of tofu steak (like a cooked slab of marinated tofu you cut bites out of). I think it’s unsatisfying to cut into and pretend it’s meat. It’s not meat. It’s pressed soybeans. Pan-frying chunks is my favorite way to make tofu. Try different stuff and see what you like.
- Meals
Use it wherever you would use meat in a dish, honestly. Just keep in mind it’s not the centerpiece. I have tried to make tofu steaks and it’s just not our girl.
Tofu is best mixed into a meal. Stir fry, on top of rice, or raw in soup! The only limits are your creativity, so don’t hold back! Tofu is cheap and if you make something you don’t like, you can (most of the time) literally rinse it and try again. Make yourself a meal with a vegetable (broccoli), a carbohydrate (rice or pasta), and a protein (seasoned tofu!) and you have a yummy meal that keeps well in the fridge for a few days.
Check out my recipes for popcorn tofu, honey-lemon glazed tofu, and stir fry for more ideas!
