Recipe: Cooking Tofu

/

Cooking tofu has always eluded me. To be honest, I used to be quite intimidated by it.  The last thing I wanted to end up with was a squishy, bland, mess that tasted like wet paper.  More importantly, recently there has been a big debate within the health/wellness community as to whether soy (what tofu is made of) is good for you. What many agree on is that the concern around soy is for those people who eat it A LOT (soy/tofu scramble for breakfast instead of an egg scramble, soy burger for lunch, tofu for dinner…and doing this multiple days a week).  As many of you know, I’m all about balance. I’m not planning on becoming a vegetarian and solely relying on my protein intake from tofu.  I see myself enjoying this yummy recipe once every so often, especially when I have cravings for “made-at-home” Chinese food J As you know, nothing in extremes is good. 

So here is how I cooked tofu in order to make a delicious recipe a few weekends ago weekend:

  1. I chose “firm” tofu.  You can choose from different types of tofu, from silken, to soft, to medium, to firm, to extra-firm, to super-firm.  The times I’ve had tofu, I’ve always liked for it to have some “bite” to it..never liked the mushy, slimy type.  Thus for this recipe, I saw my options as “firm” and above…going with “firm” was a happy medium
  2. I pressed the water out of my tofu. I took my tofu block and placed it in between a folded kitchen towel.  I then took a couple of plates and placed them on top of my tofu (make sure you don’t place too much weight on your tofu block or it will crumble).  I let all of the water drain as I cut up my vegetables. It took me over an hour to cut my vegetables up, and that’s how long it takes to press the water out of a tofu block (if not longer).
  3. I cut up my tofu into 1-inch cubes.  I made sure they were as equal in size as possible, so that there would be even cooking.
  4. I dusted my tofu cubes with a type of flour.  This time I used cornstarch, but you can probably use whatever you like best and which you believe is healthiest for you. 
  5. I used a wok to fry the cubes. I LOVE my wok.  Yes, maybe I don’t use it every single day, but on those days that I do use it, I am SO HAPPY I have one in my kitchen.  Plus, you can find them in all price ranges.  From the more affordable for less than $20, to the elite pricey ones
  6. I got my wok hot enough before pouring in my oil.  I got my oil hot enough before getting my tofu in.  Check out the video on how to tell if your pan is hot enough. 
  7. I cooked about 10 cubes at a time inside the work.  If you put too many tofu cubes in, they will steam together versus searing and getting nice and crispy.  It might take longer, but you don’t want to pour too many cubes in the work…Patience is a virtue.
  8. As I took my batches out, I placed them on top of paper towels to drain the oil.  Make sure you do this, you don’t want to pile them up and have an oily, wet mess. 

And, listo!  I was done! They were so yummy and crisp that I kept on eating them as I was making them (!)  In my next post, I’ll share a yummy sauce you can serve it with (I’m still perfecting the recipe) along with a ton of chopped up vegetables. 

I truly hope you enjoy this recipe.  I would absolutely love to hear from you, so please leave a comment below and let me know what you think.  If you enjoyed this post, share it with your friends and family!

Lots of love

Judith