Saw some packaged tofu that was already pressed and marinated, and was pretty good!
I've always wanted to have good tofu at home, but I could never get it as good as like a restaurant, (maybe I should have invested in a tofu press by now). What do you like on your tofu, any recommended marinades?
This is a pretty good recipe. I'm also a fan of szechuan tofu and peppers. Chinese Cooking Demystified is a good start for a lot of tofu recipes.
The usefulness of a tofu press is to squeeze it like a sponge, getting water out so that there's air pockets. IMO this is only useful for marinades/sauces so I almost never do it. Also two cutting boards + a book = a tofu press.
I recommend making Chinese and Japanese recipes. Yu Xiang tofu or black pepper tofu are both very good. To get crispy tofu, coat in rice flour (my favorite if there's no sauce) or starch (best with sauce, it's very hard and crunchy) and fry in high/medium heat, not attempting to flip until it will release naturally.
Also blackened tofu that was marinated in soy sauce is very good.
Ahh I've used like cans and stuff to try to get the water out but I always felt like it wasn't enough, it wasn't till I saw the presqueezed version that I guess it can be pressed more
It browned up when I've never got it to do that before
Presqueezed is usually a little different because it was pressed more while it was still forming structure. So there presqueezed stuff is simply more dense. Different amounts of initial pressing is actually the primary difference between silken, soft, firm, etc tofus.
When you press at home those structures are already well-established so you get the sponge effect.
Difficulties with browning/crisping tofu are probably due to frying at too low of a temperature, using too little oil, and/or not waiting for it to release on its own given how much water the tofu gives off and must be boiled off. These are all adjustable factors for your own taste (higher temp, more oil, more time all contribute to crust formation) and they can be balanced so as not get watery tofu that leaves a ton of scraps on the pan and never develops a crust. Crisping only happens when boiling has stopped, so either the water has evaporated enough or you've used so much oil that frying is the dominant cooking. So, for example, you can deep fry tofu very quickly but have to wait for some water to release and evaporate when shallow frying.
For example, I've made very good crispy fried tofu with unpressed silken tofu; just had to wait a little longer for some moisture to fry off and for the crust to release. I added it to some fried rice and it was actually perfect for it.
:vegan-tofu:
How do you store the extra properly? Usually just cook for myself so I often feel like a whole block is a lot to go thru quickly.
I really like tofu so I'll usually eat a whole block if it's just me lol. It's like 45 g of protein for only 450 calories and I probably need it.
But when I get a super big slab and want to save some of it (raw) I put it in a tupperware and usually cook with it the next day. If it's going to be longer I will put brine or water in the Tupperware. Raw tofu gets gross when it dries out, basically.
thank you, I figured it would be edible raw but never had anyone to ask if it was ok to do lol
Oh yes, many tofu dishes are raw or lightly steamed, particularly those with silken tofu. Tofu is curds of soy milk so it's already been cooked once.
I marinate mine in tamari, mirin, liquid aminos, gochujang, granulated garlic, and onion powder. I cut the block into 1/2-3/4"slices and leave it in for at least 24 hours. I've found that roasting it for an hour and a half or so and then cooling it down again in the fridge before using it leaves it with a denser toothier kind of texture.
