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  • fox [comrade/them]
    ·
    3 years ago

    Fried rice is a super easy way to do massive bulk food that lasts. I make rice, fridge it, then go buy whatever frozen veggies at the grocery store. Fry the rice, add the veggies. At the same time, I make up a batch of crispy tofu to dump in there.

    Rice expands 3-4 times its volume, so 3 cups of rice is 9-12 cups cooked, and it goes even higher as you add veggies and tofu. 15 cups or more of food at the end for maybe an hour of work all in, and very very cheap while hitting nutrition needs.

      • SolidaritySplodarity [they/them]
        ·
        3 years ago

        I am here to share tofu opinions.

        There's lots of great ways to cook tofu, different techniques that produce great textures.

        For fried rice, you can crush it into pieces using the flat part of a chef's knife (or your hands), then fry at fairly high temperature with about a tbsp of black salt and 1/8 two tumeric. This will create a great protein sourc for "egg" fried rice. You can do the same thing but use other spice (five spice, salt, msg) instead of black salt if you don't like the eggy flavor.

        If you want to simply fry tofu, the key is to have a hot enough pan, use enough oil, and be patient for it to naturally release from the pan. You can make very good tofu by just slicing it like bread into .5x2x3 inch blocks and using this method, flipping once.

        Pressing is not necessary for frying. Pressing is most useful if you are going to use a marinade - it's like squeezing a sponge and then using it to soak up the marinade. Many people will tell you to press in order to fry, but this is because they're using too little oil/too low of heat/not waiting long enough, leading to the tofu sticking.

        You can make blackened tofu by just adding a blackening spice coating to the tofu. Make sure the area is well-ventilated.

        Dry tofu is good thinly sliced, stir-fried with celery.

        You can make tofu super spongey by freezing it slowly, then thawing it.

        You can make tofu have an almost meaty or mushrooms texture by freezing it / thawing it twice

        The special sauce for a fried tofu banh mi is just Maggi sauce.

        Any sauce with sauteed soy sauce is good on tofu. You can add any of these things in different combinations for a good sauce:

        • veggie oyster sauce

        • chili oil

        • doubanjiang

        • sesame oil

        • sesame paste

        • chopped pickled peppers

        • black vinegar

        • a little rice vinegar

        • a peanut sauce

        • anything from lao gan ma

        Tofu can even be good barely cooked. Mapo tofu is great, surprisingly easy. You just end up pre-boiling the tofu for a bit, then simmer in sauce.

      • fox [comrade/them]
        ·
        3 years ago

        Depends on what I've got in my freezer left over from other recipes. It's quite versatile since you can put most anything in. Most recently it was corn, peas, broccoli, and edamame.

        I always hated tofu until I learned to press it to remove moisture. Makes it firmer and more able to take corn starch.

        Anyways, I cut it into small cubes, toss in corn starch, and fry in oil until golden brown. While frying, I put together a marinade/sauce, then add it to the pan to coat and thicken when the tofu is done. I haven't gone much into pre-cook marination since I like to spend time doing other things.

    • TheCaconym [any]
      ·
      edit-2
      3 years ago

      This is basically my go-to as well. I bread the tofu beforehand and add spices, as well as some soy sauce at the end. Fridging the rice seems important after cooking it - it needs to dehydrate somewhat.

      Good vegs to put in there: onions, finely diced carrots, peas.