Giving tofu another chance

[Deleted]

Frankly, I see no reason for tofu. I am not a vegetarian and I do not have any kind of protein deficiency. And tofu declares itself "tasteless" and therefore perfect for absorbing the flavors around it. Well, I just prefer to eat the things around it then, if that's where the real flavor is coming from.

However, I do not want to write it off completely, as I do give a certain weight to the fact that about two billion people eat tofu every day and like it. The other day, I glimpsed something in a magazine about using little cubes of marinated tofu in a salad, and that struck me as a possibility, but I have no idea what the marinade was supposed to be.

I still can't imagine ever liking it in a soup or sautéed in another dish. I don't like its flaccid feeling in my mouth, as though I had accidentally ingested a garden slug.

Does anybody have some recommendations for using tofu?

[imec]

A Szechuan restaurant we frequented 20 years ago used to serve it deep fried then stir fried in a spicy sauce (you can buy tofu already deep fried or you can deep fry it yourself). I've had a quick Google and this is the closest approximation I can find. Deep fried tofu has an interesting texture and doesn't absorb much oil.

www.fabulousfoods.com/recipes/article/142/18410

[Deleted]

Personally,I loathe the stuff but I have to admit I haven't given it my full attention either in experimenting with the various methods of preparation. The texture is disgusting. Maybe fried I could handle better.

[lagatta]

Funny, my post was lost. I very much like spicy Ma Po Tofu on a chilly day. Not a vegetarian dish, it is traditionally made with a bit of ground pork, though I prefer lamb. I do like tofu - must not be that horrible grainy kind - in a variety of East and Southeast Asian dishes. What I can't abide is the poorly-thought-out vegetarian dishes that attempt to substitute it for meat or cheese without thinking of the texture and flavour compatabilities - don't know whether "tofu lasagna" or "tofu couscous" was worse; think the latter was a particular horrible memory of a meal made by a "collectivité".

[imec]

I like Ma Po Tofu too lagatta - very comforting. Small pieces of Tofu are also an essential ingredient of a credible Hot and Sour soup...

[Deleted]

Tofu couscous?

[bazfaz]

Spindrift says she buys wonderful tofu. But she says it has to be freshly made and deteriorates after a few days. If she comes on here she can tell us more.

[Deleted]

I have bought the fried tofu to try (not for many years, though). I found it had the consistency of soggy old French toast, which is hardly any better than the wobbly cubes of curd.

[fumobici]

I pretty much agree on tofu, though I somehow like it in Hot and Sour soup.

[bixaorellana]

First of all, it's not tasteless, although admittedly it's a very subtle taste. And I'd think slugs would be much chewier than tofu. The texture is "disgusting"? It pretty much has the texture of blancmange or flan.

LaGatta makes a good point about how people are taught to hate tofu. Having something foisted on you by an earnest zealot who can't cook is not the way to learn to appreciate a new food.

I can't imagine that any commercial pre-fried soft food would be any good!

[imec]

Oct 5, 2009 13:36:39 GMT kerouac2 said:

I have bought the fried tofu to try (not for many years, though). I found it had the consistency of soggy old French toast, which is hardly any better than the wobbly cubes of curd.

Oct 5, 2009 15:49:26 GMT bixaorellana said:

I can't imagine that any commercial pre-fried soft food would be any good!

It's not meant to be eaten straight out of the package. It will crisp up nicely after a quick shallow frying or after a few minutes in a hot oven.

[auntieannie]

I think tofu is very unecological. So I won't give it another chance.

obviously, where it is traditional to plant and eat tofu, then fine by me. But not in its current industrial use.

[Deleted]

Just about all of the tofu sold in Paris is made in the Paris metropolitan area, so it's not as though it is coming halfway around the world.

But I have eaten plenty of it on the other side of the planet, and it doesn't taste any better there.

[happytraveller]

Tofu marinated in Soy sauce, fried and mixed in stir fry rice with tomatos and zucchinis, a bit of curry... YUM !

[happytraveller]

By the way, I love the consistency of tofu. It's the best part about it.

[auntieannie]

K, do you mean that there are fields of soya in the metropolitan area of Paris?

[Deleted]

I love the texture of flan and hate the texture of tofu. Flan melts in your mouth. No one ever foisted it on me,it was in some soup (I think hot and sour) and I politely ate it and swore I would do my best to avoid it if and when it ever were to appear near my lips again.
I was not aware of the ecological issue around it.
I would probably give the fried a try.

[lagatta]

Soya is grown in many countries. I thought the main environmental problem was GMO-crops that cross-pollinated with organic cultures, and of course monoculture, though that problem is by no means limited to soya. One graph I see puts the US, Brazil and Argentina ahead of China. A fair amount of soya is grown in Canada. France is a producer, though nearby Italy produces more.

You don't think all the durum wheat pasta you consume in Europe grows in Italy, eh?

And casimira, nobody has to like any given food, and most of us don't live in places where there is only one available, affordable protein source. I dislike the texture of raw oysters (a lot of people don't like what they perceive as "slimy" foods, perhaps because many foods become slimy when they go a bit "off"). That means more oysters for aficionados! (I do like cooked oysters).

[Deleted]

Oct 5, 2009 19:07:17 GMT auntieannie said:

K, do you mean that there are fields of soya in the metropolitan area of Paris?

I don't know where the fields themselves are, but just about all of the local Chinese food factories are in the suburbs just south of Paris, principally in Ivry-sur-Seine.

[Deleted]

I had no plans for it whatsoever, but I found myself eating a small quantity of tofu today in a Japanese salad that I bought with my sushi. While the rest of the salad was fine, the tofu consisted of the usual little cubes of tasteless nothingness, which had absolutely no reason to be there.

[bixaorellana]

Setting aside the question of whether we like it or not, I was told once that it is actually not good for us. Is this true? I would bet that at least half the people from non-tofu cultures who ever tried the stuff did it because of its vaunted nutritional value.

Can anyone shed light on this?

[Deleted]

Yes, I read that, too, but I forgot why. But if you go to Google and type "Tofu is bad for you," you instantly learn, not about tofu but about soy in general:

Most people remain unaware that soy is known to contain an array of potent chemical toxins. The modern manufacturing processes of high-profit industries make no effort to remove these potent toxins. High levels of phytic acid, trypsin inhibitors, toxic lysinoalanine and highly carcinogenic nitrosamines are all present in soy products.

Phytoestrogens that disrupt endocrine function and are potent antithyroid agents are present in vast quantities in soy, including the potentially devastating isoflavone Genistein. Infants exclusively fed soy-based formula have 13,000 to 22,000 times more estrogen compounds in their blood than babies fed milk-based formula, the estrogenic equivalent of at least five birth control pills per day. Premature development of girls has been linked to the use of soy formula, as has the underdevelopment of males. Infant soy formula has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease.

Soy is linked to infertility, breast cancer, hypothyroidism, thyroid cancer, and many other disorders.

And on top of that, it makes your brain shrink.

[bixaorellana]

Well, right off the bat you have to wonder about feeding human babies either milk from other species or a product made from beans.

But moving to the breast cancer risk, there is the well-known, often-cited data(?) about less breast cancer among Japanese women who eat a traditional diet including many soy products. Studies seem to be inconclusive about which soy products are "good for you", though, as illustrated here.

[auntieannie]

I agree with what has been said above in the sense that, to my knowledge, there are approximately as many researches saying soya is good for you than researches saying soya is bad for you. If I do find anything conclusive, I will post about it.

[hwinpp]

I'd go with Imec (deep fried tofu) and Lagatta (ma po tofu).

Deep fried it's ideal for soaking up thick soups too.



I also like dried tofu skin in clear soup.

Normal tofu en bloc can be coated in flour, fried until golden brown and covered in fried onion rings or ginger, not too bad and vegetarians are easily satisfied

[Deleted]

That's because they don't know what good food is.

[existentialcrisis]

I am a tofu lover, though not a vegetarian. Here are some tips for a good tofu experience:

1) Buy extra firm tofu. This will avoid much of the "slug" texture you speak of.

2) Try freezing your tofu. I haven't tried this yet, but apparently it changes the texture. Makes it meatier?

3) Try pressing your tofu between two plates with a weight on top for a few hours to remove the excess water.

4) Cripsy fry your tofu. When stir-frying I always fry my tofu in some oil first, making sure it is brownish on all sides and I like to sprinkle some salt, garlic powder, chili powder, etc. on it as I do this. Then I remove it from the pan. Stir-fry my veggies, and then add the tofu at the end.

5) I just found deep-fried tofu at the super market the other day and both of my meat & potatoes room mates loved it.

6) One dish I've made that EVERYONE seems to like is Tofu Parmesan. What isn't there to like about breaded tofu steaks smothered in pasta sauce and melted cheese?

BTW... did my research on the soy debate and I'm not convinced of anything. Dairy industry vs. soy industry... just eat in moderation and avoid GMO soy if possible!

[Deleted]

Thanks. That is sounding to start a lot more interesting already.

[existentialcrisis]

I just tried freezing a block of tofu. Then I pressed it. Then I made TOFU WINGS! I found that the previously frozen tofu took on a look and texture very similar to a standard processed chicken wing. I just cut my tofu into little triangles, then rolled them in corn starch, egg and spicy breadcrumbs and deep-fried them in a pot. Afterwards, I slathered them in buffalo sauce and even my meat&potatoes room mates enjoyed them!

[Deleted]

Hmmmm.... you know you're kind of weird.