Tofu and Soy Protein

[Rachel Perlow]

I admit that while I do like tofu and soya products, I'm a complete neophyte in the understanding of their use. There are so many of them on the market today, and its easy to get confused.

We like to cook stir fries, curries and other asian dishes at home -- what type of tofus and soya products should we add to our pantry to prepare the widest range of vegetarian asian dishes?

[Hopleaf]

Get the extra firm tofu to use in stir fries. And a helpful tip is to get as much liquid out of the tofu as possible. It's packaged in water which complicates cooking it, especially frying in oil. It'll splatter if there's too much water in it. Plus the texture won't get very interesting beyond it's somewhat gelatinous normal state. The thing to do to drain it well is to put it in something perforated like a collander, and then put some weight on it. #10 cans work well. Once most of the water's been removed, you can either cut it up to fit your needs or flavor it with a thick marinade. We like something that uses honey, vinegar and some spices (any will do cuz tofu doesn't have much flavor to begin with).

The silken stuff can be used to make frostings. I think there's a recipe on most packages for that.

[cookasia]

Hi Jason: The first answer is useful to know, but besides weighing tofu, you should also press it with paper towels that you can changeÑthese soak up the excess liquid and make tofu dry enough to stir-fry or sautŽ without much splattering. If you plan to store it for a few days, you should also change its water daily to keep it fresh and from souring. I often buy mine at an Asian market where it is sold loose in big tubsÑthis turns out to be less costly, and somehow, I figure this tofu is fresher. There are loads of other soy products, including of course, soy cheeses, beverages, tempeh, and faux meat productsÑbut not all take to Asian dishes readily. If using tofu for Asian cooking, try the very firm, dense baked tofuÑthis comes seasoned as BBQ, Tex-Mex, Italian (I think), Thai, and Asian. The last two are great for Asian noodle dishes or curries, as the firmness keeps it from crumbling. And baked tofu stands up to stir-frying very well. Flavored tempeh also adds crunch and texture to noodle dishes. Hope this helps. AGG