Tofu

[torakris]

Tofu (doobu) is so important to my family that we often make it fresh at home.

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How do you make fresh tofu? Is it hard??

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It's not hard at all. it's sort of like making cheese, but easier. I recall Tokrakris did an egullet program on making tofu. If I'm mistaken I would be more than glad to get into the specifics here. Just let me know.

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eGCI class on soy

In this class I taught tofu making from scratch as well as giving recipes for various types of Japanese tofu.

tofu...

I too am a huge mapodofu fan, but nothing can beat hiyayakko a block of cold tofu topped with whatever your heart desires.

[appreciator]

I love tofu And, when cooking regularly (which sadly I'm not at the moment) I usually make a tofu dish once or twice a week.

Things I have made in the recent past are a couple of recipes from Cooking Light. Here's a link: Cooking Light and if you use the password noted previously (LIVEWELL), then you should be able to access these recipes.

The first one I made was tofu larb. I think this is traditionally made with ground pork? The tofu worked well as a substitute in my opinion. Only change I made to the actual recipe was to serve it in butter lettuce leaves instead of the cabbage leaves suggested.

I also made Tofu Bites, easy and a good snack to have on hand for a nibble during the week.

Cooking Light actually has quite a few good tofu recipes and some that can easily be adapted. Several times, I've made their Sichuan-Style Stir-Fried Chicken and just substituted tofu for chicken, and cashews for peanuts (the last part is because I can't eat peanuts )

Molly Katzen's cookbook "The New Moosewood Cookbook" has a great recipe for tofu salad, which I love. It has a great marinade for the tofu which, once marinated is then mixed with sliced mushrooms, carrots, bell peppers, shredded cabbage, scallions and other things as you like. Very yum.

Edited February 24, 2005 by appreciator (log)

[Hiroyuki]

It's a post-workout snack--I need to eat lots of calories to maintain my weight so this is probably a double or triple portion.

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Great photo. A cake of tofu weighs 300 g to 400 g in Japan. The one in the photo must weight almost 1 kg.

I used to pour soy sauce like you do before marriage, but now I usually pour ponzu because my wife prefers this.

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Please don't forget about homemade yosedofu.

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=41506&st=30

See post #45.

[guppymo]

I like to deep fry tofu and dip with light soysauce to eat with rice, it's simple but I love it.

[kitchenbabe]

7. Use as a "filler" for meat patties or dumpling fillings. The finished product is more tender, lighter and healthier.

I tested recipes for Alton Brown's show last year for a few months, and my first taste of tofu was steamed dumplings (the episode on dumplings and wontons)...the texture reminded me of poultry (yeah, I know...."it tastes like chicken")....it was a great way to eat it, especially if you're not quite used to the taste or texture...it took in the flavor of the filling perfectly.

[lemoncoke]

8. Soontofu or Soondoobu. A volcanic stew. You can make add vegetables, seafood or meat.

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can you give a recipe for soontofu?

I love eating this and I have always wanted to know how to make it at home!

Thanks!

[torakris]

Tofu works really well as a filling for a variety of things, one of my favorites is spring rolls with napa cabbage and tofu from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.

The Korean style beef and tofu patties is a favorite of my kids and it is a really great way to stretch ground beef that is very expensive here in Japan.

[M. Lucia]

Tonight I lightly seared cubes of tofu. I also cut up some vegetables (green peppers, cherry tomatoes). Had fun dipping in some soy sauce. Simple but good.

I like the ideas for making tofu patties (I am thinking with mushrooms, scallions, maybe panko-crusted).

Also, subbing tofu for chicken in the sichuan peanut sauce sounds good.

A lot of the recipes we have mentioned use trad. asian ingredients for obvious reasons. The flavors work very well together, but merely out of curiosity, I am wondering if anyone has some tofu recipes from other cuisines? I know Behemoth makes a great tempeh rueben.

[touaregsand]

8. Soontofu or Soondoobu. A volcanic stew. You can make add vegetables, seafood or meat.

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can you give a recipe for soontofu?

I love eating this and I have always wanted to know how to make it at home!

Thanks!

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Start with good stock. Anchovy broth, fish stock or white beef stock, depending on the additions you choose.

To this you add scallions and garlic, sliced soondubu (they come packaged in cylinders at the Korean market)

My favorite addition is clams, it's really the only I ever make. But you add can beef, mushrooms, Korean zucchini, onions, etc

Seasoning. I've seen some recipes with dwenjang (fermented bean paste) or kochujang (fermented red chili paste). But I don't recall every eating one at a restaurant prepared this way. My parents insist it's not traditional. Anyway I season it the way they taught me salt and Korean red pepper flakes.

You can crack an egg into if you want.

[beccaboo]

A lot of the recipes we have mentioned use trad. asian ingredients for obvious reasons. The flavors work very well together, but merely out of curiosity, I am wondering if anyone has some tofu recipes from other cuisines?

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I often use tofu instead of paneer in Indian food, because making paneer requires a little bit of advance planning. It's not the same, by any means, but it's still good.

[reesek]

i make a horseradish tofu sauce which is delicious on sandwiches as a mayo substitute. it's main purpose to top potato latkes. i made it up for a vegan friend.

ingredients are simply extra firm tofu (pressed,) horseradish, salt & pepper and a bit of rice wine vinegar to thin. silken tofu would work too, but i find it gives a powdery end taste, so i use extra firm and just blitz it in the mini-prep. tofu can also make a nice base for vegetarian dips and such. i also love smoked tofu. i've been thinking about smoking my own (with a small stove-top smoker). i like to make tofu salad with pre-smoked stuff. it tends to be super firm, and i dice it and mix it with walnuts, mayo, celery and grapes - like chicken salad.

i also love shallow-fried tofu. sprinkled with lots of salt and a squeeze of lime at the end.

[techno foodie]

My husband loves to saute cubes of tofu in oil (seasoned with salt and pepper) and toss them into random Italian dishes. It's especially good with homemade pesto and mushrooms or marinara.

I make a sweet and sour dish with veggies, pineapple and tofu over couscous (from Crescent Dragonwagon's great book) that is easy and delicious.

Also, like someone else has said, I like using tofu in Indian dishes that call for paneer. It isn't the same, but it's similar enough that it works well.

For Asian food - I'm not sure how authenthic it is, but I love the stir-fried tofu with shitake mushrooms from epicurious (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/107857)

Really, I think many recipes using chicken, especially, can be adapted to include tofu or other soy products. I've adapted a white bean chili recipe to include tempeh that is wonderful (can share if you'd like) and a tagine-style dish (tempeh with onions, prunes and raisins served over couscous) that is good as well.

Bryan

[SuzySushi]

I'm another "substitute tofu for paneer" fan. I also occasionally make Japanese curry with tofu. Mashed tofu is also a decent substitute for all/part of the ricotta cheese in lasagna.

But my very favorite tofu recipe is a Chocolate Mousse that can be served as-is or used as pie filling. It's the richest chocolate mousse imaginable, and no one ever guesses the "secret ingredient." I adapted the recipe off a package of Mori-Nu tofu, adding orange extract as flavoring.

[Edited for typos]

Edited February 25, 2005 by SuzySushi (log)

[browniebaker]

My favorite tofu dish, indeed my whole family's, is the Chinese dish ma p'o tofu, which I make using ground pork, cubed medium-firm tofu, garlic, ginger, hot bean paste, soy sauce, rice wine, red pepper, scallions, cornstarch for thickening the sauce, and salt.

Anther favorite is to put in squares of fried tofu when making Chinese red-braised pork. The tofu soaks up the braising sauce and is wonderfully succulent. Every time I deep-fry the squares of tofu and battle the way they stick to one another, I vow to buy them pre-fried, but I haven't actually caved yet. Maybe I feel better knowing that my tofu and my oil are fresh.

Another favorite is a sweet dish that my mother recently taught me: a sweet peanut-and-silken-tofu soup. It's delicious. My mother pressure cooks fragrant roasted peanuts until they are melting-soft, adds cut-up silken tofu, and stirs in granulated sugar to taste. It's good hot or cold.

I also like silken tofu with bonito flakes and soy sauce on top. The flavor of tofu really comes through, and I feel almost virtuous eating this simple, healthy dish.

To tell you the truth, I sometimes eat a cake of tofu plain. I just love tofu.

[Apicio]

My favorite tofu dish to order in a Chinese restaurant is Ma Po Dofu, in a Japanese restaurant I would always start with Age Dashi Daofu but when I find myself in a Korean Restaurant, I have to try their version of Dofu Chigae and the fortune of these restaurants would rise or fall in my esteem with the quality of these dishes.

At home I simply quarter a cake of hand-formed tofu (midway between silk and cotton) and deep fry them and eat them cooled down a bit with a douse of (Japanese) dipping sauce for noodles. Delish...

[touaregsand]

Hands up for mapo tofu as a classic, a favorite. It's one of those viscerally satisfying dishes, speaks to the palate and the soul. According to my family I make the "best" version.

[SuzySushi]

Hands up for mapo tofu as a classic, a favorite. It's one of those viscerally satisfying dishes, speaks to the palate and the soul. According to my family I make the "best" version.

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Okay, what's the recipe?

(And I know what you mean about recipes that speak to the soul: Japanese curry rice and mapo tofu are two of my "comfort foods," right up there with good ole American mac & cheese.)

[Marco_Polo]

I love tofu and have been enjoying this topic and all the different ideas and enthusiasms.

Now it's time to get off the fence and share a simple recipe for the greatest tofu dish in the world (OK OK, the world's a big place - how about 'the greatest tofu dish in my world'). Tubu tchigae is a supremely simple Korean classic probably served in every Korean home and most Korean restaurants in the West. The chili tinted, peppery broth, redolent of pungent and fiery kochujang, combines with the crunch of the vegetables, the strips of meat and the bland but firm tofu most magnificently. Have a bowl of sticky white Korean rice on hand, and some kim chi of course as well as other Korean panchan. For me, this is total comfort food par excellence. And the way my grandmother used to make it is always the best.

Halmoni's tubu tchigae

1 - 1 1/2 cakes firm tofu

2-3 loin pork chops, on the bone (about a lb or so)

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 tbs vegetable oil

2 heaped tablespoons of kochujang (Korean fermented bean and chili paste)

3 garlic cloves, peeled, crushed and finely chopped

1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled, crushed and finely chopped

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbs sesame oil

About 1/2 pint meat broth

2 stalks celery, sliced on the diagonal

1 green pepper, seeded and sliced on the diagonal

1 courgette (zucchini) sliced on the diagonal

2-3 fresh chilies or to taste, sliced (I like to include the seeds)

3 spring onions, shredded on the diagonal

Toasted sesame seeds to garnish

Cut the bean curd into cubes and set aside. Trim the pork chops of all fat, and cut meat into thick matchsticks. Use the trimmings and the bones to make the meat broth, if no other homemade broth is available. Season the broth with salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.

Heat the vegetable oil in a pot and fry the meat for 5 minutes or until brown. Add the kochujang, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and sesame oil and cook over a medium flame for about 10 minutes, stirring all the while. Add the meat broth, bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and add the celery, green pepper, courgette and chillies. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Add the bean curd to the pot about 5 minutes before serving and allow to simmer. Transfer to a large bowl and garnish with the shredded spring onions and toasted sesame seeds.

[Apicio]

A million thanks Marco Polo. This is what I have been wanting to ask for but has been too shy.

[M. Lucia]

I'm another "substitute tofu for paneer" fan. I also occasionally make Japanese curry with tofu. Mashed tofu is also a decent substitute for all/part of the ricotta cheese in lasagna.

But my very favorite tofu recipe is a Chocolate Mousse that can be served as-is or used as pie filling. It's the richest chocolate mousse imaginable, and no one ever guesses the "secret ingredient." I adapted the recipe off a package of Mori-Nu tofu, adding orange extract as flavoring.

[Edited for typos]

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Please, do share!

The paneer substitute is a great idea, and I love making Indian food.

Ditto on the smoked tofu in salads- it's wonderful.

I sliced up rounds of tomatoes and tofu, drizzled with balsamic, and would've topped with fresh basil if I had had some, as a twist on the classic Italian dish. Very good.

Thanks for the tchigae recipe Marco Polo- sounds wonderful.

I hope to make a vegetarian version of ma po tofu tonight (ok, I know this might be heretical, so more like tofu prepared in a ma pa tofu style)- will report on the results.

[touaregsand]

Apicio-

Please ask as many quetstion as you want! Especially about Korean food .

As for Marco's recipe for dubu chigae, if you subsitute dwenjang (fermented bean paste, the brown stuff) well then you have dwenjang chigae.

[SuzySushi]

Okay, here's the recipe for tofu-based chocolate mousse. It is so rich that small portions suffice.

Magic Mousse

Serves 8 or more

1 12-ounce package chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli Double Chocolate)

2 12.3-ounce packages extra-firm tofu

2 tablespoons orange juice

1 teaspoon orange extract

1- In a microwaveable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, stirring at 1 minute intervals, until just melted, about 3 minutes.

2- Place tofu in a food processor or blender and process until mushy. Add juice and extract; process again. Add melted chocolate and process, scraping down sides occasionally, until mixture is creamy and no streaks of white remain.

3- Turn into individual dessert dishes or a graham cracker pie crust.

4- Chill 2 hours until firm.

"Why extra-firm tofu if it's getting blended anyway?," you may ask. I haven't experimented with soft tofu, but I have a hunch it's because the extra-firm sets up better in the finished product.

[M. Lucia]

Thanks!

I don't think anything can beat P. Herme's moussse, but this sounds really easy and healthy, and you can always have multiple mousse recipes!

Looks like I'm going out, so tofu cooking will have to wait for another night.

[touaregsand]

Hands up for mapo tofu as a classic, a favorite. It's one of those viscerally satisfying dishes, speaks to the palate and the soul. According to my family I make the "best" version.

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Okay, what's the recipe?

(And I know what you mean about recipes that speak to the soul: Japanese curry rice and mapo tofu are two of my "comfort foods," right up there with good ole American mac & cheese.)

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I have no idea if this is traditional or authentic.

1 tablespoon of Chinese red chili sauce

1/2 tablespoon of Chinese fermented bean paste (I can't remember what's it's called, I'll have to check the next time I go to the store)

1 clove of garlic minced

1/2 tablespoon of grated ginger

approximately 1/4 pound of ground beef (I don't eat pork)

1 package of medium firm tofu

1/3 cup of waterchestnuts, sliced

1/3 cup bamboo shoots sliced

cornstarch to thicken

1 tablespoon of oil

heat oil in pan, add garlic and ginger, sautee for a couple of minutes add the chili sauce and the fermented bean paste. Add ground meat, cook through, add bamboo shoots and waterchestnuts and about a cup of water, add cubed tofu, bring to a gently boil, add cornstarch to thicken.

You can add more or less of the red chili sauce and the bean paste according to taste.

[touaregsand]

All of this talk of dubu has put me in a dubu making mood. So I went to the Korean market today.

I'll be using the extra soft "soon dubu" (the one shaped like a cylinder) for soondubu chigae, the extra soft dubu in the tub with the rectangular shape for a cold tofu dish, and the soft tofu for frying. We don't use the firm stuff much in our home.

Will post finished dishes later.