http://www.care2.com/greenliving/5-great-uses-for-extra-firm-tofu.html
5 Great Uses for Extra Firm Tofu
By Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, Green Options
Tofu in Stir Fries
Using tofu in a stir-fry is the most obvious use for this delicious food. And there are a couple things you can do. First of all, tofu has a fair amount of its own fat, so when you cook it, you really don’t need to use any oil. It will get golden brown and crispy on its own without oil. So you cut the tofu up into cubes or slices or patties or whatever size/shape you want, and you place them in a nonstick sauté pan. Now you just let them get golden brown and crispy on one sided before turning it over. Don’t fuss with it and push it around; just let it get crispy, then flip it. No oil — about 10 minutes each side. While the tofu is cooking like this in its own pan, you can start cooking up your veggies — peppers, onions, squash, mushrooms, whatever you want to add to your stir-fry — in a separate sauté pan. When the veggies are nearly cooked, add your crispy tofu, and your stir-fry marinade, and just stir-fry until the tofu is hot and mixed with the sauce. Serve over quinoa or brown rice. If you don’t know what quinoa is, then check out my blog post called Five Favorite Foods.
If you don’t own any nonstick pans, feel free to add a little olive oil to your pan and fry up the tofu that way. Tofu is best when it is nice and crispy.
Next: Tofu in Curries
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17 comments
add your comment »I live in Houston, Texas and I would like to know where to buy tofu. I have only recently heard about this food and have not seen it in the stores.
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I recently tried out tofu at home for the first time and was pleasantly surprised. I sauted it and then added it to a salad. Here's the recipe: http://goodtogoecoblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/trying-out-tofu.html
- Erin
www.GoodToGoEco.com
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Sounds good... I recommend adding dill relish and onions, and even a little fresh dill if you have any.
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Look for HOUSE brand "broiled" or "grilled" tofu-cheap and REAL solid, won't fall apart in handling or cooking. Best if you could get "pressed" tofu, but it's only in oriental stores (& not many of them anymore) or in natural food stores-but too expensive in them.
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Before you do ANY of this: freeze the tofu, then thaw it rapidly in hot water. Once it's thawed, press it between paper towels or clean cloth. This will make it even firmer by removing much of the liquid it contains (freezing breaks cell walls, releasing moisture).
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Whoops! Forgot a crucial part of that tofu recipe. After you dip the strips in the egg white/sauce mixture, dip them in a flour/salt/pepper mixture. THEN fry them! Sorry!
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We just tried a new extra-firm tofu recipe last night. You dip strips of tofu first in egg white mixed with a little barbecue sauce, then fry them til golden, about a minute on each side in hot oil, then transfer them to a pan in which more barbecue sauce has been spread. Then, spread the rest of the barbecue sauce on top. Put them into the oven on broil (preheat the oven while cooking the tofu) and just let it broil for about 5 or so minutes, til the sauce starts to thicken on top. It was out of this world. We had it with rice. The leftovers would have been great cold in a sandwich today for lunch, but with 4 of us eating there were no leftovers. Next time I'll make extra. The barbecue sauce I threw together really got a kick from some fresh cilantro my neighbor surprised me with as I was cooking. My sauce: about 1/3 cup ketchup, 2 T wine vinegar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, splash of soy sauce, 2t chili powder, 1/2 t black pepper, 1 t coriander, a handful of fresh cilantro leaves (thank you, Nimi!), 2 T lemon juice. This recipe I threw together quick will be a keeper!
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Hey Lynx, I have had the same complaint until I just bent over and bought a recently designed non stick pan from Woolworths. I have become a master chef ever since. Things just don't stick. The main thing is to use non metaltools always.... and I like adding my oils and sauces anyway... :)
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Wake me when the anti-soy hysteria is over.
On a more practical note, I find the claim that tofu contains enough of its own fat to fry golden brown with no oil whatsoever mind-boggling. For heaven's sake, it's not bacon! I've been cooking it for over 20 years, and find that even with a fair bit of oil, it sticks to the pan really easily and you have to keep constantly flipping it. The only thing that's going to happen if you attempt to fry it with no oil is that it will be seared to the bottom of your frying pan and have to be scraped off with a chisel.
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i like the idea of the eggless egg salad. i like tofu grilled with pasta sauce on it.
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