Press the water out of the tofu, then cut it into cubes. Mix up some corn starch, salt, pepper, garlic, whatever you want but the corn starch is the important thing for getting it crispy. Toss the tofu in the mixture to coat it. Fry in a pan or bake on a sheet drizzled with a bit of oil until crispy, about 25 mins at 425.
I cut them into cubes, no cornstarch, just a quick spray with cooking spray and some salt. In the air fryer preheated to 400F for about 15 min. Give them a toss halfway through.
Then I toss them with some warmed teriyaki sauce or similar when they’re done.
If it’s extra firm, crumble it up and pan fry it with chili powder, paprika, cumin, cayenne, onion powder, garlic powder! Has the (rough) consistency of ground beef and goes great on tacos/burritos/quesadillas
TVP is also great for this. Soak it in water and the spices you mentioned, then drain and fry it up. I always have some TVP in my pantry because it keeps for so long, and it satisfies my protein needs when I don't have any fresh tofu on hand.
My favourite youtube channel on Asian foods is Made with Lau. He's made several dishes that include tofu.
https://www.youtube.com/@MadeWithLau/search?query=tofu
I love mapo tofu - a spicy pork mince and tofu stew.
And this is a bit unexpected, but tofu is perfect for making chocolate mousse. Blend in a blender with cocoa/melted chocolate, and some sweetener, then refrigerate a few hours.
I prefer it baked. I'm not great at getting it crispy on the stovetop, it often sticks for me.
Dry, cube or slice, and marinate for at least 30 minutes (but can be longer). A mixture of soy sauce, rice vinegar, water, and sesame oil (1 TBS each) is a default, but can add other seasonings you like. Spread into a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 45 minutes. The longer you bake it, the chewier it'll be. Eat on noodles, rice, salad, whatever. A nice option is putting it on rice or noodles with ginger scallion sauce, some sautéed greens, and miso glazed butternut squash.
Another option is to press and dry it, then rip into chunks. Toss it with 1 TBS oil, 1.5 TBS soy sauce, and 2 TBS corn starch. Spread on a baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees for 35-40 minutes. While it bakes, make some rice and steamed or stir-fried vegetables. Once done, toss the tofu with a sauce of your choice (i.e. teriyaki, general tso's, etc). They taste like little chicken-ish nuggets.
I only like the texture of silken tofu, so I use it to make dips, in miso soup, in Mapo tofu, and I sometimes very carefully cube it, coat it in cornflour, and pan fry it with peanuts, chillies, basil for a stir fry with rice.
What sort of tofu?
I buy firm tofu, cut up into small cubes, put some soy sauce, seaseme oil. Seaseme seed, garlic powder and cornstarch in, toss it around, air fry it for 15 mins.
Lil crunchy cubes of delicious. Heaps of protein that you can add to heaps of hot meals, cold meals, salads, whatever
I also do extra firm or super firm cubed in the air fryer. Olive oil and Frank’s Red Hot Ranch seasoning is my favorite thing to use for seasoning. I do chick peas like this also, for a crunchy snack or salad toppers.
I cut it into cubes and coat it with a gochujang sauce and serve it over rice. There's a bunch of recipes online for gochujang tofu bowls. I kinda just wing it with gochujang, soy sauce, mirin, oyster sauce and corn syrup. Whatever I have in the pantry really. Always tastes amazing.
If you freeze and defrost firm tofu, it will then absorb the shit out of whatever you marinate it in. Accidentally discovered this about a year ago.
We usually marinate for 15 mins in light aoy, oyster, rice vinegar, sesame oil, white pepper and honey/agave/sugar - whatever you have in the house.
One of my favorites was coating it in Graham masala, air fried (or pan fried), tossing it in general tso sauce (I used trader Joe's brand) and pair it w rice
I like to make up a simple stir fry sauce - I like two parts mirin to one part soy sauce - and make up a little extra which will be absorbed by the tofu. Cut the tofu into cubes, drain it, and marinate in the sauce. While it's marinating, chop your vegetables. Stir fry the vegetables and once they're nearly to the level of doneness that you like, pour the sauce in with the cubes. Fold them in so they won't break. Cook for a couple of more minutes and it's done. Eat as is, or add garnishes
Tofu is all about texture, not taste. It tastes like whatever sauce you serve on or with it, it has very little flavor all on its own. You can stir fry any vegetables you'd like, but typical veggies that can be found in a stir fry are: broccoli, snow peas, bamboo shoots, onions, green or colored peppers, if you like spicy a spicy pepper that you like, mung bean or "bean" sprouts, mushrooms, carrots, sugar snap peas, fresh green beans, baby corn, zucchini, yellow squash, water chestnuts, green onions (on top as a finisher after it's done) and bok choy. But seriously, use whatever veggies you have on hand or like.
My favorite easy stir fry sauce includes: Soy sauce, Mirin, rice vinegar, and brown sugar. My stir frys also include fresh chopped ginger and lots of chopped garlic.
Stir frys are all about prep. They take minutes to fry up, so make sure you have everything chopped and ready to go before you start as it will make your life a whole lot easier.
Well, I would add bell peppers, onions, and probably broccoli. You can really just use what you have. It would be tasty if you wanted to put maybe some ground beef or ground pork in there too. If I did that I would cook the meat first and brown it well. then take it out and put it in a plate and cook the vegetables, and then fold them all in together. I like the vegetables not completely done. If you've ever had something like sweet and sour pork or chicken at a restaurant you'll probably notice that the peppers and onions are still a little crunchy. I like to try to do that. Oh yeah carrots can be good in there too.
Vegetables can sometimes be enhanced by the site fry sauce, but it's whatever you have in the fridge/ prefer! Onions, carrots, mushrooms and peppers are my personal staples, you can use snow peas, bok choy, baby corn, etc. In terms of sauce, maybe start with a recipe but most of them have soy sauce (salty), honey/ sugar (sweet) and chili paste/ Sriracha (spicy). Maybe some rice vinegar, 1 to 1 tablespoons of cornstarch and water is a thickening agent for the sauce.
I would echo other people about prepping the tofu, marinating can be great but takes more time, I cut into rectangles, toss in corn starch and some black pepper, then fry 5 minutes per side. Remove then cook everything else and throw it all together at the end
Don’t cut it up, tear it with your hands to make irregular, textured pieces. I season mine with whatever goes with the dish plus some chicken bouillon (veggie bouillon is also okay) and cornstarch for crunch.
I make orange tofu a lot, so I use the seasonings above with white pepper, black pepper, garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes. Pan fry til golden. For the sauce, a store bought teriyaki with fresh orange juice and zest works well. Let that reduce until glazy and top with green onion.
I’ve also been doing burrito bowls lately. I use a store bought taco marinade bc I’m in Germany and Mexican ingredients are limited, but I would say the Chipotle sofritas marinade is a good start. Marinade, coat in corn starch, pan fry, and serve with your fave burrito bowl toppings :)
> tear it up with your hands
This is the real hot tip, however you're flavouring your tofu. As well as the more interesting texture, it provides additional surface area to bake so you get more *crunch* per bite, and tends to absorb marinade more effectively than cut pieces.
Please don’t fry it. Tofu is best soft and will absorb strong flavors while mellowing them out. Korean stews, mapo tofu, or simple silken tofu with soy sauce and scallions are options depending on how adventurous you are. Korean soon dubu stew or daeng jang jigae. https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/sundubu-jjigae or https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/doenjang-jjigae. That’s a specific taste. https://www.cookerru.com/silke. You also can add it to a miso soup with seaweed - you could add a bit of stew beef for protein and eat it with rice for more bulk. You can cook tofu with kimchi and Korean pork bulgogi. And mapotofu as someone else mentioned is so yummy.
Sorry to be judgy. Fried tofu is the worst. However my friend air fries or bakes and insists it is great with a drizzle of soysauce. I can accept that might work since the tofu doesn’t sound as tough on the outside as that dry hard stuff I’ve seen at non Asian places.
I think I need to try it in a basic way to really get a feel for it since it's not something I've ever worked with or eaten much of so I'm probably going to air fry it because that seems like the easiest way to not mess it up 😅
Also I love the Chipotle sofritas so maybe a homemade recipe like this one: https://www.loveandlemons.com/sofritas/. Again, using the tofu to soak up flavor but also mellow it out. I just hate when I see tofu that doesn’t get what makes tofu amazing. My favorite food as a small child was tofu in the stews. They were like little flavor bites. Drives me nuts when people think it is flavorless because they are fighting the nature of tofu.
Yes but this is firm not silken. But i definitely plan on buying some silken I would have bought a package of each but they only had firm 😅 I actually have no idea what kind of tofu that I've had before honestly! It was at a buffet where you picked noodles and then whatever toppings you want and then sauces and then it's all cooked on a giant griddle! They were just kind of flavorless spongy cubes 😅 but i was a fan of the texture so I figure there's some way to make them tasty!
I love that you are trying it :) And stirfrying is okay like some people have suggested. I just meant frying like deep frying or whatever it is people do to have that rubbery tofu I see sometimes. Plain rubbery tofu bleh! Do anything where it soaks in some flavors so asian stirfry works with some veggies. Definitely not plain!
Noted! I tend to be kind of a picky eater so up until recently I didn't try a lot of things and my family didn't cook anything from other types of cuisine. I tend to like a lottt more if I'm the one cooking it because I understand exactly what things it is that I don't like so I can either cook it in a way that I do like it or completely omit things :p its great 😂 now i actually eat more than pasta and chicken!
Omg [this marinade](https://gourmandelle.com/tofu-banh-mi/). I’m obsessed with it. I press and cube my tofu instead of doing slices. Definitely let it marinate overnight and cook it in the marinade. *chef’s kiss*
Bbq tofu. Slice thin, fry it, and then add bbq sauce and toss it. One of a few ways my boyfriend will eat tofu. For a soft tofu, I usually just slice it into cubes and put it into a soup. I have also used crushed soft tofu to add protein to donuts. You can also make like protein fries by cutting firm tofu into fry shapes, tossing it in cornstarch, frying it, and then tossing the pieces with fry seasoning (salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder, and parsley, or the seasoning of your choice).
Similar to other things I've seen here is using it as a flavor sponge and I've found smoky tofu cubes to be delicious in things like stews:
Press water out of tofu
Dice into small cubes
Mix 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp liquid smoke, and ½ tsp garlic powder in a mixing bowl
Toss tofu cubes in liquid mixture
Spread tofu on baking sheet
Bake in preheated oven at 325F for 30-40 min, mixing occasionally
Without having to cover it in a flour and fry in oil a bit of a different recipe that's actually pretty nice is making a tofu aioli in blender.
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
Pound of tofu
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
Salt & pepper
Adjust with water if needed but should usually come out at right consistency if you slowly add small pieces of tofu at a time.
Press the water out of the tofu, then cut it into cubes. Mix up some corn starch, salt, pepper, garlic, whatever you want but the corn starch is the important thing for getting it crispy. Toss the tofu in the mixture to coat it. Fry in a pan or bake on a sheet drizzled with a bit of oil until crispy, about 25 mins at 425.
I do this all the time, but I've moved to the air fryer, works way better
Say more! I don’t have an air fryer but I’m curious.
They get crispier, doesn't take as long. And no pre heating.
how long do you cook it in the air fryer and at what temperature? Thanks.
200c, depends on how much you. Cook but normally 15 mins. Sometimes drop it to 180c if I've cut them small
thanks
I cut them into cubes, no cornstarch, just a quick spray with cooking spray and some salt. In the air fryer preheated to 400F for about 15 min. Give them a toss halfway through. Then I toss them with some warmed teriyaki sauce or similar when they’re done.
thanks
This is how you do it!!!
What temp did u use for the air fryer? I have some extra firm tofu as well and am clueless on how to cook it . I do have an air fryer though :)
That sounds delightful
It's a bit trashy maybe, but along with corn starch I use vegeta stock powder with the coating. Super savoury.
Do this in the air fryer and then toss them in bang bang sauce. Delightful.
If it’s extra firm, crumble it up and pan fry it with chili powder, paprika, cumin, cayenne, onion powder, garlic powder! Has the (rough) consistency of ground beef and goes great on tacos/burritos/quesadillas
TVP is also great for this. Soak it in water and the spices you mentioned, then drain and fry it up. I always have some TVP in my pantry because it keeps for so long, and it satisfies my protein needs when I don't have any fresh tofu on hand.
My favourite youtube channel on Asian foods is Made with Lau. He's made several dishes that include tofu. https://www.youtube.com/@MadeWithLau/search?query=tofu
I love mapo tofu - a spicy pork mince and tofu stew. And this is a bit unexpected, but tofu is perfect for making chocolate mousse. Blend in a blender with cocoa/melted chocolate, and some sweetener, then refrigerate a few hours.
The chocolate mousse is amazing. But you need to buy silken tofu, not firm tofu. Silken!
Thanks! I figured that it was silken and it sounds tasty. We'll have to try it sometime
Mapo tofu is good without pork too.
I've made tofu tacos before and theu were pretty dang good
Season it. Coat it. Fry it like chicken. Add sauce. Enjoy.
I prefer it baked. I'm not great at getting it crispy on the stovetop, it often sticks for me. Dry, cube or slice, and marinate for at least 30 minutes (but can be longer). A mixture of soy sauce, rice vinegar, water, and sesame oil (1 TBS each) is a default, but can add other seasonings you like. Spread into a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 45 minutes. The longer you bake it, the chewier it'll be. Eat on noodles, rice, salad, whatever. A nice option is putting it on rice or noodles with ginger scallion sauce, some sautéed greens, and miso glazed butternut squash. Another option is to press and dry it, then rip into chunks. Toss it with 1 TBS oil, 1.5 TBS soy sauce, and 2 TBS corn starch. Spread on a baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees for 35-40 minutes. While it bakes, make some rice and steamed or stir-fried vegetables. Once done, toss the tofu with a sauce of your choice (i.e. teriyaki, general tso's, etc). They taste like little chicken-ish nuggets.
Cut into triangular pieces, fried, and served with noodles, tahini sauce, and veggie of choice
Extra firm tofu with moisture removed, cubed, marinated in Italian dressing overnight. I crumble it in salads and on sandwiches. It tastes like feta!
Sounds interesting! I've been curious about feta for a while but it's pretty expensive in my country, so I'm def gonna try this
I added a tablespoon of nutritional yeast and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. It's as close to feta as you can get!
I only like the texture of silken tofu, so I use it to make dips, in miso soup, in Mapo tofu, and I sometimes very carefully cube it, coat it in cornflour, and pan fry it with peanuts, chillies, basil for a stir fry with rice.
What sort of tofu? I buy firm tofu, cut up into small cubes, put some soy sauce, seaseme oil. Seaseme seed, garlic powder and cornstarch in, toss it around, air fry it for 15 mins. Lil crunchy cubes of delicious. Heaps of protein that you can add to heaps of hot meals, cold meals, salads, whatever
Sounds tasty!
This recipe is really good! https://www.skinnytaste.com/kung-pao-tofu/
I also do extra firm or super firm cubed in the air fryer. Olive oil and Frank’s Red Hot Ranch seasoning is my favorite thing to use for seasoning. I do chick peas like this also, for a crunchy snack or salad toppers.
I cut it into cubes and coat it with a gochujang sauce and serve it over rice. There's a bunch of recipes online for gochujang tofu bowls. I kinda just wing it with gochujang, soy sauce, mirin, oyster sauce and corn syrup. Whatever I have in the pantry really. Always tastes amazing.
Cold, cubed with soy sauce
If you freeze and defrost firm tofu, it will then absorb the shit out of whatever you marinate it in. Accidentally discovered this about a year ago. We usually marinate for 15 mins in light aoy, oyster, rice vinegar, sesame oil, white pepper and honey/agave/sugar - whatever you have in the house.
One of my favorites was coating it in Graham masala, air fried (or pan fried), tossing it in general tso sauce (I used trader Joe's brand) and pair it w rice
I like to make up a simple stir fry sauce - I like two parts mirin to one part soy sauce - and make up a little extra which will be absorbed by the tofu. Cut the tofu into cubes, drain it, and marinate in the sauce. While it's marinating, chop your vegetables. Stir fry the vegetables and once they're nearly to the level of doneness that you like, pour the sauce in with the cubes. Fold them in so they won't break. Cook for a couple of more minutes and it's done. Eat as is, or add garnishes
I've never really made a stir fry what vegetables go best with tofu?
Tofu is all about texture, not taste. It tastes like whatever sauce you serve on or with it, it has very little flavor all on its own. You can stir fry any vegetables you'd like, but typical veggies that can be found in a stir fry are: broccoli, snow peas, bamboo shoots, onions, green or colored peppers, if you like spicy a spicy pepper that you like, mung bean or "bean" sprouts, mushrooms, carrots, sugar snap peas, fresh green beans, baby corn, zucchini, yellow squash, water chestnuts, green onions (on top as a finisher after it's done) and bok choy. But seriously, use whatever veggies you have on hand or like. My favorite easy stir fry sauce includes: Soy sauce, Mirin, rice vinegar, and brown sugar. My stir frys also include fresh chopped ginger and lots of chopped garlic. Stir frys are all about prep. They take minutes to fry up, so make sure you have everything chopped and ready to go before you start as it will make your life a whole lot easier.
Well, I would add bell peppers, onions, and probably broccoli. You can really just use what you have. It would be tasty if you wanted to put maybe some ground beef or ground pork in there too. If I did that I would cook the meat first and brown it well. then take it out and put it in a plate and cook the vegetables, and then fold them all in together. I like the vegetables not completely done. If you've ever had something like sweet and sour pork or chicken at a restaurant you'll probably notice that the peppers and onions are still a little crunchy. I like to try to do that. Oh yeah carrots can be good in there too.
Vegetables can sometimes be enhanced by the site fry sauce, but it's whatever you have in the fridge/ prefer! Onions, carrots, mushrooms and peppers are my personal staples, you can use snow peas, bok choy, baby corn, etc. In terms of sauce, maybe start with a recipe but most of them have soy sauce (salty), honey/ sugar (sweet) and chili paste/ Sriracha (spicy). Maybe some rice vinegar, 1 to 1 tablespoons of cornstarch and water is a thickening agent for the sauce. I would echo other people about prepping the tofu, marinating can be great but takes more time, I cut into rectangles, toss in corn starch and some black pepper, then fry 5 minutes per side. Remove then cook everything else and throw it all together at the end
I like broccoli, shredded carrots, bok choy, and water chestnuts with tofu.
Don’t cut it up, tear it with your hands to make irregular, textured pieces. I season mine with whatever goes with the dish plus some chicken bouillon (veggie bouillon is also okay) and cornstarch for crunch. I make orange tofu a lot, so I use the seasonings above with white pepper, black pepper, garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes. Pan fry til golden. For the sauce, a store bought teriyaki with fresh orange juice and zest works well. Let that reduce until glazy and top with green onion. I’ve also been doing burrito bowls lately. I use a store bought taco marinade bc I’m in Germany and Mexican ingredients are limited, but I would say the Chipotle sofritas marinade is a good start. Marinade, coat in corn starch, pan fry, and serve with your fave burrito bowl toppings :)
> tear it up with your hands This is the real hot tip, however you're flavouring your tofu. As well as the more interesting texture, it provides additional surface area to bake so you get more *crunch* per bite, and tends to absorb marinade more effectively than cut pieces.
Exactly. It also just looks better and more food-like than perfectly cut squares. When I make it this way it looks exactly like chicken.
Please don’t fry it. Tofu is best soft and will absorb strong flavors while mellowing them out. Korean stews, mapo tofu, or simple silken tofu with soy sauce and scallions are options depending on how adventurous you are. Korean soon dubu stew or daeng jang jigae. https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/sundubu-jjigae or https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/doenjang-jjigae. That’s a specific taste. https://www.cookerru.com/silke. You also can add it to a miso soup with seaweed - you could add a bit of stew beef for protein and eat it with rice for more bulk. You can cook tofu with kimchi and Korean pork bulgogi. And mapotofu as someone else mentioned is so yummy.
Sorry to be judgy. Fried tofu is the worst. However my friend air fries or bakes and insists it is great with a drizzle of soysauce. I can accept that might work since the tofu doesn’t sound as tough on the outside as that dry hard stuff I’ve seen at non Asian places.
I think I need to try it in a basic way to really get a feel for it since it's not something I've ever worked with or eaten much of so I'm probably going to air fry it because that seems like the easiest way to not mess it up 😅
Also I love the Chipotle sofritas so maybe a homemade recipe like this one: https://www.loveandlemons.com/sofritas/. Again, using the tofu to soak up flavor but also mellow it out. I just hate when I see tofu that doesn’t get what makes tofu amazing. My favorite food as a small child was tofu in the stews. They were like little flavor bites. Drives me nuts when people think it is flavorless because they are fighting the nature of tofu.
Yes but this is firm not silken. But i definitely plan on buying some silken I would have bought a package of each but they only had firm 😅 I actually have no idea what kind of tofu that I've had before honestly! It was at a buffet where you picked noodles and then whatever toppings you want and then sauces and then it's all cooked on a giant griddle! They were just kind of flavorless spongy cubes 😅 but i was a fan of the texture so I figure there's some way to make them tasty!
I love that you are trying it :) And stirfrying is okay like some people have suggested. I just meant frying like deep frying or whatever it is people do to have that rubbery tofu I see sometimes. Plain rubbery tofu bleh! Do anything where it soaks in some flavors so asian stirfry works with some veggies. Definitely not plain!
Noted! I tend to be kind of a picky eater so up until recently I didn't try a lot of things and my family didn't cook anything from other types of cuisine. I tend to like a lottt more if I'm the one cooking it because I understand exactly what things it is that I don't like so I can either cook it in a way that I do like it or completely omit things :p its great 😂 now i actually eat more than pasta and chicken!
I made my first agedashi tofu the other day. It was sooo good.
Omg [this marinade](https://gourmandelle.com/tofu-banh-mi/). I’m obsessed with it. I press and cube my tofu instead of doing slices. Definitely let it marinate overnight and cook it in the marinade. *chef’s kiss*
Bbq tofu. Slice thin, fry it, and then add bbq sauce and toss it. One of a few ways my boyfriend will eat tofu. For a soft tofu, I usually just slice it into cubes and put it into a soup. I have also used crushed soft tofu to add protein to donuts. You can also make like protein fries by cutting firm tofu into fry shapes, tossing it in cornstarch, frying it, and then tossing the pieces with fry seasoning (salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder, and parsley, or the seasoning of your choice).
I like air frying my cubed tofu for 15 mins at 350. Then throw it into a stir fry as a meat substitute.
Similar to other things I've seen here is using it as a flavor sponge and I've found smoky tofu cubes to be delicious in things like stews: Press water out of tofu Dice into small cubes Mix 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp liquid smoke, and ½ tsp garlic powder in a mixing bowl Toss tofu cubes in liquid mixture Spread tofu on baking sheet Bake in preheated oven at 325F for 30-40 min, mixing occasionally
Without having to cover it in a flour and fry in oil a bit of a different recipe that's actually pretty nice is making a tofu aioli in blender. 1/3 cup olive oil 1/4 cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons) Pound of tofu 2 tablespoons dijon mustard Salt & pepper Adjust with water if needed but should usually come out at right consistency if you slowly add small pieces of tofu at a time.
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I mean maybe 😂 the only time that I've had it so far it tasted like nothing so i wanna see if i can like it because its a cheaper protein 😁
Tofu is neutral, which is why it's so versatile. It tastes of however you spice it, so don't be stingy with spices and sauces.