Cooking Tofu, First Attempt

It all seemed so simple! For someone like me, with a not-so-refined palette, the first time I try a new food I depend on the instructions in a recipe to do it right. Adding tofu to my “plant-based” meals seemed like a good idea, even though I’m still including meat and a few eggs in my meals. However, I have no baseline experience about how tofu tastes, how it cooks and even where to buy it in the grocery store! This adventure was a learning experience!

I read a little online about the different kinds of tofu…from silken to extra firm. What I wanted was flavored cubes of tofu that I could put on a salad. It appeared I needed to start with a firm or extra firm block of tofu. Since I really wasn’t interested in figuring out how to press it with a stack of heavy books, I ordered a “tofu press” from Amazon.

Instructions to assemble the press. Looks like Lego instructions!

The press, assembled with a block of tofu.

Next, I went to the local health food store to find tofu. They didn’t have any at that moment and said I should go to the grocery store and look in the produce section. Who knew!!

I found several choices high on the shelf above the lettuce and near the wonton wrappers. I took a guess and brought one home.

The package said it was already drained and it was very firm.

I unwrapped the block and put it in the press…even though it said on the package that it had already been drained. At least I could see how the press worked. After 20 minutes or so, there was about a tablespoon of water in the bottom of the press. I dumped out the water and removed the block.

The press came with a little cookbook with a few recipes. The first recipe was for crispy tofu…sounded exactly like what I wanted.

I substituted onion powder for the garlic powder (because I had it and I don’t care for much garlic flavor).

I thought I bought Rice Wine Vinegar…and it turns out I bought Red Wine Vinegar. Oh well. I did have maple syrup and soy sauce. I used olive oil instead of toasted sesame oil. Probably with all these substitutions the tofu won’t taste right.