Tantalisingly Tasty Tofu!
I know! 😛 Some of you hate tofu! It’s bland. It has the texture of congealed custard. It just isn’t something you eat! I know! 🙂 That was me about two years ago! I’ve been vegetarian for over twenty years, but tofu… nope! I just didn’t get it! Let me tell you a tofu secret! Tofu is a sponge in disguise! 😛 When you buy (firm) tofu it is usually stored in water – therefore its whole life, this ‘sponge’ has been soaking up…water! What does water taste of??? Well… there you go! That’s why you think tofu doesn’t taste of anything!
If you had a sponge in a bucket of water and that was all you had to dry your dogs muddy feet before walking onto your friends cream carpet what would you do? Hopefully you would be sensible enough to wring it out (not just put your dogs feet in the bucket)! You would squeeze all of the water out, then use it! If you then needed to use the same sponge to get bird poop off your windscreen, you’d put it back in the bucket and swirl it around a bit until it was (clean and) full of water again. Yes?
So. Tofu. It’s a sponge! It has been stored in water. Squeeze it! Press it! Wrap it! Do whatever you can (be careful if you’re balancing books and cans on it)! to get out all of that water. Then squeeze it just a little bit more, just to make sure it’s as dry as you can get it. Oh! It’s shrunk! You might notice now that your tofu has considerably changed size! 🙂
Good! NOW, and only now are you ready to use it! Slice it. Dice it. Cube it. THEN, drench it in something delicious (see below). Marinade it. Slather it. Dunk it. Spice it. LEAVE it to absorb all the flavours – half an hour minimum but the longer the better with overnight being great. Finally your tofu is ready to be cooked! Bake it. Roast it. Fry it. Try it!!! 😀
If you follow these simple steps for firm tofu (the most common type available) – extract as much water as possible, flavour with spices or marinade and leave to soak before cooking, your tofu will be delicious (unless of course you choose to marinate in something you don’t like!!!) 😛 Tofu comes in silk (think cheesecake), firm (most readily available) and extra firm (shouldn’t need pressing but very difficult to find)!
Why should you give tofu a try? Well, tofu is a fantastic protein, gives you a healthy dose of calcium and iron, is low fat (no cholesterol), low calorie, low carbohydrate, low sodium and also contains magnesium, phosphorus, manganese, selenium and copper! What’s not to like! 😀 Oh and I have this quick and easy super-delicious recipe for you! 😀
Gather Prepare Serve & StoreTantalisingly Tasty Tofu (vegan & Free-From)
Sharing this with Deborah at the Plant Based Potluck Party 🙂 and Angie at Fiesta Friday, co-hosted this week by Suzanne @ apuginthekitchen and Jess @ Cooking Is My Sport.
I’m off to the (Allergy &) Free-From show at Olympia (London) this weekend… which is also home to the Just V Show (for plant based lifestyles vegans & vegetarians) AND the Love Natural Show! I’m SO excited! Save yourself £10 and Grab your free tickets here! 😀