Forgive me, but Tofu....

OutlawSwine

OutlawSwine

is one Smokin' Farker

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My wife had some tofu the other day at a Thai restaurant and has not shut up about it. She loved it (it was some sort of tofu salad thingy that smelled like a wet hippie). She asked me if I can cook tofu and I responded - Why would I, are we out of meat? :p

Anyway....she has challenged me to make a tofu dish that is edible. Personally I have never eaten tofu, cooked it or even seen it up close(except on the shelf at the store). Does anyone have a tofu recipe/dish that is good? ANY help is appreciated.

CAUTION:
You need to go ahead and realize that I know NOTHING, I repeat NOTHING about tofu. I know the one package that I have seen before said "firm" on it and it looked like Play Doh. That is the extent of my knowledge.
 
Landarc entered a tofu dish in a throwdown, and got five farking votes.

Good luck.

CD
 
OutlawSwine said:
My wife had some tofu the other day at a Thai restaurant and has not shut up about it. She loved it (it was some sort of tofu salad thingy that smelled like a wet hippie). She asked me if I can cook tofu and I responded - Why would I, are we out of meat? :p

Anyway....she has challenged me to make a tofu dish that is edible. Personally I have never eaten tofu, cooked it or even seen it up close(except on the shelf at the store). Does anyone have a tofu recipe/dish that is good? ANY help is appreciated.

CAUTION:
You need to go ahead and realize that I know NOTHING, I repeat NOTHING about tofu. I know the one package that I have seen before said "firm" on it and it looked like Play Doh. That is the extent of my knowledge.
Click to expand...

Tofu is that fun ingredient that the masses have chosen as the one it is politically correct to ridicule...but here is the thing.
If you don't have a developed palate it will have too subtle a flavour for you to enjoy. The positive is, it will act as a fantastic taste flavinoid deliver system for any other flavours, so that means it is easy to make delicious!
I'll help you out with recipes but give me a hand, tell me the name or description of what you ate at the Thai place brother.
Otherwise I will be just throwing things I like at you.
Bucc
 
TOFU!?!?!? :bolt:

:-D

I do enjoy tofu in some dishes, mostly Asian. It's really flavor sponge and will pick up the flavors from whatever you put it in.
 
buccaneer said:
Tofu is that fun ingredient that the masses have chosen as the one it is politically correct to ridicule...but here is the thing.
If you don't have a developed palate it will have too subtle a flavour for you to enjoy. The positive is, it will act as a fantastic taste flavinoid deliver system for any other flavours, so that means it is easy to make delicious!
I'll help you out with recipes but give me a hand, tell me the name or description of what you ate at the Thai place brother.
Otherwise I will be just throwing things I like at you.
Bucc
Click to expand...

Honestly, throwing things at me that you like will be perfect. :-D

She had some sort of Thai salad that had little squares of fried tofu in it. It had some sort of spicy peanut dressing on it. Other things were in it also, but I don't remember what else was in it. Maybe some coconut and little pieces of oranges??
 
buccaneer said:
Tofu is that fun ingredient that the masses have chosen as the one it is politically correct to ridicule...but here is the thing.
If you don't have a developed palate it will have too subtle a flavour for you to enjoy. The positive is, it will act as a fantastic taste flavinoid deliver system for any other flavours, so that means it is easy to make delicious!
I'll help you out with recipes but give me a hand, tell me the name or description of what you ate at the Thai place brother.
Otherwise I will be just throwing things I like at you.
Bucc
Click to expand...

:drama:

CD:becky:
 
My favorite tofu dish (actually it's a fairly common Japanese side dish) is plain cold tofu topped with dried bonito flakes, chopped green onions, grated ginger, soy sauce, and hot Japanese mustard.
 
There are a couple of things, do you want to smoke the tofu? frying it is also tasty, but, then it is all about the sauce, not all together a bad thing. For me, I happen to like smoked tofu, especially the stuff that is compressed prior to smoking, the compressing makes it denser and it does not get hollow and weird texturally when smoked. A lot like smoked cheese, an overnight rest does wonder, especially in a dilute liquid solution.

If you compress it under a brick or other heavey object, overnight, it removes the moisture, what I then do is marinate it for an hour, or rub and wrap for an hour. It can then be smoked for about 30 minutes to an hour over mild smoke, diced or sliced and used in salads or noodle dishes, soups work great too.

This is horrible, but, a salad comprised of canned mandarin orange slices, small sweet peas, fresh bean sprouts, mixed lettuces, including iceberg, some finely shredded carrots and jicama and then a salad dressing of peanut butter, rice vinegar, soy sauce, hot sauce and a little fish sauce really can be terrific. Just throw the cubed smoked tofu on top.
 
landarc said:
There are a couple of things, do you want to smoke the tofu? frying it is also tasty, but, then it is all about the sauce, not all together a bad thing. For me, I happen to like smoked tofu, especially the stuff that is compressed prior to smoking, the compressing makes it denser and it does not get hollow and weird texturally when smoked. A lot like smoked cheese, an overnight rest does wonder, especially in a dilute liquid solution.

If you compress it under a brick or other heavey object, overnight, it removes the moisture, what I then do is marinate it for an hour, or rub and wrap for an hour. It can then be smoked for about 30 minutes to an hour over mild smoke, diced or sliced and used in salads or noodle dishes, soups work great too.

This is horrible, but, a salad comprised of canned mandarin orange slices, small sweet peas, fresh bean sprouts, mixed lettuces, including iceberg, some finely shredded carrots and jicama and then a salad dressing of peanut butter, rice vinegar, soy sauce, hot sauce and a little fish sauce really can be terrific. Just throw the cubed smoked tofu on top.
Click to expand...

I was hoping you would jump in here and comment.

I'm going to give smoking it a shot and see what happens.
You say rest overnight then put in a diluted solution. What kind of solution/marinade would that be? Since I've never made tofu before, I don't know what would be too strong or too subtle. I am a complete rookie at this, but since my wife asked for it, I am willing to give it a shot.

Honestly, the salad that you described sounds pretty close to what she actually had in the restaurant. :shock:

Also, should I use "firm" tofu? I don't know if there are other types, but that's what I've seen.
 
Compressing the tofu sounds like a good idea, since the thing I don't like about tofu is the mouth feel. If that would make it feel more like a cheese in my mouth, I could probably deal with it.

CD
 
To be honest, my fiance makes Tofu sometimes. Used to a lot when she was, brace yourself, a vegeterian.

But she made baked Tofu which I did not like.

But she made Tofu tacos. That I loved. I still do. And I love tacos. In fact Mexican is my fav cousine. When first confronted by Tofu tacos I was weary. Didn't love em at first. But now. Man o man. It's a different flavor. Sometimes now when I want tacos I'm in the mood for Tofu tacos.

Mmm mm. Sorry.
 
DirtyDirty00 said:
To be honest, my fiance makes Tofu sometimes. Used to a lot when she was, brace yourself, a vegeterian.

But she made baked Tofu which I did not like.

But she made Tofu tacos. That I loved. I still do. And I love tacos. In fact Mexican is my fav cousine. When first confronted by Tofu tacos I was weary. Didn't love em at first. But now. Man o man. It's a different flavor. Sometimes now when I want tacos I'm in the mood for Tofu tacos.

Mmm mm. Sorry.
Click to expand...

Dirty, do you have the recipe?
 
Dude, you sounded like Seargent Schultz "I know nothing". :becky: when Hogan would ask a question about the German's intelligence. :rofl:
 
Here's my go-to item whenever *shudder* I invite a vegetarian over:

1 block of firm or xtra firm tofu.
1 tbsp yogurt
1 tbsp curry powder or tandoori masala
1 tsp mayo
1/2 tsp ginger paste
1/2 tsp garlic paste
1tbsp chopped cilantro or mint

Mix everthing together. Slather over tofu block. Marinate for a few hours.

Grill until the marinade sets and dries a little so its not wet anymore.

Slice into strips and serve in a salad or in tortillas as wraps or whatever strikes your fancy.

I almost had to make this again for Thanksgiving, because there was the imminent threat of a vegetarian coming. Ended up not having to since they bailed at the last minute.
 
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