Guest guest Posted January 18, 2009 Report Share Posted January 18, 2009 Howdy folks, I was just reading about Heather's delicious lunch and how she gets some of the water out of tofu, and it reminded me of something that might be helpful for some of you. You can remove water from tofu and make it a bit denser by " pressing " it. Pressed tofu is sometimes available in markets (mostly Asian, in my experience), but it's really easy to do at home. It works best with either medium or firm tofu; softer is too delicate for this. This is what I do: * Cut the tofu into pieces that aren't too thick -- maybe half the length of your thumb. * Put the pieces on a plate with a lip (water will be collecting on it). * Put another plate on top of the tofu, and put something weighty on top of this plate. You want it heavy enough to press down on the tofu, but not so heavy as to crush it! * Leave it, letting it drain, for anywhere from 20 minutes to a few hours. If I'm leaving it for more than 20 minutes, I put it in the fridge. * Water will collect on the plate, and I pour it off every so often so the tofu doesn't reabsorb it. If you have something like a colander or plastic strainer, you can put the tofu in that and weight it down -- that way the water will just drip away. The tofu will be drier and a bit denser. I also pat it dry before I cook it. Hope this helps! Cinzia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 18, 2009 Report Share Posted January 18, 2009 There's another thing you can do, which removes less water but does help, and which is easier. I just cut my tofu into slabs, and wrap them in a clean kitchen towel. Even 5 minutes, while I prepare other ingredients and heat the pan, helps - longer is better. I knew about draining it for years, but rarely got around to actually doing it. Since I learned this method, I do it almost every time, and it does help. I think I remember it being a Japanese technique, but don't remember where I learned it. Cinzia's method will make it firmer. Anne On Sun, Jan 18, 2009 at 1:12 AM, cinziatre <cmarchesani wrote: > Howdy folks, > > I was just reading about Heather's delicious lunch and how she gets > some of the water out of tofu, and it reminded me of something that > might be helpful for some of you. > > You can remove water from tofu and make it a bit denser by " pressing " > it. Pressed tofu is sometimes available in markets (mostly Asian, in > my experience), but it's really easy to do at home. It works best > with either medium or firm tofu; softer is too delicate for this. > > This is what I do: > * Cut the tofu into pieces that aren't too thick -- maybe half the > length of your thumb. > > * Put the pieces on a plate with a lip (water will be collecting on it). > > * Put another plate on top of the tofu, and put something weighty on > top of this plate. You want it heavy enough to press down on the > tofu, but not so heavy as to crush it! > > * Leave it, letting it drain, for anywhere from 20 minutes to a few > hours. If I'm leaving it for more than 20 minutes, I put it in the > fridge. > > * Water will collect on the plate, and I pour it off every so often so > the tofu doesn't reabsorb it. > > If you have something like a colander or plastic strainer, you can put > the tofu in that and weight it down -- that way the water will just > drip away. > > The tofu will be drier and a bit denser. I also pat it dry before I > cook it. Hope this helps! Cinzia > > > --- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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