Guest guest Posted July 11, 2008 Report Share Posted July 11, 2008 Ok, I am going to buy Tofu for the first time and I am wondering which type to buy since there are different textures and firmness. Samantha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 11, 2008 Report Share Posted July 11, 2008 >I am wondering which type to buy since there are different textures and firmness. It depends on what you're going to do with it. If you're using it for a stir-fry, kabobs, or something that requires a fairly solid piece of food, then a firm or extra firm is the best bet. Making salad dressing, a creamy cheese sauce, or something liquidy? Then a soft or silken soft will do. Your best bet is to look at the recipes and see which type of tofu the author recommends for which type of dish. Sue in NJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 11, 2008 Report Share Posted July 11, 2008 > Your best bet is to look at the recipes and see which type of tofu > the > author recommends for which type of dish. I totally agree. People get into trouble when they think they can just pick up tofu and use it wherever they would have used meat. Find a recipe that comes highly recommended (from a recipe site or blog where people can post their experiences) and follow the directions closely. A non-vegetarian friend of mine once told me she needed to get a tofu recipe from me because she had tried cooking it and her family didn't like it. She said, " Do you just crumble it straight into your spaghetti sauce or what? " I said I would never use tofu in spaghetti sauce. As it turns out, she thought that was how you're " supposed " to use tofu, so that's what she had done. No wonder they didn't like it! Susan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 11, 2008 Report Share Posted July 11, 2008 I like the extra-firm kind and cut it into squares. Then I put a TINY bit of oil in a frying pan, add some chopped ginger and garlic and let that cook until slightly brown. Then add vegetables such as onion, carrot, green pepper, bok choy, mushrooms, broccoli, water chestnuts, etc. Stir and let cook a short while. Then add a little soy sauce, sherry, tiny bit of sugar (or other sweetener), and maybe a couple drops of sesame oil for aromatic purposes. Let that cook a little bit (adding a little water if the vegetables don't emit enough while cooking) and then dump in your tofu. Stir it around so that it's coated with the sauce and let it cook a tiny bit longer. Good over rice, and makes the whole house smell like a Chinese restaurant! I have found that the extra-firm tofu goes very well with the flavor of a good soy sauce (such as low-sodium Kikkoman). I'll eat the tofu plain, cubed and sprinkled with soy sauce, or cooked in a dish with a soy sauce based liquid, such as in the recipe above. I also slice the block of tofu lengthwise (same size as original but thinner), place it on foil in a baking pan, and cover it with sauce (soy sauce, nutritional yeast, garlic, etc.) and let it bake until slightly brown. It makes good sandwiches like that. Good luck with it, and let us know how it goes! Chayah , " Samantha Who? " <bulkorspam- groups wrote: > > Ok, I am going to buy Tofu for the first time and I am wondering which type to buy since there are different textures and firmness. > > Samantha > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 11, 2008 Report Share Posted July 11, 2008 Ditto on choosing a recipe first!That said, when I need extra firm, I like to buy fresh tofu rather than packaged.They have it at our food coop, but most Asian food stores will also carry it.Much more flavorful and inexpensive. On Fri, Jul 11, 2008 at 3:03 PM, bigoldog <bigoldog wrote: I like the extra-firm kind and cut it into squares. Then I put a TINY bit of oil in a frying pan, add some chopped ginger and garlic and let that cook until slightly brown. Then add vegetables such as onion, carrot, green pepper, bok choy, mushrooms, broccoli, water chestnuts, etc. Stir and let cook a short while. Then add a little soy sauce, sherry, tiny bit of sugar (or other sweetener), and maybe a couple drops of sesame oil for aromatic purposes. Let that cook a little bit (adding a little water if the vegetables don't emit enough while cooking) and then dump in your tofu. Stir it around so that it's coated with the sauce and let it cook a tiny bit longer. Good over rice, and makes the whole house smell like a Chinese restaurant! I have found that the extra-firm tofu goes very well with the flavor of a good soy sauce (such as low-sodium Kikkoman). I'll eat the tofu plain, cubed and sprinkled with soy sauce, or cooked in a dish with a soy sauce based liquid, such as in the recipe above. I also slice the block of tofu lengthwise (same size as original but thinner), place it on foil in a baking pan, and cover it with sauce (soy sauce, nutritional yeast, garlic, etc.) and let it bake until slightly brown. It makes good sandwiches like that. Good luck with it, and let us know how it goes! Chayah , " Samantha Who? " <bulkorspam- groups wrote: > > Ok, I am going to buy Tofu for the first time and I am wondering which type to buy since there are different textures and firmness. > > Samantha > -- Georgette Nicolaidesblogcritics.org/writer/gettehttp://www.myspace.com/vegfestsyracuse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 11, 2008 Report Share Posted July 11, 2008 Samantha, I bought silken tofu for the first time recently, cut it in half and made the recipe on the back (spinach artichoke dip) with half of it. Then later I used the other half to make chocolate banana pudding. Both were delicious. It is also good just to add onion dip to the silken tofu (and a few pinenuts also). My favorite is to add spinach, pine nuts, artichoke hearts and onion. If you have a Magic Bullet blender it takes 30 seconds for the whole thing. And what is nice is you can eat it all for a meal with healthy chips and not worry about limiting quantity. Shelley H Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 12, 2008 Report Share Posted July 12, 2008 I was really really really afraid of tofu at first... it scared me. lol I had NO idea how to cook it or do anything with it...It was a chunk of white floppy bendy weird stuff. I learned through experimenting but I WILL say, check out youtube.com. There are SOOO many tofu based recipes and since it's video, you get to see actually how they prepare the tofu and how they cook it, so no guess work in the translation of the recipe... it's pretty cool. YAY, I found something great on youtube! lol (tho, japenese game shows on youtube have always amused me... hee hee) Good luck! Amie (converted tofu-lover!!) P Before you print think about the ENVIRONMENT Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to. Samantha Who? <bulkorspam-groups Sent: Friday, July 11, 2008 2:01:30 PM First time Tofu Ok, I am going to buy Tofu for the first time and I am wondering which type to buy since there are different textures and firmness. Samantha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 12, 2008 Report Share Posted July 12, 2008 Try looking up HABANERO on YouTube and watch the poor no common sense souls on there LOLOL! Samantha - AmieJPMS Friday, July 11, 2008 9:36 PM Re: First time Tofu I was really really really afraid of tofu at first... it scared me. lol I had NO idea how to cook it or do anything with it...It was a chunk of white floppy bendy weird stuff. I learned through experimenting but I WILL say, check out youtube.com. There are SOOO many tofu based recipes and since it's video, you get to see actually how they prepare the tofu and how they cook it, so no guess work in the translation of the recipe... it's pretty cool. YAY, I found something great on youtube! lol (tho, japenese game shows on youtube have always amused me... hee hee) Good luck! Amie (converted tofu-lover!!) P Before you print think about the ENVIRONMENT Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to. Samantha Who? <bulkorspam-groups > Sent: Friday, July 11, 2008 2:01:30 PM First time Tofu Ok, I am going to buy Tofu for the first time and I am wondering which type to buy since there are different textures and firmness. Samantha Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com Version: 8.0.138 / Virus Database: 270.4.7/1546 - Release 7/11/2008 6:47 AM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 12, 2008 Report Share Posted July 12, 2008 > They have it at our food coop, but most Asian food stores will also carry > it. Not all of them. We have one here that opened less than a year ago. 90% of the store is packaged imported things with unrecognizable names and in boxes with dancing fish or jars with gelatinous globs with stuff floating in it. The rest of the store, a few old refrigerators and a chest freezer you have to go down the store's basement to get to, are all fish and meat products, like squid and urchin. When I asked where the tofu was the guy by the register said they *might* still have a few packages in the freezer downstairs (the one with the squid), but they stopped carrying it after the first few weeks because nobody bought it. The larger Oriental store on a highway a few cities over had mostly the same stuff, just more of it, and fresh (very debatable term in that store) fish and produce sections. 20 different types of rice but no tofu of any kind or even cans of cooked gluten, stuff even my mainstream grocery stores carry. Sue in NJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 12, 2008 Report Share Posted July 12, 2008 >I was really really really afraid of tofu at first... it scared me. lol I had NO idea how to cook it or do anything with it...It was a chunk of white floppy bendy weird stuff. That's how I was back in the 1970's when I first tried it, back when the HFS carried healthy products including half the store holding vegetarian foods. About the only thing I did with it back then was cut it up and make stir fries. As long as it had enough soy sauce on it hubby didn't complain and ate it. Back then there were very few veg cookbooks, and our library carried none of them. This was also the days before interlibrary loans, so if they didn't have it you were SOL and had to buy it through a bookstore by special order, because *they* didn't carry vegetarian cookbooks, either. Sue in NJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 12, 2008 Report Share Posted July 12, 2008 Yes but do they cater?...lol > Not all of them. > > We have one here that opened less than a year ago. 90% of the store is > packaged imported things with unrecognizable names and in boxes with > dancing fish or jars with gelatinous globs with stuff floating in it. > The rest of the store, a few old refrigerators and a chest freezer you > have to go down the store's basement to get to, are all fish and meat > products, like squid and urchin. When I asked where the tofu was the guy > by the register said they *might* still have a few packages in the > freezer downstairs (the one with the squid), but they stopped carrying > it after the first few weeks because nobody bought it. > > The larger Oriental store on a highway a few cities over had mostly the > same stuff, just more of it, and fresh (very debatable term in that > store) fish and produce sections. 20 different types of rice but no tofu > of any kind or even cans of cooked gluten, stuff even my mainstream > grocery stores carry. > > > Sue in NJ > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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