Tofu Tutorials (+Recipe 3)

If you came here looking for instructions on how to perfect the art of cooking tofu, than I’ve mislead you a little bit.  Tofu tutorials are what I need, not what I’m going to be offering anytime soon.

I’ve never cooked tofu before.  I’ve experimented with tempeh, but in my opinion, tempeh is easier.  It has a more pleasant texture that doesn’t take as much work to mask.  That’s what successfully cooking tofu is really: masking a mushy, tasteless food.  Have you ever noticed how deeply fried it is at restaurants?  It just becomes a sponge for oil, garlic, and other delicious things.

Anyways, I’ve done a bit of research and found that there are many types of tofu. There is silken tofu, tub tofu, and brick tofu. Soft, medium or firm.  It comes in a block or in cubes, pre-flavored or plain.  You can press it, bake it, fry it, bread it… have your pick.

Well, my intention was to adapt this Garlic Soba Noodle recipe, only when I went to open the tofu, I discovered that I had accidentally bought cubed tofu when I thought I bought a block.  So instead of dipping it in egg, I tried stir frying it with olive oil and tossing in the bread crumbs, garlic powder and parmesan.  I could quickly tell that it was not going to be as crispy or firm as I wanted, so I decided to take a chance.  I covered the tofu with an egg white and then shook it into a mixture of the bread crumbs and the Italian seasoning, and baked at 375 degrees until brown.  It worked out, but I’d recommend saving yourself the hassle and buying the blocked tofu.

To Serve Two:

Ingredients:

1 bundle (3.1 oz) dried soba noodles
1/4 cup Italian bread crumb
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
8 oz ounces extra firm organic tofu, cut into 4 rectangular slabs
1 egg white
1 tablespoon  olive oil
10-20 asparagus spears
teaspoon garlic powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Cook soba noodles according to package.  Set aside when done.
2. Meanwhile, mix 1/4 cup bread crumbs with 1/2 tsp garlic powder and 4 tablespoons parmesan cheese; cut tofu into slabs, dip in egg white and coat in bread crumb mixture.  Bake at 375 on a well greased baking sheet until browned.
3. While the tofu cooks, heat olive oil and cook garlic until starting to brown.  Add asparagus and cook as desired.  Stir in soba noodles, 1 tsp (or more if you like) garlic powder, 2 tablespoons parmesan and salt and pepper.
4. Combine baked tofu and noodle mix and serve!

My take on the: Not bad for a quick and healthy meal at home, but I wouldn’t serve it to guests.  There’s some distinction between a full blown recipe and things you have in your pantry that taste good together, and this is definitely the latter.  But I mean really, what doesn’t taste good with enough olive oil, garlic and parmesan? Courtney’s take: “If you close your eyes, it almost tastes like chicken.

In other news, the chickpea burgers are excellent with brie and roasted red peppers on a sesame bun!

Johanna