This Can't Be Tofu! (2 page)

A lot of people say they don’t like tofu, or don’t like its texture, but my hunch is that that’s a case of tofu being misunderstood. If, after trying these recipes, you find that you still don’t like tofu, but want to include it in your diet, then look at the
Smoothies and Shakes chapter
and enjoy a lot of rich-tasting, creamy drinks.

While most of the recipes in this book treat tofu as a food to be enjoyed for its own intrinsic qualities, tofu can also disappear into dishes so completely that you don’t even know it’s there. The success of a dessert made with tofu, a tofu mayonnaise, or tofu as feta cheese or sour cream, depends in part on where your food experiences lie. If you like the taste of traditional foods and aren’t using tofu in order to avoid eggs or dairy, then including some in a standard recipe gives you the benefits of soy without giving up traditional flavors. For example, you can stir pureed silken tofu into prepared mayonnaise, or into a ricotta filling intended for manicotti, ravioli, or enchiladas, and truly not know the difference. I have a suspicious palate when it comes to substitutes, so you can trust me on this.

When it comes to desserts, you might find soy milk a bit easier to use than tofu. Soy milk can be used wherever milk is called for in a recipe, except where color is important. For example, it makes no difference in a butterscotch tapioca or chocolate pudding, but it might be off-putting in an old-fashioned vanilla custard, simply because its hue can be slightly brownish. Otherwise, soy milk can easily be used as a substitute in dishes such as in cakes and French toast.

In desserts and baked goods, use
2
ounces pureed silken tofu to replace each egg called for in pancake, muffin, quick bread, and cake recipes. Or add tofu along with the eggs, or just the egg whites, to your recipe. The tofu provides moisture and structure to baked goods, yet doesn’t interfere with the flavor. It can even be included in a chocolate cake or a pumpkin pie with no one the wiser, and tofu cheesecakes have become rather popular these days. When using pureed tofu in baked goods, make sure that it’s completely smooth before adding it to a batter. Any little gobbets of tofu will harden as they bake and leave their visible traces, attractive neither to the tongue nor to the eye.

Tofu is particularly beloved of vegetarians because, among its other qualities, it is an excellent protein source and it is very easy to use in vegetarian dishes. But choosing to eat more tofu doesn’t mean that you have to become vegetarian. Traditionally, tofu is often combined with meat in dishes: in sukiyaki, tofu simmers with beef. Across Asia, tofu is seasoned with dried shrimp or oyster sauce, or simmered in chicken stock or
daishi no moto
, a Japanese stock made with dried bonito. If you are trying to include tofu at your table but are not a vegetarian, add it to stir-fries that you already know how to make, even if they use meat and fish. Reduce the amount of meat you use if that’s what you’re striving to do.

I have included some recipes that combine tofu with seafood, list both chicken and vegetable stocks as ingredients, and occasionally call for oyster sauce and fish sauce, which are excellent complementary flavorings for tofu. But for the most part, the recipes in this book are made without meat or fowl, since tofu does so well as a substitute for the protein-dense foods and is of special interest to vegetarians or those aiming to eat less meat.

AS IF IT’S NOT HARD ENOUGH TO REACH
for your first package of tofu, which kind do you reach for? Soft or silken? Firm or extra-firm? Tofu that comes packed in water or tofu sealed in a box on a shelf far from any refrigeration? If you haven’t any idea about what to choose or why, you’re certainly not alone. For a lot of people this is sheer guesswork, and it needn’t be.

Before reviewing the kinds of tofu, it might be helpful first to understand how tofu is made. Making tofu is not dissimilar to making simple cheeses, such as ricotta, or yogurt. The process begins with a liquid that looks just like rich whole milk, only it’s made from ground soybeans. This soy milk is heated, just as cows’ milk is, then it’s either curdled or solidified with the addition of salts or acid.

Salts, such as nigari, magnesium chloride or calcium sulfate, work like rennet to separate the soy milk into curds and whey. The delicate curds are ladled into settling boxes that are perforated and lined with cloth. The whey drips out of the boxes, the remaining curds are pressed, and the result is tofu. The more the tofu is pressed, the firmer it becomes, and the more nutrient and calorically dense it becomes as well. The tofu is then packed in water-filled cartons. A recent addition to the market is very firm baked tofu that is packaged in oxygen-free plastic wrappers.

In a second process, thicker soy milk plus another substance, lactone, is added with the coagulant, which makes it possible for the soymilk to thicken in its container the way yogurt does. As there is no whey or any need for pressing, the resulting tofu is soft and silky, like yogurt. In fact, this type of tofu is called “silken tofu.” Traditionally silken tofu can be as delicate as the most perfectly cooked custard. The Chinese shopgirl in a market where I buy an exceptionally delicate fresh silken tofu says she loves this kind best and simply eats it with a spoon. Most silken tofu, however, is sold in foil-lined asceptic cartons that keep for months unrefrigerated.

Although both the regular pressed curds and the silken tofu are labeled
soft, firm
, or
extra-firm
, silken tofu is always more delicate and smoother than tofu packed in water. Each type of tofu has its own best use. Here’s what you’re likely to find in your supermarket.

This tofu is made by the curds-and-whey method. It is available in individual cartons. It is packed in water, which keeps the tofu fresh. You’ll find it refrigerated, either in the produce section of your market near the Asian vegetables or in the dairy case. Some brands are Nasoya, Azumaya, Quong Hop, if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, White Wave, and others. While there are some national brands, every part of the country has a few small local factories that produce tofu. My preference is for the Japanese brands; I find their textures and flavors superior. I find some of the newer non-Asian brands tend to be a little grainier, but like everything, it’s a matter of personal taste and how you plan to use the tofu.

Usually this type of tofu comes in one block, but sometimes it comes in four smaller blocks, each weighing about 5 ounces. This is most likely to be true when you buy Chinese brands in an Asian market. In general, the cartons weigh between 14 and 20 ounces. Usually, one carton is enough for two to four servings—two, if you really like tofu.

Firm or Regular:
Referred to by either name, I think of this as my all-purpose tofu. It’s strong enough to withstand frying, sautéing, and grilling, but tender enough to take the place of soft tofu. Even when fried until crisp on the outside, it will be creamy on the inside. It’s not quite as smooth as the soft tofu, nor is it as grainy as the extra-firm. It is the tofu I’ve used most often in this book. If you’re going to buy tofu but don’t know how you’re going to use it, you’ll be safest buying regular or firm tofu.

Soft:
Use this kind of tofu when you want to serve very simple tofu dishes that have nothing more than a little sauce or garnish, tofu that’s to appear in salads, or tofu that you intend to scramble like eggs or
with
eggs. Soft tofu is also good in a smoothie, added to baked goods, or used in place of mayonnaise and other creamy-textured sauces and dips. Soft tofu has the most delicate taste and custardlike texture. As you would expect, it requires more careful handling, unless it’s to be pureed.

Extra-firm:
This tofu has been pressed longer than soft or firm tofu. This is the tofu you can marinate forever, throw on a grill without fear of it’s breaking apart, or use where you want the crumbly texture of ground pork or hamburger, although the firm tofu will work, too. In short, you can handle it roughly. When people say they don’t like the texture of tofu, I am fairly sure that extra-firm is the kind they’re referring to, because it’s a little coarse and lacks the delicacy of softer tofu. However, it’s ideal when you need tofu that won’t fall apart or when you’re planning to break it into crumbles, as in the Green
“Chorizo”
.

Made like yogurt, this tofu sets into a single smooth unit; there is no whey. Most often, silken tofu comes aseptically packed in a 10-ounce box that needs no refrigeration. While many stores feature silken tofu in the produce section, it can also be found on the aisle where curry pastes, noodles, and soy sauce are sold. It is not surrounded with water, though once opened, if you haven’t managed to use it all at once, you can keep it by covering it with cold water. It will keep this way for 2 to 3 days.

Although silken tofu comes labeled
soft, firm
, and
extra-firm
, even the extra-firm is fairly soft and tender. However, it can successfully be fried and will fall apart only marginally in a stir-fry. Soft silken tofu tastes good and looks beautiful when floating in a miso soup, and firm and extra-firm both work well mingling among salad leaves with their pungent dressings. When adding silken tofu to salads, I often simmer it first in salted water for 2 minutes, which improves the flavor and firms the texture.

The soft silken tofu is ideal for pureeing and using in dishes where you plan to have it disappear, as in salad dressings, mayonnaise, or smoothies, or if you wish to scramble it with eggs or treat it like the Indian cheese, paneer. However you can use firm and extra-firm silken tofus as well.

Draining:
Draining simply means pouring off the water that the tofu is packaged in. Pressing refers to wrapping it in cloth or paper towels or letting it sit on toweling to force out the excess water within. The reasons for pressing the water out of tofu are: