Is there a way to make this stuff not disgusting?

Ma Po Tofu: thewoksoflife.com/2014/03/ma-po-tofu-real-deal/

Shit tastes like whatever you cook it in. FOAD. Fucking casual.

someone posted this in another thread. I gave it a shot, it's pretty good

youtube.com/watch?v=ob2CYmTx9PM

try tempeh and then come back to tofu

it'll taste like heaven

if you can't make tofu taste good, you're shit at cooking

A great recipe site.

Tofu is also pretty tasty when you fry it up and let it eat up whatever sauce or soups you cook it in.

I ate something that contained tofu that somebody cooked once. It was good. Maybe you just suck in the kitchen.

Get out of the kitchen.

I like it fried with black bean garlic sauce

Couldn't you make that without the spongy tofu and serve it on rice or something?
Wouldn't that improve the recipe?

Mapo tofu or something like pic related

I dunno maybe some onions some garlic maybe some bell pepper on black beans and rice

is the purple stuff eggplant?

Sofritas is GOAT

question, how long does fried tofu stay good in the refrigerator while still mixed up with veggies and sauce?

Saute with salted radish, garlic, and veggie stir fry sauce. Deglaze with a little bit rice wine

It's also really good with coconut curry.

Chinese eggplant

Soy sauce has been proven to contain a concentraited Umami flavor, condensed by a chemical process where the soy sauce will actually fold the proteins within food an estimated 1000 times or more. This combined with the natural umameme flavor of the original dish creates a synergistic umami product, which contains LOTS of umami.

t. most honorabur wapanese scientish sorry purese sank u purease andastandu

Are you eatin for health or an asian raised on a white diet? This stuff's great fried or in very oily asian dishes. If you are eating it for some health diet, soup's the best way to go.

I heard or read somewhere that "bland" flavor is as important to japanese people as the white parts are in a painting...Well it's definitely not for me but tofu can be delicious if marinated in a good sauce.

Flavor is contrast. Tofu is an ingredient that retains its flavor and form instead of breaking down and spreading its flavor throughout a dish. By having this separate flavor and texture, it accentuates the main flavor of the dish by contrasting it.

it's good deep fried

ma pow tofu is baller too

Fermented tofu is great if you got the taste for it

Soak in chilli oil for about 30 mins. While this is happening make up a dry mix of flour, breadcrumbs, pepper, salt and mild/hot spices. Egg or milk wash then dip and repeat. Deep fry until crispy. Goes well with smooth red wine. or with nachos etc..

Optionally: Freeze then thaw it, this changes the texture of the protein and makes it more chewy while also making it more porous, and therefor able to absorb broth or marinade. Most chinese restaurants do this, in my experience.

Most importantly, press it. You can buy a tofu press, or just wrap it in a towel and set something heavy on top for half an hour or so (I just use a cutting board with a castiron pan on top). It usually ends up at about half the size it was at first.

From there, it can be cooked in various ways. I like to marinaded it for a while, right after pressing, so that it absorbs lots of marinade as it expands. After that, I dab the surface dry with a towel, baste with a sauce (e.g., barbecue sauce), and bake at 350 or so for an hour. I turn once or twice to re-baste. Then I let it cook down a bit, slice, and add to stew or curry or whatever.

Are you sure it wasn't rancid? Tempeh has an odd taste raw (very strange sour/bitter taste when it's gone bad), but like tofu, no one actually eats it raw. Marinade strips of tempeh in soy sauce and rice wine vinegar and then fry the strips until well browned/crispy and then try cutting into bits to mix with salad or stir-fry, or even crumble it up and cook it with taco seasoning for tacos.

Its good in stir fry.

Cut it up, wrap it in towels to drain the moisture out of it. The more moisture you drain the better itll cook. Get firm or extra firm tofu if you can, and cotton tofu i believe cooks better than silken but i can never find it where i am.

(I have no idea what non firm tofu is used for in cooking.)

Cover it in cornflower. Fry it up. It tends to be a little too fragile to go straight in the wok, i usually pan-fry it until its firmer and then throw it in.

Mix it with a stir fry that has a good sauce going. Itll absorb the flavors and you end up with something actually pretty decent.

It ends up being something like a cross between plain chicken and halloumi cheese, flavoured to your choice.

Of course, its up to you whether thats worth the effort involved. I think a lot of people try to use it as a meat substitute, but as someone who likes meat that just seems retarded.

Tofu has a blank and unappealing flavor by itself. You don't make the centre of a dish any more than youd make plain potatos the centre of a dish.

Having tofu and meat at the same time is something you can do, and its nice.

Another thing you can do if you're less inclined to prep work is dice it and throw it in with the stir-fry sans prep. Itll basically disintegrate into very small clumps. From that point any flavor isn't going to come across. Itll just add protein and be sort of comparable to little bits of egg i guess.

>(I have no idea what non firm tofu is used for in cooking.)

Silken tofu has a very neutral taste and is silken, as the name says. The Nips like to sweeten it and mix in flavors and eat it for dessert, I think they also put it in some soups. You can use it to make non-dairy chocolate mousse, or as a thickener/protein-boost for smoothies. It can also be added to some types of baked goods to increase moisture content. I've used it and soymilk (along with a little pinch of kala namak) to make egg-free eggnog.

Good overall instructions, btw.

> i usually pan-fry it until its firmer and then throw it in.

This can also be accomplished by baking it rather than frying. Freezing/thawing can make the texture sort of flaky and more chewy whereas just pressing/baking can make it have the texture of a firm cheese.

IMO though, the BEST way to make tofu is to cold-smoke it. There's a brand at the store that makes smoked tofu and it tastes/has a texture strikingly similar to smoked halloumi cheese.