You know, I can remember a time when I didn’t like tofu, but even so, it seems unlikely. I never craved it until I started making my own version (cut up as in the photo, pan fry in 1tbsp sesame oil, with soy sauce sprinkled liberally over the top — about 4-5 minutes per side over medium-high heat), but I even enjoy tofu that’s quite bland (what’s up with Wagamama’s tofu? Everything else has so much flavour!).
I have days where I can’t stop thinking how nice it would be to eat a bit of tofu, which I think must be my body asking for some protein. (I had hard boiled eggs and steamed green veggies for the lunch the other day — it wasn’t my brain that made that choice!) When I make tofu as above (which I call ‘salty tofu,’ so you can too), I usually mix it in with noodles and vegetables, but I wouldn’t mind having a bowl of it on its own. In fact — well, I won’t tell you how much I ate while I was waiting for the noodles to finish cooking.
If you’ve never got on well with tofu, but think you ought to eat more, do try my version. The trick is to slice it fairly thinly (about. . . half a centimetre) so you get more outside crunch and less inside squidge. Mmmm, tofu-y.
Mmmm…excellent. That’s exactly how I like tofu, too (only olive oil instead of sesame). Sometimes I throw in various Chinese spices and just a tad of brown sugar and have it with steamed green beans or asparagus.
I’ll have to try it with noodles, that sounds yummy.
I do something similar, with soy, ginger, Chinese Five Spice, garlic or green onions. Yummers.
I so agree with you that it’s important to slice thin. The more surface, the more crunch and coating of whatever flavour you’re adding. The key to me eating tofu is for me to not have to taste the actual tofu much. What can I say: at least I eat it
just a couple days ago i had an entire conversation about what has happened to the tofu at wagamama. i used to love it. i used to order moyashi soba with great anticipation. i hadn’t been in during the summer, and then we go in last week and there is no moyashi on the menu. their tofu-n-rice dish was blah, blah and more blah. now i just hope they haven’t also changed the recipe for yasai katsu curry. if they touch that, then nothing is sacred.
I am dreadful at pan fry tofu + generally resort to buying it in ready-to-eat baked form. Thank you for this tutorial, I will have to give your method a try. I tend to eat mine with brown rice + a sprinkle of seaweed.
That’s exactly how I prepare tofu too. Sometimes I even sprinkle a little chilly flakes on top just to give that extra kick.
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Tammy — Yes, of course it’s okay!
Anna- What brand of tofu do you buy? I still am trying to figure out all the different foods here, and I remember struggling with tofu in the US, where when you tried to pan fry it, it would just fall apart.
Joy — I buy Cauldron organic tofu. It’s quite firm and doesn’t fall apart, so it should do the trick! Their veggie sausages are also quite nice — I’m going to miss the variety of vegetarian options in the UK!