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Speaking of tofu, Pailin from Hot Thai Kitchen has a banger tofu episode in which she lets loose several tofu rants I agree with:

- in most of Asia, tofu isn’t a meat alternative
- tofu is often cooked with non veg items
- people who try to ‘make it like chicken / steak’ have no idea what they’re doing
- if you think tofu is horrible, I’m sorry you’ve not had great tofu and tofu dishes

https://youtu.be/QijDgL1PI5o

#Food #Cooking #Tofu

in reply to Adrianna Tan

I think the misconception of it as "meat alternative" has some deep roots here in the West.

We tend to think of vegetarianism as "the same old recipes but with the meat left off" and it automatically demotes any plant protein into being "the meat" rather than having its own Identity.

in reply to Adrianna Tan

Tofu techniques:

- 3 Chinese tofu frying techniques https://youtu.be/8vWIenK4p60

- Tofu sheets (you can make tofu salads and tofu noodles with it) https://youtu.be/H_wf-vG58xg

- Restaurant style salt and pepper tofu https://youtu.be/J_men1BU9RQ

If you don’t eat meat just omit the meat, or replace any instance of ground pork (commonly used to cook tofu in Chinese cooking), with minced mushrooms

#Recipes #Tofu #Cooking #Food

in reply to Adrianna Tan

Maangchi is like my Korean auntie (who I don’t call enough, because my actual Korean auntie makes banchan at a popular Seoul restaurant and would almost certainly give me recipes too!)

- soft tofu stew with seafood (add more veg and skip seafood if you’re veg) https://youtu.be/Mg9zeD01kEw

- broccoli with tofu https://youtu.be/1F4q2IWzYto

- tofu soup with clams https://youtu.be/VNSqlbFvWuA

in reply to Adrianna Tan

Masala tofu https://youtu.be/fLhjCsXR8_g

Spicy braised tofu https://youtu.be/ob2CYmTx9PM

Vegan kkanpoong tofu https://youtu.be/2VwK220z8Tc

in reply to Adrianna Tan

my favourite is pan fried until crispy after coating with flour and black pepper, then mixing with a noodle stir fry with black bean sauce

I learned why I had always thought black bean dishes were meh: it's cos most black bean sauce here has about as much power as a sleepy four year old in the entire jar. Find one where half a teaspoon of it knocks your block off, that's the real good shit.

in reply to Advanced Persistent Teapot

@http_error_418 i just got a bag of black beans to make my own!

https://youtu.be/xcv7AAktfd8

in reply to Adrianna Tan

i also love every recipe from hetty lui mckinnon, like this: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1025021-spicy-mushroom-and-tofu-mazemen
in reply to Adrianna Tan

thanks for all these recipes, I love tofu but am very bad at cooking it so this is great
in reply to Adrianna Tan

I bookmarked this and have just had cause to use it and it's been genuinely helpful, so thanks. 😊
in reply to Adrianna Tan

💯 on all that. I'm really glad that as a kid I was exposed to tofu in Chinese food before I was exposed to it as a western vegetarian thing
in reply to Adrianna Tan

Funny the "accidentally" frozen tofu intro to tell the viewer about this common practice.
@Adrianna Tan
in reply to Andy H3

@andy Pailin, like me, who grew up in Southeast Asia, has almost certainly never heard of frozen tofu until we left that part of the world. Frozen anything really was offensive to our people
in reply to Andy H3

probably with Asian American cooks who used more frozen foods. almost everything we eat in SE Asia is 'fresh' and we buy groceries daily from markets. including freshly made tofu not from factories.

my own parents would never eat at a restaurant that used frozen vegetables or frozen proteins.

personally i don't like doing anything that changes the texture of tofu so i don't do it.

This entry was edited (1 week ago)
in reply to Adrianna Tan

Freezing tofu is kind of magic for getting alternate textures. We’ve been doing it for so many years — we mostly don’t eat meat so having stuff with a variety of textures that bring in some protein is useful even if tofu isn’t a meat sub. Also we have all these amazing asian markets nearby and (as you know) the long tradition of non-meat ingredients, often using tofu and mushrooms, has meant some great easy ingredients to use (eg “chicken ham” that isn’t meat!)
in reply to Rachael Ludwick

Also also: folks who live in big urban areas go find your local tofu factories! Freshly made local tofu is such a wildly different experience no matter how you’re using it. Also they might have their own house made soy milk and other soy products. It’s amazing.
in reply to Adrianna Tan

Pailin is awesome, I’ll definitely watch this one. I have eaten a lot of tofu, but I always ended up liking the outside marinade best. Which is a shame.

And rants from knowledgeable people are always nice to watch. Thanks!

in reply to Adrianna Tan

This is legit - our son's partner made us dinner once which I thought was some kind of fake meat, but they had just frozen the tofu and then done some very talented spicing. I'm not a fan of tofu generally, but I was shocked at how good it was.
in reply to Adrianna Tan

Before my wife went soy-free because of her MS diet, one of my favorite things to do with tofu was to slice it up about the size of a Bit-O-Honey and pan fry it with butter, salt, some fresh garlic and maybe yellow curry powder, and a splash of beer.

Never tried freezing tofu, though. I have to give that a try in the future.

We also have a story where my wife put a whole tarragon plant in the fridge.... The results weren't as much fun.

This entry was edited (1 week ago)