Quick tofu primer: there are a bunch of different kinds, but the main distinguishing factor is its firmness. Softer tofu has more water and firmer tofu has less water (it’s pressed for longer). I normally just get extra-firm tofu (the kind that comes completely wrapped in flexible plastic, and is sometimes called super-firm tofu) because that’s what Costco sells in my area and use it for almost all tofu instances. Some people press tofu to get more water out of it before using it, but I’ve never noticed much of an improvement from doing that. Maybe at most you’d want to pat it dry if you’re going to toss it in corn starch or something.
My roommate makes a lot of stir fries where she just cubes up tofu and puts it in, and it can absorb the flavor of the sauce pretty well. It’s pretty neutral and bland by itself, but in a very simple stir fry I think it’s pretty tasty.
My all time favorite tofu recipe is this vegan palak paneer with tofu. It’s even easier to make than the recipe says imo, follow the boiled tofu part but you don’t need to boil the tofu (just plop it in raw) and you can use frozen spinach, which comes pre-blanched. I normally double the recipe and use 340g of frozen spinach and it makes a lot of meals for my partner and I.
I have no idea what region you’re from, but if you’re looking to recreate a lot of fast food/standard American diet meals, check out Thee Burger Dude on YT, he has a lot of good recipes for prepping tofu or soy curls or a bunch of other things to imitate meat.
Tofu can also be delicious in its own right, rather than as a replacement for something. This vegan mapo tofu recipe is very tasty, and tofu is normally an integral part of the dish (and not trying to be meaty in any sense). This is also one case where I’ll seek out the softest tofu I can find, either silken tofu or soft tofu.
Happy to send more recipes if you’d like, or if you want to find a good vegan version of something I can try to give recommendations! Also, congrats on going vegan! btw
Quick tofu primer: there are a bunch of different kinds, but the main distinguishing factor is its firmness. Softer tofu has more water and firmer tofu has less water (it’s pressed for longer). I normally just get extra-firm tofu (the kind that comes completely wrapped in flexible plastic, and is sometimes called super-firm tofu) because that’s what Costco sells in my area and use it for almost all tofu instances. Some people press tofu to get more water out of it before using it, but I’ve never noticed much of an improvement from doing that. Maybe at most you’d want to pat it dry if you’re going to toss it in corn starch or something.
My roommate makes a lot of stir fries where she just cubes up tofu and puts it in, and it can absorb the flavor of the sauce pretty well. It’s pretty neutral and bland by itself, but in a very simple stir fry I think it’s pretty tasty.
My all time favorite tofu recipe is this vegan palak paneer with tofu. It’s even easier to make than the recipe says imo, follow the boiled tofu part but you don’t need to boil the tofu (just plop it in raw) and you can use frozen spinach, which comes pre-blanched. I normally double the recipe and use 340g of frozen spinach and it makes a lot of meals for my partner and I.
I have no idea what region you’re from, but if you’re looking to recreate a lot of fast food/standard American diet meals, check out Thee Burger Dude on YT, he has a lot of good recipes for prepping tofu or soy curls or a bunch of other things to imitate meat.
Tofu can also be delicious in its own right, rather than as a replacement for something. This vegan mapo tofu recipe is very tasty, and tofu is normally an integral part of the dish (and not trying to be meaty in any sense). This is also one case where I’ll seek out the softest tofu I can find, either silken tofu or soft tofu.
Happy to send more recipes if you’d like, or if you want to find a good vegan version of something I can try to give recommendations! Also, congrats on going vegan!
btw