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Writer's pictureChef Martha Morgan

5 Recipes To Take The Mystery Out Of Tofu!

I was recently on WHAS 11 Great Day Live promoting this tofu class and my work with Rainbow Blossom! Claudia Coffey and the GDL team are incredibly talented at what they do. You can watch my interview and how to make a tofu substitution egg for baking here. The tofu egg replacement recipe will be listed below. We had an excellent hybrid class, and thank you to everyone that attended virtually and in person! Learn about more Hybrid cooking classes here and on Wellness Wednesdays. Please keep reading to take out some of the mystery of tofu and make it delicious.


Claudia Coffey and I after my segment it was so much fun!

Tofu Egg For Baking

4 tablespoons of pureed silken soft tofu

1 tablespoon of baking powder

mix till a thick pliable mixture is achieved. Use immediately

**Tofu is the best sub when subbing more than 3 eggs


The How and Why!

To drain the tofu, you can use a tofu press if you want to. I don’t think that is necessary personally. I use paper towels and weighted plates to press my firm to extra firm tofu. I press my firm to extra firm for at least 30 minutes. Can press in the refrigerator for a longer time. Drawing for longer times and getting all the liquid out helps your tofu seep up marinades and change the texture. For my soft silken tofu, I drain on top of a paper towel or a colander and allow the liquid to seep out for 30 minutes before using.


One thing people say, but I honestly have never tried. Is to freeze the tofu and thaw it out before draining. It is said to change the texture and make it meaty in consistency. If you try this, please let me know your results. I need to try it myself! For Tofu scramble, I just dump the liquid out, and I don’t press the liquid. After you have prepped or drained your tofu, you are ready to cook!


Tofu Scramble Ingredients:

16 oz block of the firm to extra firm tofu

1 tablespoon of oil of choice

3 tablespoons of nutritional yeast (or can use cheese)

½ teaspoon of salt

½ teaspoon of turmeric

¼ to ½ teaspoon of garlic powder or onion powder


Let’s Get Started

Tofu Scramble is my favorite and easiest thing to make! Take a skillet and heat your oil in the pan over medium heat.

Once your skillet starts to warm, crumble your firm or extra firm tofu with your hands, and place it in the skillet. Add in all the salt, spices, and nutritional yeast. Mix with a spatula or cooking spoon until the mixture is a light yellow. Cook until the water that was in the tofu has evaporated. Then serve as a breakfast burrito with avocado and hot sauce. Serve with toast and some vegan sausage on the side for breakfast!


Tofu scramble and sauteed tofu.



Marinade Ingredients: For a 16 oz pkg of Tofu, Use Firm or Extra Firm

1 Cup Water room temp

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon onion powder or garlic powder

1 tablespoon of white pepper

1 cup 8oz soy sauce Gluten-Free

½ cup vinegar rice wine or apple cider

2 tablespoons of sesame oil (if you can’t use sesame, the peanut, grapeseed, or olive oil work well)


* When sauteing or deep frying use firm or extra firm tofu*


Let's Marinade!

Ensure your water and sauces are at room temperature before mixing. Place all wet ingredients except the sesame oil in the bowl and mix with a whisk. Then add in all the dry ingredients, sugar, and all spices. Whisk until well blended; add the sesame oil, and whisk until well blended.


Add large cut squares to a bowl or large plastic freezer bag. Cover with marinade until the tofu is covered. You will have some marinade left over. Save it to place in a small saucepan, and reduce over low heat for approx 20 minutes for a great dipping sauce. Allow marinating for at least 20 to 30 minutes. You can marinate overnight if you like. The longer it marinades, the more the tofu will absorb the flavor.


Let's Get Cooking!


Cooking it, you can do two different ways with the same marinaded tofu and will have very different items. First, we can lightly braise or saute the tofu in a skillet, add about 1 teaspoon of oil, and warm the pan over medium-high heat. Add a layer of tofu to the pan, and saute for about 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Then add some of the marinades, a few ounces just to deglaze the pan, and lightly sautee for about 5 more minutes, and it is ready to serve. I usually serve with veggies and steamed rice!



Batter fried marinated tofu! My favorite.

The following way to prepare it is by frying it!

For this method, you can do it two different ways. The first way I feel is the best for I like more batter consistency is to take your marinated tofu in a bag, add corn starch, and start to shake and coat the tofu. This will create a thick batter, and you will use the whole container of corn starch.


The other way to bread the tofu is to take a large bowl and add some corn starch to coat the bowl. Next, put in the tofu minus the marinade. Add some additional corn starch on top, then coat the tofu in the corn starch using your hands. Sit about 5 minutes before frying so the corn starch can adhere to the tofu.


Coating the tofu in a bowl! Corn starch can be messier than flour.

Ingredients to Fry!

1 16oz container of corn starch

1 bottle of canola, vegetable oil, or avocado oil to fry with (approx 48 oz)


Let's, Fry!

Either way, you batter or bread, the next step is to. Then fry in canola or avocado oil at 275 to 300 degrees. Do not go over 325 degrees, or you will have your oil too hot to cook, and burning will happen fast! You want to fry in a deep pan and keep from overcrowding your pan. Do not put your coated tofu into frying without the oil being hot first. This will cause it to absorb the fat and not be crispy. Fry for 4 to 10 minutes, depending on how dark you want them. I like a golden brown, so around 4 to 5 minutes is what I do. I have attached pictures of how each breading method cooks up.

I like to serve with spicy mayo to dip or the reduced marinade as a sauce to dip.



Corn Starch breaded fried tofu! My 2nd Favorite.

Last but certainly not least is Dessert!

Chinese-inspired brown sugar dessert, or Fake Flan as my husband calls it

16 oz package of silken soft tofu

2 to 3 cups of water, depending on how sweet you like it.

1 cup sugar

¼ Cup Brown Sugar

1 teaspoon of ginger, allspice, nutmeg, mace, or cinnamon, depending on what you can have fresh or ground.


Take your soft tofu out of the refrigerator that has been drained. You can warm the tofu or serve this dessert cold. My preferred way to eat it is by preparing the brown sugar broth and then serving it over the cold tofu, which is why my husband calls it fake flan.

So We are making a flavored simple syrup essentially. Bring your 2 cups of water and spice you choose to a light simmer stirring occasionally. Then add in all of your sugar, stirring consistently until the sugar is all dissolved. That's it now. Enjoy!


Dessert!

I hope these recipes helped to take some of the mystery out of tofu for you and open your mind to some delicious options. What other classes would you like me to offer in the hybrid setting? Make sure to subscribe to allergydragon.com and share us with your friends.






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