More than 167,000 pounds of meat are being recalled across the United States after being produced without proper federal inspection, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.
Yeah 'cause we know all the fresh veggie product from such brands as Taylor Farms is perfectly safe…
(jk going vegetarian or vegan is an admirable choice even if you do it noncommittally by reducing your animal protein consumption. Every 1 gram of animal protein required ~9g of feed depending on the animal.)
You… don’t… need to buy those manufactured food products, either, you realize? Chickpeas and rice, mushrooms, tofu, etc. can all lend you to making your own tasty recipes.
Yeah mostly joking. I actually do like some of the veggie substitutes. I also like tofu. My grocer carries a brand of ultra dense stuff that’s great breaded and fried.
Any advice on how to make tofu flavourful? I’ve been trying to use it but anytime I do, it’s more just kinda there rather than really adding anything to the flavour profile. Ironically, some of the “failures” where it all crumbled into something similar to scrambled eggs might have been one of the times where it did seem to pick up flavour, but while I wouldn’t say the texture was bad that way, I’d like to get more out of it without it falling apart if possible.
Some chefs on shows like culinary class wars put great effort into making tofu for their dishes (one guy even won the whole show with a dish like that), so I feel like there’s gotta be something I’m missing.
Lots of people on YouTube have tons of tips on ways to doctor up the taste and texture of tofu, but personally what I think it comes down to is just eating it regularly enough for it to become an acquired taste. It’s not the best absorber of flavors, sauces and marinades will only penetrate about a millimeter or two. You can get deep flavor infusion with brines, but then you’re eating a lot of sodium too.
People often recommend cutting it into smaller pieces so you’re getting a better sauce to tofu ratio. As you said, crumbling it does increase surface area and help it hold more flavors.
So just keep trying things, and keep eating it, cause eventually you will start to actually enjoy it’s own natural flavor (some brands taste better than others too). I’m at the point now where I keep it as simple as possible. Forget the unnecessary kitchen gear like presses. I take it right out of the package, maybe squeeze a little water out, and then I’ll just smash the thing and crumble it right into whatever I’m cooking.
Ah ok, that sounds consistent with what I’ve been seeing. So if I’m understanding correctly, tofu has a flavour/texture tradeoff (best texture I’ve gotten from it was once when I cut it into like 1cm slices and seared them, managed to get a decent sear on both sides without them sticking to the pan and crumbling. Actually the flavour wasn’t that bad either, that one was more simple so I think it was mostly just the tofu and the sear, plus some olive oil that infused it.
I just realized I haven’t tried marinating it yet and a quick search looks like people are saying good things about that.
I don’t make it often, but if you marinate it in something like half soy, one quarter rice wine vinegar, and one quarter mirin, then bread with corn starch, egg wash, and panko, you can make awesome deep fried tofu bites. This works well with the less dense stuff most stores carry.
Yeah 'cause we know all the fresh veggie product from such brands as Taylor Farms is perfectly safe…
(jk going vegetarian or vegan is an admirable choice even if you do it noncommittally by reducing your animal protein consumption. Every 1 gram of animal protein required ~9g of feed depending on the animal.)
You… don’t… need to buy those manufactured food products, either, you realize? Chickpeas and rice, mushrooms, tofu, etc. can all lend you to making your own tasty recipes.
Yeah mostly joking. I actually do like some of the veggie substitutes. I also like tofu. My grocer carries a brand of ultra dense stuff that’s great breaded and fried.
Any advice on how to make tofu flavourful? I’ve been trying to use it but anytime I do, it’s more just kinda there rather than really adding anything to the flavour profile. Ironically, some of the “failures” where it all crumbled into something similar to scrambled eggs might have been one of the times where it did seem to pick up flavour, but while I wouldn’t say the texture was bad that way, I’d like to get more out of it without it falling apart if possible.
Some chefs on shows like culinary class wars put great effort into making tofu for their dishes (one guy even won the whole show with a dish like that), so I feel like there’s gotta be something I’m missing.
Lots of people on YouTube have tons of tips on ways to doctor up the taste and texture of tofu, but personally what I think it comes down to is just eating it regularly enough for it to become an acquired taste. It’s not the best absorber of flavors, sauces and marinades will only penetrate about a millimeter or two. You can get deep flavor infusion with brines, but then you’re eating a lot of sodium too.
People often recommend cutting it into smaller pieces so you’re getting a better sauce to tofu ratio. As you said, crumbling it does increase surface area and help it hold more flavors.
So just keep trying things, and keep eating it, cause eventually you will start to actually enjoy it’s own natural flavor (some brands taste better than others too). I’m at the point now where I keep it as simple as possible. Forget the unnecessary kitchen gear like presses. I take it right out of the package, maybe squeeze a little water out, and then I’ll just smash the thing and crumble it right into whatever I’m cooking.
Ah ok, that sounds consistent with what I’ve been seeing. So if I’m understanding correctly, tofu has a flavour/texture tradeoff (best texture I’ve gotten from it was once when I cut it into like 1cm slices and seared them, managed to get a decent sear on both sides without them sticking to the pan and crumbling. Actually the flavour wasn’t that bad either, that one was more simple so I think it was mostly just the tofu and the sear, plus some olive oil that infused it.
I just realized I haven’t tried marinating it yet and a quick search looks like people are saying good things about that.
I don’t make it often, but if you marinate it in something like half soy, one quarter rice wine vinegar, and one quarter mirin, then bread with corn starch, egg wash, and panko, you can make awesome deep fried tofu bites. This works well with the less dense stuff most stores carry.