Vegan MoFo Day 10: Curd Your Enthusiasm

You know, I really want to like tofu.

I want to be the sort of person who loves to just marinate and pan-cook a slab of the ol' bean curd, or grill or roast or bake it to spongy perfection and make yummy noises. 

Alas.

I've come a long way since my first stab at vegetarianism.  Like most people when I first came across tofu I thought it was the most disgusting thing I'd ever seen or tasted.  Over the years I've tried it a dozen different ways, and have liked some and hated others, but the sad fact is that I still don't love it. 

It's easy to find badly prepared tofu.  A lot of people have no idea how to cook the stuff--and a lot of people who try to feed it to you have no idea that just taking it out of the box and cutting it into cubes doesn't make it palatable.  Tofu is something of a diva--it needs a retinue, a support staff, to make it shine.  Otherwise it's scoogy and insipid. 

Tofu is created similarly to cheese; in fact, taking the kind of milk out of the equation they're basically the same thing, so if tofu disgusts you, cheese probably should too.  It's mostly a question of unfamiliarity for the Western palate.  In the American mind tofu still inflicts visions of tasteless "health" food or spooky foreign fare, while cheese evokes pizza, queso dip, and other comforts of home.  The process involves the culturing and pressing of milk, regardless.  The amount of liquid pressed out gives tofu its various levels of firmness.  Either with cheese or tofu, however, the whole idea is to make milk go bad on purpose and then eat what's left.

Yum, right?

Silken tofu, the creamy stuff in the sealed cartons, is made differently; the culture and soymilk are pumped into the carton so the curd forms in the package, therefore not giving it time to press like the firmer sort.  Silken tofu is a wonderful thing for those like me who want to keep the creamy textures of dairy without the dairy.  One of my favorite dessert recipes, in fact, involves silken tofu (see below).

Regular tofu, aka Chinese tofu, is the kind most people think of, and the kind most people claim to hate.  It's got a weird spongy texture and almost no flavor, so cooks often tout its ability to suck up flavor from marinades--but most of the time in my experience the marinade stays on the outside of the block without really penetrating, so while the outside tastes great, the inside is kind of like the inside of a hot dog but without the lips and assholes...and flavor.

Still, tofu is astoundingly good for you and incredibly versatile, so I persevere.  I'm convinced that if I can just find the right method, I'll love it.  I know that most of my aversion is mental; I have the same associations with the curd as a lot of people do.  It's the idea of it more than the actuality. 

Scrambled tofu (also called "scramfu" on the veggie internet) is one application I've enjoyed when I've had it, so I intend to try out several different recipes and play with the chunk size a bit until I get it where I like it.  Deep fried tofu is also tasty, but obviously deep frying anything makes it problematic in the health department (and since I don't fry in oil at home I can't really replicate it).  Part of the secret for me is making sure the tofu portions are as small as possible so that I don't get too much of the texture in one bite.  The smaller the tidbit, the better it cooks anyway.

Another tasty option is tofu jerky; a friend of mine gave me a recipe and I tried it out in a dehydrator.  It was salty as all hell, but I loved it.

Silken tofu shows up a lot in faux dairy, and I wouldn't be able to survive without Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese for cake frosting purposes.  The best use of silken fu, however, is in recipes like the following, quite possibly the richest and most intensely fudgy pie on Earth--so much so that I had to start making them into tiny single-serving pies.  It's fast, it's easy, it's no-cook; practically the perfect recipe, as is reflected by the fact that practically every vegan cookbook out there has some variation on it.

OMG Itty Bitty Mocha Pies

What You Need:

1 12oz bag chocolate chips
1/3 c Kahlua
1 block silken tofu (firm or extra firm)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tablespoon maple syrup or agave nectar

Wee graham cracker or frozen pie crusts (makes about 24 teeny or one big pie)

If using regular pie crusts, prebake according to package directions and allow to cool.

Let's Get it On:

1 - Melt the chocolate chips and Kahlua either in a double boiler or over very, VERY low heat until smooth.

2 - Put the tofu, vanilla, and syrup in a blender and blend until smooth.  Add the chocolate mixture and blend until a nice uniform color and texture.

3 - Pour into crusts.  Chill for 4-6 hours until firm.

I love to garnish these with a tiny sploot of cream cheese frosting and a single raspberry or strawberry, but a swirl of berry coulis would be great too.

Comments

[Quizeen]

If you have a Trader Joe's near you, you might want to try their baked Savory, Teriyaki, or Thai flavored tofu. The texture is unlike any tofu I've ever had. It's very firm (not spongey) and dense, like a medium-firm cheese. Plus, the marinade penetrates throughout the whole block, so you get maximum flavor.

Also, you should totally try the Vegan With a Vengeance Tofu Scramble. It's by far the best out there. I usually make it without the grated carrots, and I use half the cumin and sub smoked paprika for the sweet. Load that stuff up with avocado and hot sauce, and man oh man is it good.

[Sylvan]

Hey Quizeen--

I've heard so many things about how great Trader Joe's is, but we don't have them here in Texas. Maybe someday.

[Erik]

I actually prefer tempeh to tofu for many applications. It's processed differently, and has a slightly nutty flavor and an actual texture. It's also sturdier than tofu, and can stand up to stir frying, sauteeing, and so on in ways that tofu just can't.

[Danmara]

OMG that pie sounds so GOOD!!!

I have had tofu a couple of times. I don't mind the texture at all, but the taste is...odd. You're right, it doesn't soak up marinade at all. It tends to stay on the outside.