Ducati Monster Forum

I took it upon myself to make some tofu from scratch.  I had swiped a 5 gallon bucket of soybeans from a gravity box of the guy that is renting my land last fall.  I followed the instructions I found online and I think it came out ok.  I know very little about it and have seldom eaten it.  I just floured, seasoned and fried up a few small pieces and they tasted good - so:

Any good simple tofu recipes out there?

Ano good simple okara recipes out there?  If I can't come up with an immediate use for the okara, I am going to dehydrate it and figure it out later. 

I've grilled tofu steaks seasoned with Adobo.....tasted like, adobo.  I've also cubed it and added it to venison Chili, just to SG I did.  It came out great!  My kids thought it was cheese.


Fried okra is good, pickled okra and jumbo with sliced okra are really good!

Cool

I'm good on okra recipes - okara is the solids left after making soy milk on the way to becoming tofu.  (I didn't know this until yesterday myself!)

Who knew!

I make a home-made teriyaki-ponzu sauce (basically teriyaki with orange pump and juice) and use it with either salmon or tofu.  You can also use Soy Vay or any teriyaki.  Just make sure to make a mix of cornstarch + cold water and mix it with the teriyaki.  Use about 3/4 cup of the teriyaki.  Mix 1/4cup of cold water + 2 tblsp of cornstarch, and stir, then pour the teriyaki into the cornstarch mix.

If the tofu is firm you can do it easily.

2 tblsp of oil in a non stick fry pan.
cube the tofu in a convenient size, about one bite
dry the tofu after cubing it
fry in the oil
flip when slightly brown
after it browns on the other side, lower the heat and pour in your teriyaki+ cornstarch solution.  it may bubble some, just keep it stirred around.

the teriyaki sauce will thicken and cook into the tofu. 

make some rice and serve the tofu on top with the sauce.

you can do the same thing with salmon -- pan fry it on both sides then add the teriyaki solution above. 

voila, you're japanese.

There are some okara recipes here: http://www.soymilkmaker.com/recipe.html (http://www.soymilkmaker.com/recipe.html)
I never got around to trying them and just composted the okara.

Now I'm allergic to soy, as it turns out.

that would really suck if you were a hippy

We're a whole household of hippies, but two out of the three of us are allergic to soy, so no tofu for me except in restaurants.

My favorite tofu stir-fry is a dish from Sichuan called Mapo Tofu or "Pock-Marked Woman Bean Curd" - the story goes that the original chef's wife survived smallpox. Bon Appetit! Wikipedia has a good description here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mapo_doufu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mapo_doufu) This recipe looks pretty close to the one I use from a much stained chinese cookbook: http://chinesefood.about.com/od/tof1/r/mapotofu.htm (http://chinesefood.about.com/od/tof1/r/mapotofu.htm) The specialty ingredients like salted/fermented black beans & Sichuan peppers are fairly common in any Asian grocery. Made right, it's brutally hot, pungent and delicious. Another one I like but can't find an example of online is called Empress Dowager Bean Curd - it's pretty basic, a stir fry of mashed tofu, green onions, garlic, fresh ginger & chicken stock - it's a similar consistency & uses to scrambled eggs. It's good over rice or in a breakfast burrito kind of deal.

Also try freezing tofu - when thawed, press it for a 10-15 minutes between a couple of plates under a heavy book for weight to squeeze out the moisture. It'll take on a different texture - chewier & a little drier - and will absorb sauces & marinades all the way through, unlike fresh tofu. 

I've never cooked with okara, but the couple of times I've tried it seemed pretty similar to scrambled eggs, usually with some veggies & curry thrown in the mix.

In all my years of eating mapo tofu, in China, Hong Kong, Chinatown, I never heard that story.

Bleh

Thanks for the link - they have a "chicken strip" recipe for okara I'm going to try.  I put some in my dogs dish this morning and he seemed to think it was ok.  I'd like to do more with it as it looks like it is actually more nutritious than the tofu.  At very least, I'll dehydrate it and find some uses for it powdered.  I guess its a pretty good extender for a lot of dishes.  

Update:  The Chicken Strip recipe was incredibly uninspiring.  Back to the drawingboard.

Sorry 'bout dat.

Tonights dinner was Tofu Parmagian.  The wife, me and 1/3 of the kiddos liked it.

Dogs eat catshit...

hippy

 [evil]

did you marinate it?  it soaks up a good bit, if you drain it and squeeze it out and then let it sit in sauce, it will take in a lot. 

Maybe you should feed your dogs better food if they think cat shit tastes better than their dog food.

I think I am going to make another batch of it next week.  I'll probably dehydrate most of the okara and try it as a meat extender and baking additive.  Might try some wet okara in a stir fry.  You end up with more okara than tofu and it is actually more nutritious so I hate to waste it.

 We serve a shit ton of tofu @ my restaurant (around 12- 16 9 lb bags!) and one of my favs is our take on a tofu po'boy.  We marinate the tofu in soymilk, pbr, hotsauce and spices then bread and fry it.  Its served on a baguette with spicy grilled onions, peppers, lettuce, tomato and vegan remoulade.  We also do the same tofu steak fried and dipped in vegan buffalo sauce and served on a kaiser with ranch or bleu cheese.   I love tofu.

Just making the point that dogs aren't terribly discrimintaing. Just because he seemed to like it could mean he thinks it tastes like shit.