How to Flavor Tofu (the EASY WAY) | Mary's Test Kitchen
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- Опубліковано 23 кві 2024
- Tired of tofu that is seasoned on the outside but PLAIN AF on the inside? This method of making tofu taste good on the INSIDE is so easy, you'll be wondering why you ever did it another way!
Hi friends,
In my haste to make a shorter video, I left out a couple important notes! Please read before making this 'recipe'!
TYPE OF TOFU
You can use any water-packed tofu that is firm enough to hold up to a boil. This usually means medium, firm and extra firm tofu.
If you have vacuum-packed extra firm or pressed tofu, it may take a much longer time to get the flavor all the way through.
I don't recommend silken tofu as its structure doesn't allow flavor to infuse in the same way, plus it will be too delicate to hold up to boiling.
AMOUNT OF TOFU & STORAGE
I used two 500g blocks of organic firm tofu in this video. However, you can make as much or as little as you like. I've done batches of one block to four blocks. It literally doesn't matter.
Just keep in mind that you'll want to use up leftovers within 5 days. Or you can freeze them. But keep in mind that frozen tofu will thaw with a different texture. You might like it that way!
Speaking of boiling...
GENTLE SIMMER vs ROLLING BOIL
The more rapid the boil, the greater chance of your tofu breaking down. However, a more rapid boil infuses the flavor faster! For softer tofu, you may need a more gentle simmer. And on the other hand, a firmer tofu can withstand a more violent boil :-) Use your discretion!
COVER THE POT
I find my induction stove top a bit finicky so I propped open the lid during the video shoot. However, if you know your stove well and your pot lid has a vent, you shouldn't need to prop it open. Just adjust the heat so that it continues to simmer without boiling over.
FLAVORS
I used about 1 tablespoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, and 1 tablespoon of mushroom seasoning in this video. However, exact amounts are not important. What's important is that the broth tastes good in a slightly overwhelming kinda way. The flavor becomes more dilute inside the tofu.
You can also add other seasonings. However, keep the broth thin so it can penetrate the tofu curds easily.
MUSHROOM SEASONING
Mushrooms Seasoning is an extract of mushrooms which adds savory flavor. NOT to be confused with dried mushroom powder, it doesn't taste particularly mushroom-y. Buy it at East Asian grocery stores (for the best price) or online (those prices can get out of hand though so...I don't usually recommend).
Here's an example of mushroom seasoning: amzn.to/3y3xFCw
This is an Amazon Affiliate link which means I will receive a small commission if you choose to purchase through it. Rest assured there's never any extra cost to you.
LEFTOVER VEGGIES & BROTH
This recipe can be zero waste! Blend the strained veggies to add thickness, flavor and fiber to your next soup or stew.
You can also use the extra strong broth as a base for soups or use to replace some of the water when you cook grains and beans.
Thanks for watching!
- Mary
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Hi friends,
In my haste to make a shorter video, I left out a couple important notes! Please read before making this 'recipe'!
TYPE OF TOFU
You can use any water-packed tofu that is firm enough to hold up to a boil. This usually means medium, firm and extra firm tofu.
If you have vacuum-packed extra firm or pressed tofu, it may take a much longer time to get the flavor all the way through.
I don't recommend silken tofu as its structure doesn't allow flavor to infuse in the same way, plus it will be too delicate to hold up to boiling.
AMOUNT OF TOFU & STORAGE
I used two 500g blocks of organic firm tofu in this video. However, you can make as much or as little as you like. I've done batches of one block to four blocks. It literally doesn't matter.
Just keep in mind that you'll want to use up leftovers within 5 days. Or you can freeze them. But keep in mind that frozen tofu will thaw with a different texture. You might like it that way!
Speaking of boiling...
GENTLE SIMMER vs ROLLING BOIL
The more rapid the boil, the greater chance of your tofu breaking down. However, a more rapid boil infuses the flavor faster! For softer tofu, you may need a more gentle simmer. And on the other hand, a firmer tofu can withstand a more violent boil :-) Use your discretion!
COVER THE POT
I find my induction stove top a bit finicky so I propped open the lid during the video shoot. However, if you know your stove well and your pot lid has a vent, you shouldn't need to prop it open. Just adjust the heat so that it continues to simmer without boiling over.
FLAVORS
I used about 1 tablespoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, and 1 tablespoon of mushroom seasoning in this video. However, exact amounts are not important. What's important is that the broth tastes good in a slightly overwhelming kinda way. The flavor becomes more dilute inside the tofu.
You can also add other seasonings. However, keep the broth thin so it can penetrate the tofu curds easily.
MUSHROOM SEASONING
Mushrooms Seasoning is an extract of mushrooms which adds savory flavor. NOT to be confused with dried mushroom powder, it doesn't taste particularly mushroom-y. Buy it at East Asian grocery stores (for the best price) or online (those prices can get out of hand though so...I don't usually recommend).
LEFTOVER VEGGIES & BROTH
This recipe can be zero waste! Blend the strained veggies to add thickness, flavor and fiber to your next soup or stew.
You can also use the extra strong broth as a base for soups or use to replace some of the water when you cook grains and beans.
Thanks for watching!
- Mary
❤
Wouldn't it be possible to add the vegetables first and boil them harshly to extract the flavour, then change to a simmer and adding the tofu?
@@leoniek6351 Sure! The main idea in this video is boiling the tofu in very flavorful broth. Any way you want to make that broth is up to you 🙂
ohh you! I asked and you had a video 💚💚
Love this, and I so appreciate your tips and insights!
I cook the tofu in my multicooker. Put everything in (from water to herbs, etc.) and then pressure cook for 5 minutes. Because the aromatics cannot escape during the pressure cook, they are absorbed wonderfully into the tofu. You can also do it with, for example, Ketjap (Indonian soy sauce), manis and asin. 1 tablespoon of each and then some sambal manis and some garlic powder and a tablespoon of water. Then pressure cook for 5 minutes and then cool, pour some oil over it (very tasty with peanut oil) and put it in the air fryer on setting 200 for 7 to 10 minutes (I personally like it best when it is still soft with a crispy layer and you can achieve that with 8 minutes).
niiice
That is such a good idea! My rice cooker has a multicooker-pressure cook option, I'm just not sure I can go as low as 5 minutes (I think 10 or 15 is maybe the lowest, gotta check when I'm home).
And I was thinking of buying an airfryer.
I've seen many people just marinate the tofu and then add it to an airfryer, but never like you or Mary described.
I however use this technique to infuse my beans, so it makes sense it should work well with tofu, too.
@@CarinaCoffee I have a Tefal multicooker. I don't know if the Instant pot can be set to 5 minutes. I also use this method for dried soy chunks. Delicious if you cook this in vegetable broth (pressure cooking or rice function. Rice function also works well for dried soya chunks because, well, they also have to swell just like rice. When ready, squeeze well and fry in a pan or air fryer.
I've been using this method for years and I still don't understand why no one shows this on UA-cam. Functions perfectly.
@@nickybookz222 Instantpot can be set at 5 minutes. I think 1 minute is the minimum time the pressure feature can be set at, that's the shortest time I've tried, but it might even be 0 (just gets up to pressure and then turns off)?
@nickybookz222 do you think it works well with tempeh too?
I have severe ADHD and PMDD so I come up with off-hands ways to do everything I need to do. I marinate tofu extra long. I do not press it, i just squeeze out what I can when I open the package, I drop the block back into the open container and fill it with marinade. Goes back in the fridge for at least 6 hours, usually a full day. I try to remember to flip the block over at least once during marinade time. 30 minutes is just not long enough unless you do all the stuff actual cooks do, and I ain't got energy for that. I hope this helps other disabled people.
I was coming to the comments to wonder whether this would work well in a slow cooker. Sounds like if it doesn't, I've still got another solution! I'm also variously disabled/no spoons so this is wonderful to hear 🙏
Like I said, SO MANY DIFFERENT WAYS! 🤗 Thanks for adding yours ❤️
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I'm really confused, "too fibrous to enjoy on their own" for the inner most parts of the celery? That's literally backwards from what anyone will tell you and from my own experience. The outer, darker ribs of celery are more fibrous (larger and older) and are better for cooking. The inner parts get progressively more tender and are the best for eating raw (they're younger and smaller). I have loved and eaten as snacks inner celery ribs (the heart) since I was a very small child, so I had a bit of a doubletake moment.
Otherwise! Very good video and I'll have to try this out. I like the bowl on bowl technique to toss stuff when you don't have a bowl big enough. And I love roasted veg, and I already know what different seasoning blends I'd use to change things up. Thank you for the video!
I agree. Celery hearts are delicious raw. Not stringy at all. The leaves are a good addition to salads.
haha ew sorry agree to disagree on the inner celery stalks.
Exactly. The inner bits of celery are more delicate and delicious.
Thanks for making this! Tofu is so underrated!
It really is!
Mary, you continue to be such a delight. ❤❤❤
you're so sweet! Thank you!
@@marystestkitchen I’ve been here for almost five years now! You truly continue to be so charming, helpful, and just so peaceful to watch. I hope you realise how powerful that is! Do give yourself a pat on the back. ❤️
You are THE tofu innovator at vegan UA-cam, Mary, so I trust your suggestions without question. This preparation _is_ new to me, and I can't wait to try it. I really appreciate your step-by-step tutorial, and also the way the jazz soundtrack complemented the movements you were making; good editing as well as great recipes! Thanks for posting 🙂
can't wait for you to try it!! :-)
thanks for another concise, exciting, informative, and personable video Mary!
You are so welcome!
What a great way tofu more rich with flavor. As always, your content is helpful and enjoyable. Many thanks for the good tip. Wishing you and your adorable cat well!
Our pleasure!
Love learning this method, thank you, Mary!!!😊
You are so welcome!
Thanks! I've never done this, but one thing I've been doing for the past couple of years, since I started making proper borscht the way it's made in Ukraine, is to crumble firm tofu into rough bite-sized pieces and shallow-fry them until golden and just crispy but still soft and sponge-like... I do season at this point - salt, garlic and smoked paprika are my go-tos for this dish but it could be anything - but then I just add them to the pot where I'm slowly boiling cubed potatoes with whatever else I want in there (there are so many ways of making this beautiful recipe). I use the same casserole pan I fried the tofu in to fry the aromatics and shredded cabbage, carrot and beetroot, before they're flavoured with tomato paste and also go into the pot, where it all keeps cooking... At the end, it is honestly a joy to find a lump of tofu on my spoon, and that's not something I say every day (and I'm a long-term vegan 😂).
Borscht will keep for a few days in the fridge and keeps getting better and better. The tofu becomes more flavourful as it goes along. I'm still a bit nervous to feed this to Ukrainians, but friends who've grown up with different cuisines have tried it and loved it!
yum!! sounds great! I love having juicy tofu bits in soup :-)
Mary, this is brilliant. And also brilliant food prep in service of those of us with the tofu bug. Thank you muchly 😊🙏
Glad you enjoyed it!
"The inner parts which are too fibrous to enjoy on their own" - what?? That is the sweetest, tenderest, and least fibrous part. I'm completely flabbergasted.
I really like this meal pep idea . Everything looks so good . 😋
Thank you so much 🤗
I cannot wait to try this!
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🎉Thank you for the tip! Enjoy your day!
You are very welcome!
I love this! Thank you 😊
You're so welcome!😊
This is such a great idea!!!!!
I had this kinda tofu growing up but it occurred to me recently that I don't see anyone talking about it
The tofu is great, super flavorful .......and that broth is going to be a great base for a ramen soup!!! I have been eating more tofu and am glad I can add this to my recipes!!!! Thanks I enjoy your videos
Yay! I'm glad you're enjoying it!
These are SOOO GOOD and so easy.
😊😊😊
Thank you, Mary! 😊
You are so welcome!
GREAT IDEA, THANK YOU.
You are so welcome!
Thank you! Just a few days ago I had some miso soup at a restaurant and there were little silken tofu bits that had extreme amounts of flavor but didn't look cooked or toasted, and I was so confused how they made it so flavorful. I'm guessing they did some variation of this, so now I'm super stoked to make some of these for myself. I even have a couple spare blocks of tofu. I'll have to check what veg I have to use up and see what is good for a broth or roasting or what.
enjoy!! :-)
thank you for this! there's a local viet snack shop that makes their tofu in house and has lemongrass flavored tofu. gonna try this method to infuse flavor!
Sounds great!
Nice! I am visiting my dad rn and I don't have access to the usual million spices and sauces I have at home, so I ate some pretty bland tofu this week. This looks like a nice, simple way to rescue tofu from mediocrity. when you have only a few ingredients available.
perfect timing!
Yummy!!!! Thank you 😊 will give it a try, but not too much salt 🧂
Have fun!
your videos are always some of my favourites; i love watching them, you always have such great ways to explain things or how you think about things, and it doesnt ever feel like im being talked down to or worse, chastized! anyway, seeing your video pop up was a great surprise🎉❤
Glad you like them!
Thanks!
Wow thanks for the support!
Love this idea. I don’t eat soy so tried with your chickpea tofu and while it looked promising at first, it started falling apart so I quickly drained and salvaged what I could. I had the tofu at a low boil stage and then started adding celery and mushroom powder and that’s when things started falling apart. It’s all good though, I’m still happy to marinate my tofu! As always, thanks for your inspiration.
PS, would love more recipe ideas on what to do with all the tofu pulp (various kinds)! My freezer is getting full and I’ve ground lots of it in to flour ready to make more buns/bread!
oh no! I have tested boiling my high protein chickpea tofu and work. You might've had some extra starch still in your milk during coagulation which lead to this poor result. I'll be going over more techniques to remove starch later on so please stay tuned.
@@marystestkitchen that is possible about the extra starch, although I thought it cut up pretty nice and firm. And it was because of your video showing you boiling chickpea tofu that I thought it might work. I guess I had my own little experiment. ;) What I might try next time is boiling it in my homemade veggie stock and simmering it in a larger pot as I may have crowded the tofu also. Thank you!
Excelente 🎉
thank you!
muchas gracias!!
You're very welcome!
Well I gotta try this
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This is lovely! What temp do you roast the veggies at and for how long? Thanks!
Usually I do 425°F for about 30 minutes
@@marystestkitchen thank you!
Great idea ! Hope I get the time to do it. Long back, I saw some recipes for Seitan, where the "meat" is boiled in various flavored broths to mimic chicken and beef. Is that something that can be done with tofu, too?
Flavor-wise, yes! Texture-wise, you'll need some extra techniques. The main idea in this video is boiling the tofu in very flavorful thin broth. What that broth tastes like is up to you :-)
@@marystestkitchen Yes. Absolutely!
Yummy 😋
It was!
I love soy and tofu with all my heart i even love tofu straight outta the package. My grandma makes plain homemade tofu and we just eat it in water and thats the best tasting for me. I'll definitely give this a try though!
you'll love this variety too, I bet :-)
Best way i ever had tofu is the way Chipotle makes it.... The Sofritas is very delicious
there's no chipotle here for me to try :-(
Not a fan, actually. Most Asian restaurant make it delicious and crispy!
Yum-myyyyyyy
sure is :-)
flavor math - the only math that's fun and tasty!
it's the best, really :-)
The salt in the stock will actually draw out the water from the tofu, and basically anything else in the stock. If you ever boil tofu in salty water, you will get fairly dry tofu without pressing it, then you can set it in a marinade to absorb flavor. What you're doing is essentially this process in one step, but still retaining a salty base so the tofu doesn't act like a sponge that absorbs, hence why it also shrinks after its removed, acting like a sponge that is empty. There is no steam to escape, any steam that exists is what what water was already escaping via evaporation, you're not further cooking off any water content, it shrinks because the tofu was previously filled with fluid and is no longer filled, like a dry sponge, because of how salt water boiling works. You're basically wet seasoning the tofu with flavonoids from what else is in the stock, akin to a marinade but the salt content will make the end product much less wet; unfortunately I don't think there's actually a good term for this process, mainly because it's a boiling pot (pun intended) of multiple cooking methods, some of which aren't adjacent to each other in the slightest.
This salt bath technique is also great for when you need to fry tofu, as it will be dryer than what it was in a wet-packed block. Cube, salt water boil, sit to cool and dry, quick marinade/season, fry in a hot wok until crispy. You get a nice exterior and a nice interior with a short cooking time, plus it takes up the seasoning/marinade much better than a typical block of tofu would. You could even fry your 'stock tofu' in this way, because it's pre-seasoned in the stock-making process, but again there should be enough salt to ultimately draw out the water content of the tofu itself, leaving you with an empty tofu sponge that's seasoned.
Tofu is very porous so salt and other molecules in the broth can diffuse into it easily, the broth is not going to suck the tofu dry. Same with vegetables, otherwise you wouldn't get salty (and still moist) vegetables from pickling. You also don't boil vegetables to make them dry for frying, you do it to get the interior tender so that you can cook the exterior at high heat without having something that's well cooked on the outside but raw on the inside.
The tofu stays tender, don't worry :-) Just a bit firmer than they start out so choose your starting tofu wisely!
@@BeesAndSunshine You're full of bad information. Very low reading comprehension as well.
First of all, how do you think pickling works? Salt draws the water out so that the pickled item can then absorb the diluted vinegar mixture. Literally how pickled items become sour. And yes, there's a significant amount of sodium in pickles, from the salt, typically on a magnitude of around 650 times the amount of an equal amount of cucumber. Hence you have no understanding of what you speak of.
Second of all, they were not talking about drying VEGETABLES, they were talking about how TOFU is vastly less moist after being boiled in salt water. Hence, you have zero reading comprehension, where did you even get the idea that they were talking about frying vegetables when they quite clearly stated frying tofu in the shortly relevant part where that was even mentioned.
Third of all, yeah, tofu is porous, why do you think they keep using a sponge as an analogy. Problem is with your statement, tofu is so packed with water that it will not attain flavor within its interior surfaces unless that water is pulled out so that flavored liquid can ingress into the tofu's sponge-like structure. It's literally like pickling but with hot water. This is why a salty broth absolutely will pull water content from the tofu itself. Again, bad reading comprehension combined with your lack of knowledge of anything.
Also, diffuse into? No. First it's diffuse onto, because it relates to surface area, you're not injecting into the tofu which would relate to volume, and second its the liquid that does the diffusing yet there's a lack of liquid in the end product, due to how salt interacts, which makes the process deposition via evaporation of what little is left on the surface of the sponge-like structure. Yet I wouldn't expect you to understand any of this due to your clear lack of education, I bet my 'big' 'technical' words entirely fly over your head.
Fourth of all, stemming from all of this, you clearly do not know how salt interacts with water, period. Guess what salt does inside the body. Guess why we need electrolytes, a form of salt. Guess why high-sodium diets are bad for us. Guess what leads to hastened production of kidney stones. Here's a hint, it's because salt modifies the flow of water and where said water goes. There's a difference between plain water and saline solutions. Perhaps you need this prerequisite of how salt and water behave before spewing nonsense about how you incorrectly think it works. Perhaps educate yourself.
What was in the original comment is 100% correct in what was stated. Guess what, a salt water boil for wet-packed tofu before frying is a very common, and at that a very old, cooking technique that provides a better end product, which also works for marinades. Guess what, this same method applies to how the broth seasons the tofu. Guess what, you could also pickle tofu because salt will do the exact same thing in pickling liquid as it's doing in the broth and a salt water boil. Guess what, if you had any amount of logical thought and reading comprehension, you'd understand this. Guess what, you learn this kind of stuff in your first textbook portions of your first cooking classes, if you didn't already have this knowledge from fairly early health education, don't you remember any of this from your home economics classes or is your memory failing you.
You're so confidently incorrect, you need to sit down, shut up, and do some fact checking on yourself, maybe develop some reading comprehension competency while you're at it, logical thinking would help as well. Delete your comment, you're embarrassing yourself, delete your account even, go outside and learn some things. Oh wait, you're old enough to absolutely know better, stop acting like a misinformed child, as you're clearly an undereducated adult. You're utterly disrespectful to anyone that has any amount of knowledge when you clearly have none.
People like you make me angry, because you're an example of why misinformation and undereducation are such an issue, yet you prance around like you're a genius. You're part of the problem of why our current societal norms are utter garbage, contributing to the declining intelligence among the general populace. Again, you're quite clearly old enough to know better, so start acting better. Go offline, educate yourself, and humble yourself. The fact that you won't also says a lot about you as a person.
I've just been getting seriously into tofu, as I have learned not just how to flavor it but also get rid of that nasty spongy texture I hate so much. With it I've been making substitute meat products like chicken, ham and beef, but by far my favorite are THE EGGS! 😋😍
tofu is just so versatile, eh!
where can i find mushroom seasoning in canada T^T
T&T supermarket. Also other east asian stores may have it as well (especially the Chinese or Vietnamese ones)
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thanks for the love :-)
Where can I get the mushroom seasoning thing?
I buy it from my local east asian supermarket. You can also find it online: amzn.to/3y3xFCw
Can you boil pumpkin tofu?
yes. I haven't tried this exact method with pumpkin tofu though
My 5 year old and I discovered a cheat, pressed tofu in commercial pickle brine, we eat lots of store bought shelf stable pickles so we just pore the left over brine over tofu for a few days.
Dang that sounds delicious! 🤤
where do we get mushroom seasoning?!
Buy it at East Asian grocery stores (for the best price) or online. Here's the amazon link so you can get idea of the packaging and stuff: amzn.to/3Wd3oeM
@@marystestkitchen thank youuu!!!
Target has a new mushroom seasoning in the spice section. I got some last week . 😊
Since when was the centre of celery tough?
To me it's gross because it's flexy and stringy rather than snappy and crisp like the outer parts.
@@marystestkitchen I've never had that problem - it is my favourite part.
@@lafamillecarrington lol I'm just learning from the comments on this video that my dislike of celery hearts is not universal. Each to their own 😄
What if you made the broth first?
You could do that if you wanted to. And extra step though.
Could I just simmer it in better than bouillon veggie broth? Im lazy 😂
Sure. It's not going to save you much effort though. Rather will give you a different sort of flavor.
I have (already) tried this recipe with better than bullion and some dried mushrooms. After boiling I did a light coat of oil and corn starch and baked, was very very tasty.
It'll be different than using fresh aromatics, but it does work well
That seemed a bit too healthy. When I make tofu I put it in a pan of water with a tablespoon of miso paste, a teaspoon of smoked paprika, cider vinegar and garlic and onion powder. Then you high boil until the liquid is almost all gone. All the flavour is absorbed by the tofu and the thick sauce is great for soup or for a crust on the tofu, which you can then bake in the oven
Pretty sure your way is just as healthy ;-)
I wish tofu wasn’t so expensive, I might look into making some from dried soy beans or something
Good thing I've got a lot of videos on how :-) a few episodes ago, I posted all about how to use different coagulants (including ones you can get from the grocery store)
I saw them all and made some with chickpeas, it’s not quite the same as soy tofu, it’s great, but doesn’t have the same texture as soy tofu 😢
@@AngelicaSecondLife why not make my soy tofu recipes instead then?
@@marystestkitchen 😂 I will, I need to get some soy beans, I guess I’m just being lazy and the milk making process plus the tofu making seems like a mission, I will give it a go though, I made paneer again at the weekend and yesterday i turned that into pierogi ruskie, time consuming but worth it 😊
@@AngelicaSecondLife that is a lot of effort already! 🙂
Mary, this is brilliant. And also brilliant food prep in service of those of us with the tofu bug. Thank you muchly 😊🙏
My pleasure 😊
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