Hello, Fellow Food Fans!

As a vegetarian of over ten years, and now into my third year of veganism, I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that I'm a bit of a tofu virgin - tried it once years ago in a restaurant and didn't like it at all, just found it very bland and boring. Then just recently I tried some of the ready-to-eat Cauldron marinated pieces and found them very tasty indeed! They were delicious just eaten straight from the pack, but I used most of them in a simple stir-fry, which was very nice and has got me wanting to try out different ways of cooking with tofu. I know there are plenty of recipes available to look up, but it would be great to hear about others' experiences of what works well.

Have had a few nice ideas from a couple of lovely FMs here which I'm looking forward to trying out, but does anyone else want to share their favourite ways of cooking with tofu? Both savoury and sweet recipes, ideas for marinades, hints and tips - all very welcome!

Thanks in advance

I use tofu a lot, I prefer the texture is takes on after it's been frozen then thawed - ends up a litlle bit firmer which makes it ideal for stir fries etc. I usually slice it or cube it and either marinate it myself first or often just pop it onto a baking tray and into a medium oven for 10-15mins to crisp it up. You can then add it to countless meals and even add it to sandwiches, wraps etc.

Can I recommend The Tofu Cookbook by Leah Leneman

In the meantime: Leek and Tofu Quiche

2 Large Leeks
1oz soya margarine
1 lb tofu (the dragon foods type)
2tbs lemon juice
1tsp garlic salt
Black pepper
Uncooked pastry shell (prepare in usual method)

Saute leeks in margarine for 3 -4 mins
Mash the tofu and stir in the lemon juice, garlic salt and black pepper. Add the leeks and mix well.
Pour filling into pastry shell.
Bake in oven at Gas Mark 6 for about half an hour, until lightly browned.

Obviously you could substitute mushrooms or whatever you fancy for the leeks.

tofu tastes like rubber to me

I never use the silken/soft stuff, just marinated Cauldron and the stuff you get from the Chinese shops in big chunks. I use it in thai curries, stir fries etc, 'duck' pancakes with hoisin sauce.

I've never tasted rubber. What made you try it?

Tofu is my middle name or maybe my first name!
I love frying some chili and garlic in a little sunflower oil then adding the tofu (taifun is my favourite brand) Much firmer than Cauldron. Fry gently until it turns brown and it is delicious.

I don't think I've ever seen it sale anywhere.

Hmm yes, they used to sell it at waitrose but I have not seen it for a few months so I get mine from a vegetarian supermarket in Brighton now.



You can order on line from here although I can only see the silken one on here right now. All the taifun range are wonderful quality. Waitrose do sell the weiners made by taifun.

http://www.goodnessdirect.co.uk/cgi-...pt/search.html

I agree with the taifun recommendation. They're the ones who do the Tofu flavoured with red or green pesto too. Yum!

Yes!! It really is nice. My favourite flaoured one is the garlic one.
Today actually, I marinated the tofu in garlic and soy sauce. I am going to fry it later with some brown rice noodles and green beans.

Thanks for the ideas, everyone!


Mmmm... that sounds nice, and I love leeks, and mushrooms. Tofu is certainly very versatile, isn't it! I have yet to spend some Smith's vouchers I got for Christmas, so I think I'll order that book - thanks, Ruby! (That cheesecake on the cover looks amazing! *drool*)



How very appropriate!


I think I may be able to get Taifun in my local health food shop, I recognise the name, but wouldn't have taken much notice before, as I thought I didn't like tofu! I'll look for it next time I'm in there, thanks

Thanks for letting me know about where to get Taifun. I'll make sure it's not in the health food shops here before I go on-line! I've probably seen it but it's name didn't register.

I wonder if Holland & Barrett might stock it? Again, I'd probably not have noticed before if they do. I'm going there tomorrow (and it's right near Smith's, so I can order my book too!) Will let you know.

Tofu scramble is great and very easy to make- like a vegan alternative to scrambled eggs. There's a few variations on it here: http://vegweb.com/index.php?board=214.0

I'm quite new to tofu myself but now I'm addicted to the stuff

I like having the Cauldron marinated pieces in wraps/burritos with salad and Plamil vegan mayonnaise.

Mmmm, the scrambles do sound lovely. I've got vegweb in my favourites and hadn't even thought to look on there for tofu recipes!

I think I may also be on the way to tofu addiction, especially with all the desserts I keep seeing!

I will be interested to see if you can get the taifun! I hope so. It is well worth hunting it down. I am addicted to it also. You can just do so much with the stuff.

Holland & Barrett didn't have any Taifun . The assistant hadn't even heard of it.


I've placed my order for The Tofu Cookbook today though! Looking forward to getting that!

I am sorry about Holland and Barrett. I find more and more that I have to order on line to get stuff that I need

At least I got some Wicken Fen sausages from H&B today, (see my thread before it drops off the page!) I've never seen them anywhere before and have yet to try them. And they pretty much always have the best ones I've tried so far - Redwood's

As someone who is half Indonesian and grew up eating tofu, it made it pretty easy for me to go vegetarian!

The tofu pieces you tried from Cauldron would have been the deep fried and marinated variety. As the tofu absorbs flavours of the sauces surrounding it, it is a very versatile dish. You can buy deep fried tofu from large health food stores - brands like dragonfly do it, and then you do your own sauce. Oriental supermarkets will have big puffy tofus that you can slice and put in Thai, Vietnamese or Indonesian curries.

Japanese supermarkets also do a marinated sweet tofu called Inari which is the tofu found in vegetarian sushi. In uncut form these are pockets that you fill with white rice.

Tofu is also great grilled - marinate it in some hoisin/soy sauce/HP sauce/paprika style mixture to give it a tang.

Cauldron also do a smoky tofu which is nice when you're making the scrambled tofu someone mentioned earlier. All your leftover veggies can be chopped up and put into the crumbled tofu mixture. Add veg worcester sauce, dried basil and tumeric.

Waitrose still do the Taifun weiners - just ate one in a baguette with spinach leaves. Yum! I also saw them at The Grocery in Shoreditch.

I tried those Taifun Weiners last time I went to Waitrose. Do any other vegetarians/vegans ever encounter a situation where a food is just a little bit too like meat, to the extent it becomes unsettling? That happened to me with those weiners.

As for the Tofu Scramble mentioned further up, I'm definately going to give some of those recipes a go.

Thanks, jasminetea

I haven't seen the smoky tofu - I'm hoping Waitrose will have a good selection when I go later, I've not been for a while and never taken much notice of tofu before! Really looking forward to trying a tofu scramble!

Yes!! Linda McCartney deep country pies! (I think that's what they're called) I only had one bite and thought they must have put real minced meat pies in the wrong packaging! Needless to say, I had to spit it out and won't be going there again! (really needed a 'puke' smiley!)

Maybe I'd best not try those weiners then...

I like the pies but I don't like beef chunks, the 'bacon', the roasts and steak like things, although that may be just because I don't like them. We don't have a Waitrose down here.

There's a restaurant in Soho called Melati (Peter St) which does vegetarian satay which is lovely and doesn't taste like meat to me but a vegetarian friend refused to eat it because she wouldn't believe it wasn't meat (it wasn't and, as I said, didn't taste like it to me but it's been a long time).