Frozen Pressed Tofu
I have found that I can just never make tofu taste like it does when I eat it at restaurants…. until now. I’ve tried this new method a number of times now and it has come out tasty every time.
First, I take a block (or 2,3 or 4 blocks!) of organic firm tofu and I press the whole block for an hour.
For those who don’t know how to press tofu, you take the tofu and wrap it in a dish towel or paper towels and then set it on a cutting board.
I then stack about 5 other cutting boards on top of it. Some people use a number of canned goods on top of one cutting board in order to weigh it down. Whatever you need to do, just make sure the tofu is evenly pressed down between two solid surfaces.
Once it has pressed for an hour, I slice it in two by cutting through the middle lengthwise. I then cut it into about 6 or 7 strips in both directions so that I end up with little 1 inch cubes.
I then scoop all the cubes up and throw it in a zip lock bag and put it in the freezer.
When I am ready to use it (after it has frozen), I just take it out of the freezer and I put it in my vegetable steamer and steam it until all the little cubes break apart and they are no longer frozen.
Then I put about a tablespoon of olive oil into a frying pan and I saute the cubes over medium heat for about 7 minutes.
Then I let them marinate in whatever sauce I chose for a few minutes to soak up some flavor and then mix them into a noodle dish or just serve them as a side by themselves.
They are moist, not too flavored and have a nice texture! Even my husband who can’t stand tofu has decided that tofu prepared in this way is edible. That alone is a big thumbs up for this method!
Another reason I like this method of preparation is that I can prepare multiple blocks of tofu at a time and then just have them on hand in the freezer. Before when I would make tofu I would have to remember an hour before dinner to start pressing the tofu. This way they’re ready to just pop in the steamer and then saute!