ToFu - help please.

K

Kit_

Cathlete
Okay I know for some of you this is going to sound weird, but every time I've tried tofu, it tastes like this lard my grandmother use to cook with. I was two and thought it was something good as she kept taking a spoon full out here and there so I stuck my finger in it and stuff a glob in my mouth. To this day, I can't stand that taste.

And no matter what I do with ToFu it has the darn taste, even when friends have hidden it and snuck it into the food trying to prove me wrong, that I couldn't taste it, it was just because I seen the ToFu and had childhood memories of that lard. Was the problem. Well I've been able to prove to them I can taste it every sign time they've tried.

So you do you make ToFu not taste like old time lard? I'd really would like to add it to my food that I eat. But I'm starting to believe it's not going to happen. And yes I've even tried it in restaurants, but seriously you'd think people who cooked it all the time, would have been able to hide it on me.

Also my mother who didn't have my experience swears up and down it tastes like fat. She wouldn't even eat it with Mexican spices on it, well not after the first two bites, and I have never seen her turn away anything that and Mexican spices, mixed in it.

So help, how do you make ToFu not taste like lard/fat?

And yes I've mixed it in with meat, I've tried it by itself with various herbs spices, I've tried it at my favorite mexican restraurant, that has a really awesome blend of herbs and spices for their chicken and steak, I love about every dish they make, but took one bite of ToFu, and couldn't force myself to eat another bite.

Or maybe this is just because I have hated the taste of fat, since I was a kid?

Any suggestions would be great, as I'm out of ideas, and I'm sttarting believe ToFu tastes like fat no matter what you do to it.

Kit
 
I never thought it tasted like lard myself, but the first time...YUK! It was in too big of chunks. So now my DH and I grate it before using in any recipe.I would also recommend the "baked" tofu that they sell in Health food stores and some markets. It is ALOT harder than regular tofu. I like it stri-fryed with various vegetables. You could also give Tempeh a shot, IMO it is alot more tasty than tufo!...:)...Carole
 
Funny - I LOVE tofu. So much that I crave it and can eat it plain. Took awhile to develop a taste for it though...A lot depends on how it's packaged. I don't like the vacuum packed boxes of tofu (mori nu) - only the kind packed as a block in water.

Maybe try getting soft tofu and blending it into a protein shake or creamy soup.

You could try draining it well to get all the water out, then marinating it overnight in soy, ginger, garlic, and sesame oil for a stir fry. I drain it by putting it between 2 plates with a weight on top (e.g. a canned vegetable) and leaving it overnight in the fridge. Tofu soaks up flavors like a sponge if you press the water out of it, so the spices/flavorings should mask the taste, but if it's a consistency thing for you, you still probably won't like it.

Worth a try though - it's such a great source of lean protein!

Joni
 
I saw a recent episode of Blaine's Low Carb Kitchen on FitTV, where he used it in Chilli. It looked good, but I've never tried tofu before.

Susan C.M.
 
>Funny - I LOVE tofu. So much that I crave it and can eat it
>plain. Took awhile to develop a taste for it though...

Me too!

As Joni mentioned, there are two types of tofu. The tofu that is water packaged is best for stir frying, crumbling for scrambled tofu, slicing and marinating, then baking, etc. When you buy this, rinse it well. It should have not much of a scent at all. If you don't use it all at once, put the left-over chunk in fresh water, and change the water every day.

To change the consistency to make it a bit chewier, you can drain it, then freeze it. Once it's frozen, thaw it, then squeeze out as much water as you can (or press as Joni described). This makes the tofu very chewy, and you can crumble or grate it to add to recipes that would use ground beef, or slice it, marinate it (this frozen/thawed tofu really soaks up the flavor) and bake it.

The asceptically-packaged tofu (like Mori-NU) is best for blending and making puddiings, dips, etc. If you try to stir-fry this, the results are very unpleasant, IMO. Like curdled egg whites. Is this the kind of tofu you've been using?

I have never thought that tofu tastes like lard (though I can somewhat see the texture of the Mori-Nu stuff as being like that). But come to think of it, I don't think I've ever chowed down on lard by the spoonful!
 
If you're really wanting to try tofu until you like it, I recommend a cookbook called "The Whole Soy Cookbook". I got my copy (and a 2nd copy for my sister) at half.com for about $5. It explains what different sources of soy are, and how to cook with each type. It pretty much tells you how to make anything soy. You can check it out on amazon, then get it from half.com.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0517888130/002-8947699-4785634?v=glance

Have you tried the soy meats? I wasn't sure from your post- There are all kinds of different soy products that aren't tofu blocks. There is ground taco "meat", etc. Right near the tofu in my grocery store. Trader Joe's has a bunch of different options.

I don't think tofu is your only option for getting soy into your diet.

Have fun experimenting!
 
Ok, I think I can give you this suggestion pretty authentic answer since I love Tofu and being eating it for 37 years.

Tofu has no flavor so when you cook, you need to think about what kind of flavor you would like it taste like. Then add those ingredients into it. I never taste any Western style Tofu cooking. However, I can give you something that I've been eating for years.

If you like spicy food,

1. one pintch of chili powder
2. Cut fresh ginger (about 1 teaspoon) and garlic very thin, and small piece
3. 1 stalk of geen onion. Cut it in small but separate root (white part) and green part.
4. One pork chop, trim all fatty stuff and slice it into small piece
5. Marinate pork into

1 table spoon of soy souce (you can choose light one which gives you less salt)
1 table spoon of cooking wine and 1 teaspoon of seame oil
1 table spoon of corn starch

mix them together. If too dry, add some water.

1 Tofu (I like vacuum pack since it can be kept for a long time)

Heat the pan with oliver oil or peanut oil
put in giner, garlic and chili power. When you smell the flavor,put the meat in, stir fry it. When the meat is 80% cook, put in Tofu. Keep stir fry a few second, then pour in half can of chicken vegitable stock (you can buy the lean one). Cover the pan, let it cook a couple minutes.

When meat becomes tender, add a pinch of black pepper and a few drops of sesmea oil (you can skip sesmea oil if you don't like it)

It's all done. Since I like green leaf veggie, I always thru in some of them cook together.

If you don't like spicy, you don't have to use chili power.

Let me know how you like it.

If you like, I can give you Tofu soup recipe.
 
Try cutting it into chunks and marinating it is Newman's Own lowfat Sesame Ginger dressing overnight and then stir-frying it with some veggies.

Maybe if you have that lard taste engrained somewhere in your taste buds, nothing will work.

Good luck!
 
Wow,I was thinking the same thing that Tofu tasted like fat. At least when I had it at my friends house. Her mother was really big into health food and Tofu, they have it everyday. I had no idea what it was, after the first few bites, I couldn't stand to eat it, so I kept digging all the little white pieces out, and was wondering why anyone would add fat to their meals to eat. Especially since I knew she was a health nut, but then I thought maybe it was good fat and did something, so I tried another piece and put as much cheese and veggies as I could over it. But still couldn't cover it up enough, so I settled on just picking it out and trying to hide it on my plate. I am soo glad to hear, that it's not suppose to taste like that. As I just wouldn't be able to bring my self to eat something that tasted like the wobbly stuff you cut off of meat.

I'm going to try their suggestions. Granted, my cooking stinks. My mom doesn't let me help with much, as I always burn anything she gives me to watch, or stir, and then we can't eat it. But I'm hoping to take some cooking classes in college and at least be able to do the basics without setting the house on fire.

Kelly
 
Thank you all for the responses and explaining what is difference between the different Tofu types. I really hope that it's just because it wasn't cooked right or prepared in a way it wasn't mixed well.

I was looking for another protein to add to my diet, I get tried of chicken and fish all the time. And since Tofu seem to be moist it would be perfect for me, as I have dry mouth syndrome, where to eat, I always have to have a lot of water, or my mouth gets too dry.

I always counted on my friends who eat Tofu constantly, and the restraint to know what they are doing. As I know the restraint wouldn't serve it, if it wasn't good. As for my friends, they eat it, they should know right? But I guess not.

I'll try it the other ways you've suggested, and I hope that will help. I was just really shocked I hadn't had that taste in my mouth for years and years as my grandmother died with I was about 4, and the minute I ate tofu it brought up that memory from when I was two, and I had no idea I was eating tofu, I thought the white stuff on the veggies was some type of cheese. Well at least until I tasted it. So I don't think it was a subconscious thing because it was white or something. As I usually love all different types of white cheese.

But hopefully maybe mixing it really fine and putting it in something will work better then on veggies, or in Mexican food, or in spaghetti, as a meatball/tofu ball.

Thank you for the suggestions, I've copied all of them and the next time I go to the store, I'll pick up the block in the water kind of Tofu and see if I have any luck with that.

Kit
 
I'm weird I guess I LOVE the texture of tofu in salad. Maybe I like lard - I do love my margarine. My kids can't believe how much I put on stuff. Somehow my cholestoral is incredibly low too. go figure!
 
>I was looking for another protein to add to my diet, I get
>tried of chicken and fish all the time.

Another good protein source is tempeh. It's made from soybeans that are cultured with a healthy mold (that gives it some of the same properties as yogurt). I steam it, grate or crumble it, and use it in place of chicken for a "mock chicken or the egg salad" (supposed to taste like chicken salad, but tastes kind of like egg salad to. Though I haven't had the former for at least 29 years, and the latter for at least 15 years, so what do I know?)

Seitan is an almost pure protein made from wheat gluten. It has a meaty texture. I use it sliced and sauted with veggies and some type of sauce like teriyaki.

Maybe your perception of tofu tasting like fat is related to dry mouth syndrome? Or maybe it's genetic?
 
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