— Sara Brown

Well, so let me, uh, start by saying that tofu is a, a, a neutral flavored, largely speaking, right? It's, it's a neutral, very, very, very light flavored, uh, ingredient. Depending on the style of tofu you choose, it can be more or less neutral, and more would be, uh, a beanie flavor. And I find that the stronger flavors come with the more dense styles, uh, of tofu. And, uh, the delicate flavors come with the, uh, the more delicate textured tofus, like the silicon tofu, for example. Now on, uh, it is, you know, important to keep in mind that, uh, as a neutral, uh, sort of an item, tofu can be aligned with just about anything, you know, whether it's, um, an appetizer or a salad. It could be a, a savory entree. It could be a dessert because it, uh, takes on flavors, uh, so easily and so readily, okay? Uh, while imparting its, uh, texture. Uh, and its nutritional goodness. Okay? Now, uh, at home here, we have miso soup almost every day, certainly during the school year. Uh, it's, um, it's at least Monday through Friday, and tofu is one ingredient in that soup. And, uh, so it's a, you know, uh, I recommend that, okay, um, maybe not every day, but, uh, give that a try. You know, add it to curries. Uh, we'll do this once in a while. Uh, when we wanna make a, a plant-based, um, oh, maybe it's a, an Indian paneer, like a sag pane preparation, where typically you're using, uh, cheese, right? A, a type of cottage or, or fresh cheese, uh, in its place. You can easily use a, uh, a medium firm, let's say, a texture of tofu. And that takes on those flavors very nicely. Uh, in a similar way, we'll do the Chinese style, uh, uh, mabo, dofu, um, and, uh, in place of the ground pork, we'll use tofu. You can, um, just grab it and, and crumble it with your hands, and you'll get these nice irregular pieces in that mixture with all the other vegetables. And, uh, in that setting also, you know, it takes on so many, uh, so much of those, those flavors. So, in a similar manner, you can add tofu to any stews or, uh, soups or other sied, you know, liquidy dishes that you might prepare. Uh, it is common to fry tofu, whether it's deep frying or pan frying. Now, in which case, I recommend that it be dredged in flour because, uh, otherwise it tends to stick to pans. And, um, you know, when it comes to, uh, the frying techniques, whether it's pan frying or deep frying, it is, uh, traditional or customary to protect the outer surface of whatever it is that you're frying with dredging. So that's a, that's a, a function or a purpose of the dredging in this case. Um, so, you know, think about any of the places where you might try, uh, some sort of frying, and it, it could be, you know, to, to make croutons for a, a salad or to add a little, uh, firm, sometimes crunchy on the outside, but then soft on the inside component to whatever it is that you can think of. Okay? Uh, you know, we have a, a simple recipe, uh, in our Rouxbe lineup that appears also in a, in a, a lesson or two, you know, in a, in an assignment or two, where we give the students the option of, um, marinating the tofu in the form of steaks, just a large pieces that you simply slice off the block, in which case you're gonna use a firmer version. So it'll maintain its texture through the handling. And, uh, that can be, uh, dredged, uh, or not, especially if you're using a non-stick pad. And it can, it'll be browned. And then, you know, you can, you can, uh, serve that with an accompanying sauce or condiment. It can be a, a main component, uh, of a meal or a side. And, uh, you know, you could, uh, the, the accompaniment could be something a little bit more involved, like, um, some sauteed mushrooms and, and, um, garlic and onions and, uh, maybe some other vegetables, uh, that you then, uh, nappe over the top of that tofu steak. And so that's a, another very nice way to handle a tofu that's very simple. Um, the marinating could be, you know, as little as a half an hour to impart a little bit of flavor. You can always make the marinade more concentrated if your, if your time is short, um, or you can marinate it overnight. And, um, you know, practice, you know, the cooking involves, uh, experience. So, you know, I call it practice, you know, but it is your experience building, um, where if, if you wanna extend the marination time, you might make the marinate a little bit less intense, um, you know, un unless the results are suitable to whatever outcome that you desire. Okay? So, uh, you know, what I provided here, Sarah, are some, uh, some high level sort of framework, you know, uh, approaches to handling tofu. I hope you'll give it a try, uh, knowing that it's a very versatile sort of an item. Um, let me, uh, just throw out one last, uh, idea, which is a traditional way of eating, uh, silk and tofu with a very soft, textured tofu in Japan during the summertime. And that is to put out a, a cube, however big, however much you want to eat, however big you want it, uh, of tofu on a plate. And on top of that, you can, uh, you can grate some, uh, dicon, some radish of that sort, uh, along with some ginger, and, uh, place that right on top of the, uh, tofu and drizzle some soy sauce over the top. And that, uh, is a great component to a meal as well. You get, um, some, some, uh, very obvious flavors from the, from the, uh, components, uh, that, uh, that you add that the condiments. And you should also use a nice quality tofu where you're getting some of the subtle flavor, uh, from that, uh, that main item. And this, this is a great example of how the subtlety of foods are emphasized in a lot of Japanese cooking. And this is, uh, this is something easy for you to try out.