What do I do with frozen tofu?

Question

It's supposed to get a cool texture or something. So what should I do take advantage of this coolness?

Answer 1

There is an excellent recipe on vegweb.com for General Tso's tofu in which the frozen, thawed, and cubed tofu is dredged in some flour or cornstarch, fried and then coated with a delicious sauce.  I think the frozen tofu probably works best for this, and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Answer 2

Defrost it and cook it, silly!  I also press my tofu to get as much moisture out as possible.

Answer 3

I had tried to freeze tofu before and I hated the texture.  I ended up throwing it all away!  The first time I did it I had drained the tofu and then frozen it because I had gotten some faulty information.  Then I took a cooking class and learned how to properly do it.

Now I know that you should just freeze the tofu in it's original water packed packaging.  Then defrost in the fridge.  Take the tofu out of the packaging and drain well.  I usually press it slightly between my hands and that gets quite a bit of the liquid out.  Then I wrap it in layers of paper towels and put it on a flat surface, put a cutting board on top of it, and stack some cans of beans or something else heavy on it.  I usually let it sit for an hour and I replace the paper towels a few times.

Then I use this recipe that I got from an Indian cooking class -

Barbeque Tofu

1/3 cup olive oil

1 tsp asafetida powder (or 1/2 tsp onion powder & 1/2 tsp garlic powder)

1 Tbsp dried basil

12 oz tomato paste

3 cups water

1/2 Tbsp salt

1/2 Tbsp black pepper

1 tsp mustard powder

3/4 cup sucanat

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/2 Tbsp paprika

1 Tbsp ground coriander

3 (16 oz) packages extra firm tofu

Heat oil in a large pot over a low flame.  Add asafetida and basil to the oil and allow to fry for a few seconds.  Then add water, the rest of the spices, and the tomato paste to the pot.  Use a whisk to mix the sauce and bring to a boil.  Cover and simmer on medium low heat for 20 minutes.  (Taste for seasoning.  I usually add a bit more salt.)

While the sauce is cooking, cut each package into 20 pieces.  (If you want the tofu pieces a little larger or smaller, go for it.)  Place in a baking dish.  Pour part of the sauce into the baking dish and gently stir to make sure that all of the pieces are covered.  Then pour the rest of the sauce in an even layer over the top of the tofu.  Bake at 350 for 1 hour or 450 for 30 minutes.

The sauce tends to burn easily towards the outer edges of the pan so watch it carefully.  This recipe makes a lot so you may want to cut it down some.  One 16 oz package of tofu will feed between 2 and 4 people, depending on what else is served and how big their appetites are.

By the way, my husband always asks for me to make extra sauce for his brown rice because he likes it so much!

Enjoy!

Answer 4

Some people buy tofu and freeze it right away, because they prefer the texture.  If you are going to freeze tofu though, you need to first open it up and drain it.  Wrap it in paper towels and put something heavy on it for at least 15 minutes.  Then freeze it.  If you don't do this, it will be too watery when you thaw it.

It is good for slicing thin and frying once thawed, it gets nice and crispy because it's so dry.  A good recipe to try is this one, for "faken"

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Faken-Veggi...

Answer 5

Use it as an Ice pack is the only thing that I would do with it.

Answer 6

I've only used it when preparing the recipe below, which I found somewhere on the web about 8 years ago (I forget where).  It's actually pretty good, if a bit time-consuming:

.........................................

Veggie "Tuna" Salad

Ingredients:

1 lb. firm tofu, frozen and thawed  (see note below)

1 celery stalk, diced

1 Tbsp. minced red onion

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 Tbsp. tamari

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

1/2 tsp. kelp powder (see note below)

Preparation:

Squeeze the excess moisture out of the thawed tofu and crumble it into all pieces. Combine with the celery and onion.

Stir together the mayonnaise, tamari, lemon juice and kelp powder in a bowl. Add the mayonnaise mixture to the tofu and vegetables and mix well.

Makes 6 servings.

Notes:

(1) Freezing tofu gives it a chewy texture--great when using it as a meat substitute.  Here's how: First, drain the tofu and press out the excess water, then seal it in a plastic freezer bag. Freeze for at least 24 hours.  Frozen tofu can be thawed quickly by pouring hot water over it. (Be sure to press out excess water before using the tofu in your recipe.)

(2) Kelp powder, made from dried kelp (a sea vegetable), gives food a slightly "fishy" flavor.  Look for it in health food stores.  (We buy tiny amounts at a time from the bulk bins.)

Answer 7

chop into roughly 2 inch cubes, refreeze until rock solid then use for sling shot ammo on stray dogs, in the neighbourhodd. tofu frozen or not has no useful purpose in civilized society aside from use as a projectile!

Answer 8

i dont know much about frozen tofu.

i do know that it should be cooked and seasoned for the best enjoyment.

i usually saute it in a skillet adding what ever flavors im in the mood for. it absorbs the flavorings wonderfully. i usually cook it on med heat and then turn it up on high at the end, it tends to crisp up the edges and give it more texture.

Answer 9

I just thaw it, squeeze the water out like you would a sponge, then chuck it in something, such as a stir fry.  Simple.

To really take advantage of the texture.... to show off it's coolness... Hm... make a dish where the tofu is the main ingredient and hasn't been ripped up etc. yet, and still has that spongy feel to it.. maybe in big pieces in a stew or somethings.  Just don't cut it too small or the spongy feel will be lost.

Answer 10

I've frozen tofu before and the texture was like a sponge and not very enjoyable on the palate. I wound up throwing it out.