This is my first tofu recipe, however, being a vegetarian I do eat a lot of tofu. I love tofu, cooked in every kind of sauce, my kids do too, even the meat mouth sneaks some tofu! Tofu is a big deal in our house; you get the picture! It was finally time to learn how to cook tofu, I was scared; the first time I tried frying tofu it was a disaster. Armed with research, a good recipe and fresh tofu, it came out perfectly! Yay! Happy Dance! I can now add tofu to my repertoire of dishes.
The basics; good tofu begins with perfectly fried tofu and ends with a great, flavorful sauce. So let's start with frying. Before you even begin to fry, remember that it is important to remove as much moisture as you can to get that crisp outside and soft inside.
I buy fresh tofu at a small Chinese establishment in Waterloo. Fresh, daily made tofu which is quite firm. Now back to drying the tofu. Wrap the pieces in a few layers of paper towel, then in a tea towel. Place a cutting board ontop and add weights, such as heavy books, do not over weigh it since the tofu could break apart. Leave it weighed down for 30 minutes.
Then slice the tofu in whichever size you like. Using either a non stick, cast iron, or a ceramic sauté pan like I did, add about 1 tbsp of coconut oil. Heat it on medium heat and add in tofu on broad side. Lower heat if it is too hot. Cook for 5 minutes on one side then flip and cook for 5 minutes on the other. Then turn onto sides and cook as well, frying about 3 or 4 sides ...