Tofu Take Two

     A few months back I had my first attempt at making tofu and it was a serious flop. I'd say that I probably didn't squeeze enough water out and maybe they could have used a bit more time crisping up. Live and learn, right? Sadly though, this incident will forever stay in my daughter's mind and effect her opinion on tofu.

Nothing fancy, but it sure works great!

     Nevertheless, I tried my hand at making a tofu dish again. This time I had some help though. Firstly, after reading this helpful guide I went out and bought a tofu press. I figure if I'm going to be making tofu more often I don't really want to have to buy a roll of paper towels every time. I also loosely followed this recipe. I left out the fruits at the end though since I was going to be putting my tofu on some veggie stir fry.

     The stir fry itself was made a bit off-the-cuff. Half an onion, half a pepper, a small bunch of broccoli, some aging but still good mushrooms, half a pack of snow peas, a can of baby corn, garlic, ginger, and a pack of Chinese style noodles found in the produce section of my grocery store. Seasoned with sesame oil, soy sauce, and a little sesame garlic sauce. Yum!

My veggie mix for the night

     

     The tofu itself cooked up really well, nice and crispy on the edges, firm on the inside. About as meat like in texture as I think it could be. The sauce I picked had some kick, but not too much. I enjoyed it far more than my previous attempt.

     This time around the 'green things' weren't my daughter's concern, the tofu was. She ate away at the stir fry without complaint, but she consistently avoided the tofu on top. Though I didn't get an individual score from her, I'd guess it came in at not quite a thumb up, but more than a sideways thumb. When I was finally able to convince her to try the tofu... she didn't hate it. But she didn't like it either and she would have been happy to not have had to finish the mere two pieces I had given her. But she did finish it all without playing "let's make a deal". I do believe she had some cookies later on though. Mimi's are always good for cookies.

     As I said at the beginning of this post, I think her previous experience tainted her opinions. It may take a few more dishes like this to get her to have a positive view. For now I think the sideways thumb the tofu got was quite an accomplishment.

Even reheated two days later this dish is awesome in my book