Half of the time I buy tofu at the grocery store a curious cashier asks, what I’m going to do with that tofu, or what do you do with tofu in general. These are probably not people, who are going to rush out and eat tofu, but they don’t know, and they truly want and answer. There are others who want to know what to do with it, because they actually want to eat it.

I have heard a few people tell me they hate tofu. After that I ask if they had plain tofu. The answer is usually yes. Don’t eat tofu plain. You, like most others, won’t like it. That’s because tofu has no flavor. The worst thing about it is that it has no flavor. But that makes it the best thing about it also. Like an artist, a chef can think of tofu as a blank canvas. There are so many possibilities. Savory dishes or desserts can be made using tofu.

Tofu, which is also called bean curd, is made from coagulating soy milk and pressing the resulting curd into a block. Calcium sulfate is the most common coagulate used. Tofu is very popular in Asian cuisines such as Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Thai. It is often fried. When ordering at restaurants make sure they have fried tofu because it is the most flavorful. Make sure they don’t have silken tofu because it will have no flavor and will be slimy. Tofu has a lot of protein and it is relatively low in calories. It is also high in calcium, iron, and magnesium. Continue reading “What Is Tofu and What Should You Do With It?”