There are three secrets to tofu: marinate, marinate, marinate. Tofu is basically a big flavour sponge so whatever you like the taste of is a good thing to marinate it in. One of my favs -- use it pretty much every day -- is something like this:
1/4 kilo firm tofu cut into cubes (thumb-wide in a side or smaller)
1-2 tablespoon of tamari (or strong soya sauce, or Braggs, etc)
1 teaspoon of cider vinegar or lemon juice
1 teaspoon of tasty hot sauce (whatever you like, I have dozens, but only use something
without chemical ingredients)
⁂
1/4 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
(optional) diced ginger and/or garlic and/or green chili peppers
- mix everything together, marinate for 30 mins or more (longer is better but not necessary), toss frequently.
- cook it however you like: boil it in the marinade, fry it in a little olive oil, deep-fry, toss it in with misc veg and stir-fry, whatever. 10-15 mins is usually plenty cooking time.
I eat this with noodles or rice or multi-grain couscous or <your favourite grain here> or even potatoes. Pretty versatile really.
The marinade above just happens to be one I like, feel free to ignore any ingredients you don't have or don't like. You can use pretty much anything as long as you like the taste of it. I've used plain soya sauce, beer, left-over water from cooking beans, wine, saki, etc etc. I eat a lot of tofu.
You can also just crumble the plain firm tofu up and heat it in your favourite pasta sauce if that appeals to you. Makes for a hearty pasta meal.
Soft tofu can be eaten without cooking: toss in soups (pretty much any soup you can imagine) or grain or bean salads, scramble-fry with eggs, goes great with kimchi (cold or hot) if you're into the whole fermented cabbage scene. Heck, you can just dip in in that marinade above and eat it straight if you're cool with that.
Truth is tofu is one of the most versatile foods there are, it's hard to find a style of cooking that it isn't good for. I've even made hummous and falafel with it. Just remember: for most people tofu needs to soak up some flavours from something in order to be tasty. After that you're off to the races.
⁂ I say this (a) because you don't need chemicals in your hot sauce and (b) some chemicals become nasty when heated. Best to avoid.
