13.1 Tofu, tempeh and seitan

Tofu recipes → Seitan recipes →

Tofu: what it is

Tofu, also called bean curd, starts as soymilk. The soymilk is set into curds, or cultured, and then formed into a cake. The result is soft and creamy white, a little like a fresh cheese.

Tofu is a staple food in Japan and China, and more American kitchens use it every year. It costs little, it is easy to digest, and it gives good protein with little fat or sodium and no cholesterol. On its own it tastes of very little, but it soaks up the flavors cooked with it.

Tofu is old. It was probably first made in China in the second century A.D. Buddhist priests took it to Japan in the eighth century, and Western travelers came across it in the 17th century. Japanese tofu is said to be the best, perhaps because the Yamato region near Kyoto grows such fine soybeans. Japanese cooks make tofu the star of a great many dishes, while Chinese cooks more often add it to a dish than build the dish around it.

Cotton tofu and silken tofu

There are two main kinds.

Cotton tofu, also called traditional tofu, is the kind you see most. The soymilk is set, today usually with calcium sulfate. The curds go into a mold with holes, lined with cloth, and a weight presses the liquid out. The cloth leaves a rough pattern on the outside of the block. Cotton tofu comes in three styles, each drier and firmer than the one before:

• Soft: scramble it like eggs, or blend it into a smooth spread.
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• Firm and extra firm: solid enough to grill or sauté, and good at taking up marinades and rubs.
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Silken tofu is made more the way yogurt is made. It forms no curds and gives off no whey, so it is smooth like a custard and milder than cotton tofu. Blend it into dips, spreads or smoothies. Nothing has been pressed out of it, so it breaks apart easily: do not cook it hot or for long. Drained, it thickens into a spread close to mascarpone or cream cheese.

Pick the style that suits the dish.

Cooking with tofu

Tofu can be eaten fresh, added to soups, broths and noodle dishes, tossed into cold salads, or puréed into a spread. It can also be sautéed, grilled or deep-fried. see chapter 8: Dry heat: sauté, grill, roast, fry

To firm up a block before it goes into a hot dish:

• Take the tofu out of its packing liquid.
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• Wrap it in paper towels and let it drain for 15 to 20 minutes.
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• Cut it into ¼-inch cubes.
• Simmer the cubes in water for 10 to 15 minutes so they firm a little, then drain them.
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• Fold them gently into the finished sauce at the end and simmer about 5 minutes, just long enough for the flavors to blend.
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For a stir-fry, toss 1-inch cubes of firm tofu with a pinch of chili flakes, a little soy sauce and a splash of rice wine vinegar, and leave them at least 10 minutes. Stir-fry the vegetables in a hot wok first, then add the tofu with the sauces and toss without breaking the cubes. The dish is cooked within about 5 minutes.

Tofu also works crumbled and baked. Drained and crumbled, a block can be mixed with cooked rice, sautéed vegetables, peanuts and soy sauce, then baked covered at 350°F for 20 minutes. Soft silken tofu can be the base of a hot dip: blended with artichoke hearts, roasted red pepper, cheese and garlic, it bakes at 375°F for about forty minutes, until brown and bubbling.

Storing tofu

Fresh tofu is sold packed in water. Keep it in the refrigerator, still in water, until you use it. Pour off the water and add fresh every day, and it will keep for a week.

Tofu freezes for several months, though thawing changes its texture a little. You can use that change. Thaw firm tofu under a weight, such as a sheet pan with a #10 can on top. It comes out denser and firmer, good for grilling. Pour off the liquid before you use it.

Tempeh

Tempeh is chewy and chunky, with a nutty, yeasty taste, which makes it a good stand-in for meat.

• Slice it or cut it into cubes, and marinate it before grilling or sautéing. see chapter 8: Dry heat: sauté, grill, roast, fry
• Crumble it into soups and stews in place of ground beef, pork or poultry.
• Always cook it before eating, because of the live culture used to make it. Cooking also softens its strong taste.

Tempeh is sold fresh or frozen. It keeps about a week in the refrigerator and for several months in the freezer.

Seitan

Seitan (said SAY-tan) is sometimes called wheat meat. It is made from gluten, the protein in wheat that does not dissolve in water. Buddhist monks have eaten it for centuries. It is firm and chewy and has little taste of its own.

To make it, mix wheat gluten or wheat flour with water into a dough. Rinse the dough again and again to wash out the starch and bran. Then simmer the spongy pieces in a broth made with soy sauce or tamari, ginger, garlic and kombu, a seaweed. The simmering makes the seitan tender and fills it with the flavor of the broth. see chapter 9: Moist heat: poach, simmer, steam

Because seitan takes on the taste of what it cooks in, you can steer it:

• Herbs that go with poultry, such as thyme and sage, make it taste more like chicken.
• Dark soy sauce and meaty mushrooms make it taste more like red meat.

Seitan is already fully cooked, so add it near the end of cooking. It is sold in the refrigerated case in uneven chunks; once a pack is open, eat it within a few days. Seitan also comes as a powdered mix.