How To Prepare Tofu For The Absolute Best Flavor And Texture

Tofu can be frustrating if you're unfamiliar with its intricacies. For starters, if you don't use a tofu press or a weight to squeeze out its excess liquid, you could end up with an overly watery texture. Along with that, choosing between silken or extra-firm will depend on what you're cooking (silken is good for soups, firm is better for stir-fries). In fact, many of the most common tofu cooking mistakes are to do with its texture, but once you understand its essential rules, you should fall in love with tofu. Guy Vaknin, owner and chef at City Roots Hospitality restaurant group in NYC, has given us some great advice for getting the absolute best texture for tofu to ensure it's at its best in your recipes — and it involves freezing and defrosting it.

"Freezing and then thawing a firm tofu is a great trick to create a meaty texture," says Vaknin. This is a great hack for those who don't love super airy and light tofu. For meat lovers, it's a technique that can help you create a more realistic faux-meat texture. The chef continues, "Once the tofu is thawed, break it into pieces, and marinate." Freezing the tofu makes it an optimal texture for marinating, because it becomes more porous and will soak up more of your marinade's flavor. "It allows the marinade to seep into the tofu more readily," Vaknin explains. As for what to marinade your tofu in, we have some suggestions.

Once you've frozen and thawed your tofu, the good news is that there are many tasty ways to add flavor to tofu. Deciding on a marinade depends on what you're going to do with the tofu. For example, if you're planning to throw it in a rice bowl, you might try a sweeter maple sesame tofu recipe. The maple syrup contrasts beautifully with savory rice-bowl options like broccoli or edamame. Plus, after freezing and thawing it out, your tofu's firm texture will stand out. 

Or go in a different direction with a Mediterranean marinade for your tofu, which sees your protein mingle in a mix of olive oil, lemon juice, cumin, coriander, onion powder, oregano, salt, pepper, and thyme. Then it's simply baked in the oven with vegetables for an easy meal.

You could also adapt our General Tso's tofu recipe, which envelopes tofu in sesame oil, garlic, chilis, hoisin sauce, soy, rice vinegar and sugar. The tofu is precooked in the oven before mixing with the flavorful ingredients, but you could easily marinate it first in sesame oil, garlic, and soy sauce, to amp up the flavor.

If you would rather go for punchier spices, whip up some jerk-marinated grilled tofu. The jerk marinade features a ton of big flavors, from ginger to nutmeg to habanero peppers. Grilling after marinating will further enhance that meat-like texture, making it the perfect vegan entree that even the biggest meat-lover can't resist.