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Comment by nothercastle | Hacker News Reader

Most Americans including myself have no idea how to cook tofu well. If you want to market tofu you need to demo it in grocery stores, show off recipes at farmers markets or host tofu fairs. Somehow you need to show what’s possible with tofu and probably adjust it to American (bland) favor pallet

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Easiest thing to do: wrap the tofu in a towel, place a few heavy books on top, let it sit for a few. This will drain the water, which is the most important thing to do. Then, cut it in pieces, and marinade those pieces (I like to use soy sauce, Sriracha and fresh ginger). Let that soak for a while, rinse, then add some wheat starch to the bowl, shake a bit so the tofu pieces get nicely covered. Now you can sauté it in a pan.

This gets you tasty tofu with a crust, full of roasted aromas, and takes only 30 minutes total!

Definitely. It's not _hard_ to cook tofu well, but it's really easy to cook it badly.

One trick I've learned is when frying tofu, let it sit until you're pretty sure it's burned. Then wait at least that long again before flipping it and starting the process over. (It's really, really hard to burn tofu.)

Other tricks include putting it in the freezer before cooking it or microwaving it for 30 seconds before fully cooking. Both of these help to remove water from the tofu, making it firmer and easier to work with.

Tofu will pick up the flavors of whatever it's cooked with, so it's great for adding to dishes with sauces or marinades!

> Other tricks include putting it in the freezer before cooking it or microwaving it for 30 seconds before fully cooking. Both of these help to remove water from the tofu, making it firmer and easier to work with.

I typically buy the extra firm variety for stir-fry, and I'll cut a corner off the package and press out the water before dicing it. I'll have to try the microwave trick next time. The "burn it" advice is on point. You really have to boil out the water before it really starts cooking.

When you're frying it, how do you prevent your coating from burning e.g. if you've breaded it.

I'm not breading it (hmm, that's an idea to try!), and I use a nonstick skillet. I've found that if I keep it on the heat long enough, it will stay together when I start stirring it. I suppose I ought to get a proper wok, but the skillet works for me.

The best trick I use for it is to marinade it, then dry it out in the oven, then rehydrate it with more marinade. You get far deeper flavor/seasoning penetration.

Do this, but leave Stinky Tofu out of it. The entire plan will backfire if there's a single item making the entire fair smell that pungent.

Plus, even in areas where Stinky Tofu is common, it's divisive. When I was in Taiwan, only about half of the people I talked to liked it. The other half wouldn't touch it.

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