How do you know when tofu is done cooking?

Question

I tried to cook some the other day for the first time and I didn't know when to take it off the burner. Since it was my first time cooking it I didn't know how it was supposed to taste.

Answer 1

Yes, tofu is already cooked so it really depends on the dish. For example, if it is to be part of a simmering hot pot type stew, the firm type tofu is preferred for longer cooking. It will hold its shape and take on the delicious flavors of the stew.

The firm type can also be sliced into 1/2 inch thick "steaks" dipped into egg, then flour and then fried and served with steak sauce or soy sauce.

The silken type tofu is used for dishes not requiring long simmering, since it breaks apart very easily. One of my favorite dishes using silk tofu is the well known Chinese dish, Mabo Tofu, typically made with ground pork & silk tofu in a very garlicky and spicy sauce.

My very favorite way to eat tofu though, is the Japanese appetizer way, which is to take a block of silk tofu sliced into eighths, topped with finely sliced green onions, grated ginger, and snipped daikon(radish) sprouts, and soy sauce dribbled on top. Better yet is soy sauce mixed with a bit of rice vinegar and hot sesame oil....fabulous!

One last note, if your tofu comes from the refrigerator case, i.e. not the vacuum box on the market shelf, it is fairly perishable so be mindful of that and use it when it is fresh.

Good luck to you.

Answer 2

Cooked Tofu

Answer 3

Tofu is usually cooked with other things, vegetables, sauces so the tofu takes on the taste of what it's cooked with. Otherwise, tofu is kind of bland on it's own and not so appealing.

Answer 4

Just enough to get it warm. I usually cook it mixed with different vegetables. The tofu is usually the last thing I put in the cooking pot, especially if it's the soft kind.

Tofu doesn't have much of a taste really, but it's really good for absorbing the taste of the other ingredients cooking along with it.

You don't really have to cook it at all, but I hardly ever eat it right out of the box.

Answer 5

You want it to taste the way you like it. Tofu comes cooked. You can eat it out of the box if you want to. When it's heated through and has absorbed some of teh flavors, it's ready.

Answer 6

Tofu IS a cooked product to begin with. You can only make tofu from cooked soybeans, not raw soybeans. Any 'cooking' you do is just to incorporate flavors or dehydrate it to some degree (which may improve its texture).

A common Japanese light lunch in the summer is silken tofu (right out of the package), drizzled with soy sauce and garnished with chopped scallions & grated carrots.

Answer 7

I doesn't really matter, its more your choice.

For future reference, you should cook tofu with other things, like vegetables. Tofu absorbs the flavors around it.

I love Tofuuu :]

Answer 8

It's a matter of preference. Some people like to cook it until it's hard and taste like cardboard.

Answer 9

Doesn't really matter because you can eat the stuff raw. I would think that it does not take long at all to heat through though.

Answer 10

tofu is nearly precooked...5 mins is fine