Tofu Is NOT Just for Vegans (Part 1)

 Let me start by saying this: I can eat the moo out of some cow and, until a few years ago, believed in the rooter-to-the-tooter method of pork consumption. The reasons I've started eating tofu are:

1.  I got tired of finding ways to cut back on calories,
2. Chicken can be pricey, ground beef gets boring, and pork is just not nice to my body, and
3. I actually like the taste of tofu.
4. And I believe it can actually be a good thing.

Years ago, I tried tofu for the first time. It was slices of well-seasoned, braised tofu that tasted like pork. My best friend's sister brought it home from an Asian take-out for me to try. Talk about delicious. After that, I bought some tofu as a lark. I scrambled it up and my auntie and I ate it with - get this - bacon! Yes, we did. It was our idea of a fun breakfast. And, it wasn't bad. A little spongey but not bad. My aunt who was a true old-fashioned chitlin'-eating, steak-loving, Texan liked that tofu dish so much that she began fixing it on the odd occasion. She liked the way it tasted - soggy-spongey texture and all.

But for me, I was over it.

More recently, but still a long while back, my vegetarian niece turned me on to jackfruit. She had some strips of it done up as barbeque and it was also a delicious thing to try. However, jackfruit was not cheap in Alaska nor is it easy to find where I now live.

found at NoraCooks.Com

At the time that I am writing this, it is my 60th birthday. I feel blessed to be here but I want to make this sarcoidosis mad and live a little longer than it wants me to. I am walking when I can and trying to lose some weight and eat better. That's where the tofu comes in.

I have made tofu burgers and that went much better than I expected. I accidentally did some things right and the tofu patties were nicely seasoned and crispy. When I threw some ketchup, mayo, tomatoes, and onions on the bread, I really didn't taste bland tofu. It was very burger-like.

My method for prepping the tofu - and, trust me, prepping the tofu is the key to it all - was to casually toss the packages of extra firm tofu into the freezer. Not because I knew what I was doing but because I wasn't ready to do anything with it yet. 

That tofu was in the freezer for a few weeks before I got around to using it. I wanted a burger but was out of ground beef. I didn't want to spend money outside of my regularly budgeted grocery plan. But I really, really wanted a burger.

I put the frozen tofu in the fridge to thaw whole I looked up "how to cook tofu". I learned from one site that the best way to prep extra firm tofu is to freeze it once or twice, then thaw and drain it really well.

I didn't want to re-freeze the tofu because I was impatient. So, moving right along. Where freezing tofu was simple, draining it takes time and the patience of Job. 

This is where I learned about something called a "tofu press". 

Oh boy.

I don't have a tofu press and, based on quickie research, I will need to take out a loan for that at a later time. In the meantime, I got a general idea and came up with my own method. I took the container that the tofu came in, cut slits in the hard plastic, and turned it upside down in one of my large faux Tupperware containers that has a lid. I put the tofu on top of the slits, sat the Tupperware lid on top of the tofu, and rested some cans of soup on top of that.

Slowly the water was draining from the block of tofu. I can't believe how much liquid came out of that thing. Finally, when I thought the tofu was drained, I wrapped it in paper towels and did the whole cans-on-top thing again. And again. And one more 'gin, as Katt Williams says. 

The tofu shrunk down to almost half the original thickness. Crazy. And it felt different - very rough and still kind of spongy.

I was able to slice the tofu into patties. Then I marinated those in a mix of low sodium soy, Worcestershire sauce, garlic water, and turmeric.

Then I realized I couldn't find the Panko breadcrumbs I swore I had. I ended up using some Hooter's Wild Wings breading powder that I really don't remember buying but that was in my freezer for safekeeping.

Okay.

I mixed up an egg and some heavy cream to dip the tofu in before coating the slices in the breading powder. That's when I realized that one of the slices still had quite a bit of liquid in it. Oh well.

Using a little oil as possible, I fried the tofu to a deep brown, drained them really well on paper towels over some newspaper. 

Not pretty but pretty tasty

And, ta-da! I had the tastiest non-meat burger ever. I ate two before I realized that I was racking up bread calories. I ate a third tofu patty, no bread, condiments, or veggies needed. The tofu tasted only like what I had used for the marinade.

I have 2 patties left in the fridge and I guess I can heat and eat those another day.

Now that I know how tasty tofu can be, I have collected some video recipes for "tofu chicken pieces", "tofu cheesecake", and "tofu barbeque". Yum.

Here's the best thing: tofu only costs around $1.50 to $2.00 a pack. I can make a lot of cubed barbecue tofu from a single pack. And another good thing is that the extra firm tofu I tried is only 320 calories for the entire package. I made 5 patties so that was 64 calories each. See? The bread really was the calorie culprit! But I didn't have regular buns so I used the better-for-me Health Nut sliced bread. Win-win.

The only thing I don't like about tofu is when I look up recipes and have to get all the commentary about why people are vegetarians. It's as if people sharing these recipes think you have to belong to PETA to like tofu. And I really hate when they vegan-ize an entire recipe. I am ignoring all the dates and carob in the cheesecake recipe I saw. All I need to know is how to make the tofu into a batter. It should do very nicely with the good old graham cracker crust and whipped cream topping I will use!

So, to sum up the changes I've made to my life in the past couple of months:

• Trying to get out and walk in the fresh and mostly-COVID-free air
• Drinking more chocolate and tea in place of coffee with all it's fattening enhancements, and
• Working hard to replace red meat and pork in my diet.

I joked to my best friend that I am going to get a t-shirt for walking that says "Walking it off" because I have been cooking my butt off. The saying should be "cooking your butt ON" because it sure adds pounds.

Who knows if all this will help make me feel better but at least I am putting up a fight.

Next time, I'll address "tofu-vangelism" and vegan vigilantes.

Peace

--Free