Basic recipe for nice tofu:

• freeze the tofu. This is important as it changes the structure (it becomes dryer and more “meaty”), this is a common technique in asia.
• after unfreezing it, dry it with paper towels or something like that, cut it into die sized cubes if you want, sprinkle it with potato starch and fry it in a wok or hot pan with some oil. It should get brown and crispy.
• sprinkle a few drops of Japanese soy sauce on it while it the pan and continue to fry it. The soy sauce adds taste and makes it caramelise.
• add cooked rice, vegetables or whatever you want.

You can leave out some steps above. Without the freezing the texture won’t be as firm, without the starch it won’t be as crispy and without the soy sauce it won’t taste as good. I’m just saying that because sometimes it has to go fast or you’re missing ingredients, so you can compromise if needed. Doing all is of course best.

The thing with tofu is that it’s very good at absorbing flavor, plus you have many different ways in preparing it, from grilling to making scrambled tofu. You just gotta find a nice recipe that focuses on texture and flavor.

What flavors do you like? It Marinates up well and doesn’t take long to absorb the flavors, then fry, air fry or roast in the oven. I Love cooking it with a sauce/gravy to add flavor too. Also silken tofu chocolate pudding/pie filling. You cannot even tell it has tofu in it.

The trick that I discovered to tofu is to press it between a paper towel and a book. It makes it less watery and tastes crispier.

Not necessary when cooking all tofu, but really took my tofu game to the next level.

Mapo tofu

Everyone is going to like different things, but tofu is a bit like wonderbread. It also tastes bland, but you get addicted to it anyway. I can’t explain why, but at this point I just put thick slices of tofu into the air fryer for 5 minutes and eat it as-is. You’re right, it doesn’t taste like much, but nevertheless it’s hard to stop eating it after you’re hooked.

Some things you can try:

• Try smoked, extra firm tofu. You can eat it as a snack straight out of the pack, and the taste is somewhat stronger. It’s brown and kind of leathery.

• GRILL your tofu. Get some good char on there. It tastes absolutely heavenly and smoky.

• Put soft tofu into your smoothie. It thickens it a bit but won’t change the taste.

• Tofu tastes good in a lot of salty, carby dishes. For example, one of my 5-minute meals is chow mein noodles and canned mixed vegetables (beans sprouts, corn, and carrot) sauteed with sesame oil. It sucks some of the moisture out of the tofu, allows it to absorb flavor, and offers a firm, meaty contrast to the other components of the dish.

• You can put tofu into any “soup” - chili, curry, etc. and this is another pretty standard use.

• There are troves of marinades and dry rubs out there. A good way to start is to go to a restaurant and try bowls with tofu to get an idea of what you like, and then to use that as a template.

I love Vietnamese tofu with tomato sauce and rice. Easy to make and I can eat it over and over again.