I had half a block of tofu left from last week’s tofu night. Over the weekend, Andy opened up the container, thinking it was cheese. He realized rather quickly that it wasn’t cheese, but I was sternly informed that if there was tofu in the fridge I should be putting a hazard sticker or something on it. I think Andy is not as eager to explore tofu as I am- what do you think?
Anyway, I’ve been wondering how tofu would be grilled, so last night I took the opportunity to try just that. I started by cutting my tofu into cubes to thread onto skewers. Before I skewered them, though, I patted the pieces dry with paper towels, and then gave them a quick bath in some bottled teriyaki marinade. While the tofu was marinating, Zander came along and dipped his finger in the teriyaki. He thought it tasted great and asked me if he could try some with his dinner. Hey, I was all over that one, if Zander wanted to try tofu, I wasn’t going to turn him down. I oiled the hot grill and placed my skewers on the grill. About 5 minutes later I flipped them over, and about 5 minutes after that they were done. In the meantime, I’d made up some Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Dried Cherries, Chard, and Walnuts to accompany, as well as some chicken for the kids. Dinner was a wonderfully quick affair to throw together.
The results? Well, the tofu soaked up some of the marinade, and I got the teriyaki flavor, but the texture…it was more spongy than the golden tofu that had been fried. It didn’t totally turn me off, but it wasn’t my favorite either. I would eat it again- and maybe it would do better on a charcoal grill than a gas grill- but I wouldn’t clamor for it or be eager about eating it. Now that golden tofu the other day? That I can get excited about. The whole wheat spaghetti was even better this time than it was last time- probably because I used more chard than before. Zander, on the other hand, told me he didn’t like the tofu cube, yet he did eat the whole thing, so who knows. Usually when he doesn’t like something, he takes a tiny bite and puts the rest back on the plate. I’ll have to let him try the golden tofu the next time I make it.
hey i just rediscovered your blog (i guess i got lost in the switch to your own website) but your site now is amazing! i just wanted to say that what i do to make the texture of tofu better is pressing it. i wrap it in a tea towel and then a terry cloth towel and weight it down with a few heavy books… and let it sit for a few hours… it become much denser and chewier and it better at soaking up marinades because youve removed alot of the water! wow that was long… but its a really easy thing to do, and it makes it so much better!
cheers,
katrina