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Old Feb 24, 2010 | 5:55 am
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LapLap
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Originally Posted by nonesuch flyer
A better title would have been "Tofu - How do you prepare it?" as many (perhaps most) preparations of Tfu do not involve any cooking. In fact I think cooking ruins tofu. Just my opinion.
Making soy milk is a laborious process that requires cooking soy beans.

Once you have this, then yes, anyone can easily make or cook tofu with a suitable coagulant. It's kind of similar to how you make ricotta using milk, some yogurt and a drop of lemon juice. You need to cook it at around 70/80degrees Celcius for 20 minutes or so. I've had tofu at a restaurant that was cooked from soy milk at my table.

Is this tofu raw? I've never thought so, but it depends on your point of view.

If you can make your own tofu, or can get it where it's perfectly fresh and made well (such as the sort of place l'etoile described) then it would be a real shame to actually cook with it. This is the sort of tofu I'd use for the Hiyayakko dish I mentioned earlier.

Tofu from a tetrabrik packet, like the mori-nu brand, I think it's only palatable if you actually cook it further. That's probably why I don't rate it much when it has been diced into cubes and dropped into soups. I don't hate it, it's just a bit... meh.

And I really don't like the idea of really firm tofu eaten without further cooking, just the thought of that makes me gag. However, combine it with prawns, vegetables and egg white and fry or steam it and I'll be first in line for a taste.
(Ricotta is another good comparison, if you drain it too much it gets too firm and becomes a rather unpleasant solid cheese, which can only be redeemed with some creative cooking)

Last edited by LapLap; Feb 24, 2010 at 6:02 am
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