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I’ve been on a tofu kick lately. But you know what? I never thought I’d type that sentence. I grew up in the meat-and-potatoes Midwest, and beef was on the dinner table more often than not. For most of my life, I thought of tofu as something other people enjoyed — it just wasn’t for me. Even when I lived in a vegetarian co-op, I avoided it, favoring other plant proteins over the creamy white blocks of bean curd.
About five years ago, motivated by friends who loved tofu and my desire to be a recipe developer, I decided that I’d need to understand and embrace the ingredient. After all, it’s a staple in the diets of millions of people around the world. It’s highly nutritious and a dense source of complete protein that doesn’t come with the animal welfare or climate crisis issues meat carries. I was going to learn to love tofu.
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Get the recipe: Crispy Tofu and Zucchini Stir-Fry
I started cooking with it, experimenting with silken, firm, extra-firm and super-firm varieties. I ate tofu plain and marinated, sauteed and baked, fried and grilled. I sliced it, shredded it, crumbled it, cubed it and cut it into slabs. Gradually, I started to enjoy it. But whenever I got hungry, I still didn’t think: “I’d love some tofu right now.”
Share this articleShareThen, I met my boyfriend, Joe. He’s a good cook, and tofu is often in his fridge. One night, he fried okonomiyaki for dinner and topped each pancake with strips of marinated and seared tofu. I enjoyed it so thoroughly I assumed it was an aberration. “Maybe I was just really hungry,” I thought. A few weeks later, he made us an eggplant and tofu stir-fry with a sweet, spicy and salty sauce. It was served over rice — my favorite kind of meal — and I didn’t just have seconds. I had thirds.
“How is this tofu so good?” I blurted, mouth still half-full.
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“I love it when the outside is a little crispy and the inside is still spongy, don’t you?” Joe said.
That was it. It’s not that I hadn’t had fried tofu before. It was that I hadn’t stopped to appreciate its great potential for textural variability. In the right oil, at the right temperature, cubes of plain tofu pick up a golden brown crust while the inside stays plush. I love those fried nuggets so much I’ve often popped them into my mouth plain, like pieces of popcorn.
Fried tofu was the catalyst for this recipe, a seasonal stir-fry with an adaptable sauce. First, you’ll shallow fry cubes of tofu in vegetable oil until they pick up that thin, crisp exterior. Then, stir-fry scallions and zucchini until they soften and blister. Form a sauce with garlic, ginger and a few pantry items, including soy sauce, oyster sauce, chili-garlic sauce or — my favorite — doubanjiang or Sichuan chili bean paste. Depending on the base that you use, you’ll end up with a stir-fry that’s glazed in something salty; sweet and salty; or sweet, salty and spicy.
After I developed this recipe, I made it another three times — not just to test it, but because it’s so easy to love, it’s become my favorite way to eat tofu.
Get the recipe: Crispy Tofu and Zucchini Stir-Fry
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