"Traditional" tofu is probably what you want. "Soft" in your store may refers to silken tofu, which is even softer and sort of flan-like in consistency, unlike the slightly spongy texture of regular tofu.

Just a guess.

It is hard to work with silken tofu, it falls apart.

If you can, make your own teriyaki sauce. It is lots better than commercial teriyaki sauce.

Try letting it drain in cheesecloth in your frig to dry it out and make it more firm.

It's impossible for me to say what "traditional" tofu is according to some vendor's description. "Silken" tofu, even the "extra firm" is never going to be very good for stir fry. Silken tofu comes in aeseptic cardboard boxes for the most part, or vacume sealed in plastic. The other kind of tofu comes in plastic containers submerged in water. That tofu also can have varrying consistencies, from soft to firm. If that's the kind of tofu you got, change the water daily so it will stay fresh tasting. Then there's "baked" tofu, which is the firmest of all, but usually baked with some kind of seasoning on it.

You can dust the tofu chunks with cornstarch when stir fying, I think that helps keep the chunks more intact. And as Lyra says, also can drain and press between paper towels which firms up the tofu to a slight degree too. You can also bake it on your own. "Baking" tofu in an oven is basically using the heat of the oven to evaporate the water out of the tofu and firm it up.

L, I was hoping you'd bump in here, as the resident "tofu expert". (grin) That was Eileen, not Lyra, that noted that it could be drained, BTW.

I've tried the silken tofu in stir fries and in sweet and sour soup and it falls apart, even the "extra firm" stuff. As L noted, the stuff packed in plastic boxes in water works best for something if you want to slice it and grill or fry it.

Annie

On the RARE occasion when I cook tofu, I use a trick from Alton Brown of putting it on a plate, putting a small flat cutting board on it, and putting a 15 ounce can on top of that.

It really forces a lot of the moisture out of it and makes it a LOT more durable during the cooking process.

Of course you need a firm tofu to start with.

My favorite way of preparing tofu?

Opening the package and tossing the contents straight into the garbage can.

Ah thanks everyone! I should have thought about it when I bought that package of traditional tofu.

John, I will definitely make my own teriyaki sauce. Not that I am very good at it but if I can avoid using the jarred stuff I am very willing to give it a try.

Barnmom and Lpink, great idea! And yes, the block of tofu is submerged in water inside the package. I will try to drain it overnight in the fridge to see what will happen. Maybe I can ever dust it with some flour and pan fry them to firm them up a bit before cooking in teriyaki sauce. Baked tofu? Now you've just given me an idea to stuff the tofu after baking... wonder if it will work. :-)

Annie, you know what sounds good with tofu right now? Curry! I am sure the tofu will fall apart but if I try not to disturb it while pan frying I may be able to keep some in bigger chunks. Got to do some experiment with that.

Kframe19 LOL! I actually like tofu and I don't mind even if it falls apart on me. Unfortunately my body doesn't handle it very well. I am making this for hubby and little man; these two definitely will not touch tofu scrambled and it probably will go straight to the garbage can too.

Thanks again everyone! I will come back with a report after my tofu adventure.

Al

Try using two plates, bottom plate, tea towel or lots of paper towels, tofu, then another towel or more paper towels, then another plate, then some kind of weight on top, like big heavy cans or a brick. That squeezes maximum water out. Should work if you do this for about an hour. Best to cut large brick in half and do two halves like this. There comes a point of diminishing returns with trying to "firm up" tofu, but I don't know what that is. I am such a lazy cook, I just drain, squeeze and go. I eat mostly mushy food all the time anyway, so doesn't bother me.

My daughter is a big tofu fan, and she even cooks her own. Here is what she does, maybe your big and little kid will like it.
- Cut tofu into 1/2'' thick slices. Pat them dry w/ paper towels. Cut slices into 1/2'' cubes.
- In a non-stick (cast iron works well) pan, heat some oil and place a single layer of cubes in the pan. Cook on med-high heat w/o disturbing, until bottom of cube is lightly brown.
- Flip the cubes to brown each of the remaining sides. You can painstakingly do this cube-by-cube and side-by-side with chopsticks, or you can simply use a spatula to flip all the cubes randomly and figure that most of them will eventually get browned on all sides.
- You get cute little pan-browned tofu cubes that are now tough enough to hold together when you add sauce, toss w/ stirfry or salad, or whatever. You can build little castles or igloos with them, spell your name, have a food fight, all sorts of possibilities.

Al,
You can cook with silken tofu without having it falling apart.

I will show how I do it in a dish that I made in another thread. I don't want to hijack your thread.

dcarch

I bought firm tofu and stir fried it with eggplant for last night's dinner. It didn't fall apart.

Lpink, I feel like doing squeeze and go too. It would be a lot easier that way, wouldn't it? I have a feeling this traditional tofu won't drain a lot of water because it doesn't look like the soft tofu I saw in the store. Maybe I should just drain it overnight then squeeze?

John, thanks for the instructions. I will try it when I cook my next tofu meal.

Dcarch, I would love to see how you cook tofu and learn some tricks from you. That would be nice.

Ann_t, oh I love eggplants. What an interesting combination. Your dinner looks DELICIOUS!

Oh by the way, guess what I found this afternoon? I found extra firm tofu! I returned to the store to get some milk. Walked by the tofu section; was surprised to see soft, medium, firm, and extra firm tofu. They were all there except the traditional tofu. Strange, isn't it? I couldn't help but picking up a pack of extra firm tofu. Now I can make my teriyaki tofu without having to worry it falling apart on me! YAY! Once I finish the extra firm tofu I will use the traditional tofu with curry. Gonna be interesting!

Al

Like I said, I don't know what traditional tofu is, since both the silken and firm tofu are traditional in Asian cultures, but beware of "extra firm" tofu that is SILKEN tofu, because it really isn't that firm. The firmer kinds of tofu are sold packed in water.

Here are some tips on getting kids to eat tofu, from "The Enchanted Broccoli Forest" by Mollie Katzen

1) Heat 1/2 inch of soy or peanut oil in a heavy skillet. Cut tofu into small (1/2 inch) cubes and dust them lightly with sifted cornstarch. Wehn the oil is hot, fry the tofu cubes until crisp. Drain on paper towels, and sprinkle with a little tamari sauce.

2) Mash some tofu (this would be a good application for the SILKEN tofu), with a ripe banana. Add a little bit of honey and some raisins and toasted sunflower seeds. Eat it with a spoon, wash it down with a glass of apple juice.

3) Cook some egg noodles. Drain the noodles and immediately add some cottage cheese and tofu (either silken or the other kind, whatever you want to call it, would work with this), cut into half inch cubes. Sprinkle with tamari sauce and a few drops of Chinese sesame oil.

4) Sneak some mashed tofu into mashed potatoes (for this I would use the SILKEN).

5) Make tofu-nut balls.
1/2 cup raw brown rice
1 cup water
2 TBLSP tamari (or low salt soy sauce)
1/2 heaping cup finely ground almonds
1/2 lb. tofu, mashed (For this you probably don't want to use silken tofu)
1/2 cup wheat germ

Place the rice, plus the water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook until very soft, about 30 min.

Place half the tofu in the jar of a blender, along with the tamari sauce and about 3/4 of the cooked rice. Blend to a thick paste.

Mash the remaining tofu with a fork. Add the mixture from the blender, along with all the remaining ingredients. Mix well.

Use your fingers to make the batter into a series of 1 inch balls. At this stage yuou can either refrigerate the balls up to 24 hours before cooking, or cook then right away.

To cook, either deep fry in hot (360 degrees) oil until crisp and drain, or bake on a lightly greased tray - 30 min. at 350 degrees.

Serve with toothpicks as an appetizer, with tomato sauce and pasta, or with french fries and ketchup.

I haven't tried any of these dishes. Like I said, I am such a lazy, minimalist cook, I just throw tofu in with stir fry or roasted veggies, that's how I almost always eat it. Very occasionally I'll make some kind of tofu salad, like TUNO salad or Missing Egg Salad. I use mostly the silken type because the "regular" tofu is likely to go bad in my fridge before I can get to it. If I want "firmer" silken tofu, I bake it in the oven for about an hour. I also can buy baked seasoned tofu which I can freeze or store longer in the fridge.

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about the different types of tofu:
"The curds are processed differently depending on the form of tofu that is being manufactured. For soft silken tofu, the soy milk is curdled directly in the tofu's selling package. For standard firm Asian tofu, the soy curd is cut and strained of excess liquid using cheese cloth or muslin and then lightly pressed to produce a soft cake. Firmer tofus, such as Asian dry tofu or Western types of tofu, are further pressed to remove even more liquid."

I don't know why this thread broke off in two, but just in case someone is trying to follow the discussion, here you go...

Here is a link that might be useful: ...continued...