As a child growing up in Los Angeles, I disliked all forms of squishy tofu, relegating this Chinese-staple to the same realm as the quivering steamed egg custard that my parents served with soy sauce and minuscule dried silver fish. In true cross-cultural fashion, I next encountered tiny silver fish with black-dot eyes in my 40s, when I was treated to a fantastic Greek meal on the island of Naxos, but that is another story. I was in my 50s before I discovered that I could make truly delicious crave-worthy, tofu-based dishes.

Best soy bean foods for beginners

Sure, there are soy products related to tofu that I enjoyed eating as a child. It's all about the texture. One of my favorite versions of tofu translates to five spiced dry tofu 五香豆腐乾 (wǔxiāng dòufu gān) These come in firm brown, marinated squares, about 1 cm in thickness, with a hearty, firm cheese-like texture that can be sliced thinly. Sliced or julienned dry tofu is often stir-fried with strips of pork and Chinese chives. With my childhood prejudices intact, I happily substituted brown cubes of dry tofu for regular white tofu when dishes such as Susanna Foo's Tofu, Eggplant, Mushrooms and Sun Dried Tomatoes came up in my Wok Wednesdays cooking club. Finely diced dry tofu can be added to ground meats and sliced dry tofu to many stir-fries. The texture is innocuous enough that people don't even realize they are happily eating a type of tofu.

Examples of five spiced dry tofu. They come in different thicknesses.

Susanna Foo's (Dry) Tofu, Eggplant, Mushrooms and Sun Dried Tomatoes from The Breath of a Wok, p 143.

The only other soy based food that I liked growing up, are bean curd sheets or tofu skins 豆腐皮 (dòufu pí). Also known as yuba, these are the slightly chewy thin sheets that are collected from the surface of soy milk as it dries out, which function to deliver luscious sauce flavors trapped in their folds. Tofu skins can be used as a gluten-free substitute for egg roll wrappers, although I have not yet cooked with them. 

While these two more readily likable soy bean products are often niche items found mainly in Asian groceries, Trader Joe carries two versions of dry tofu 豆腐乾, one seasoned with terikaki sauce and the other with Sriracha. Both dry tofu and tofu skins celebrate firmer, more substantial textures than classic tofu.

Spinach Soup with Silken Tofu and Pork

Ironically, it was the softest of tofus, the silken tofu that first beckoned to me from its white fluted plastic container. It was ok in smoothy recipes, but I could still taste the subtle tofu flavor behind the strawberries. And no, I could not sneak tofu in undetected as a substitute for ricotta cheese in skillet lasagne rolls. 

Fine textured silken tofu inverted out of its container and cut into 5 mm cubes

 It was my adaptation of Fuchsia Dunlop's Spinach Soup with Silken Tofu and Pork from Land of Fish and Rice (2016), that led to the revelation that tofu celebrated as itself in a dish could truly be crave-worthy. This is the first tofu dish my husband ate without mentioning that he dislikes tofu, and my daughter actually started requesting that I make it.

Ingredients for spinach soup with silken tofu, using prosciutto instead of pork

Click here for the recipe for this soup, along with vegan variations. 

Delicious silky spinach, tofu and proscuitto soup -- ready in less than 25 minutes.

Tips: 
🐾 Run a butter knife around the edge of the tofu container to make it easier to invert the entire block in one piece. Depending on the shape of the container, you can also cut along a corner seam to release the fragile block.
🐾 Soak spinach in a large basin of water, and then gently remove the leaves from the top after dirt has had a chance to settle to the bottom. There is no need to blanch the spinach as it goes into a boiling broth anyways.

Real Ma Po Tofu

The final step in my discovery that I could crave not only the flavors of the sauce, but also the texture and flavor of tofu itself came from a vegetarian cookbook that I won from one of the monthly Wok Wednesdays giveaway contests.

Vegetarian Viet Nam by Cameron Stauch taught me how to press and pan-fry tofu, and how to add a rich dimension of flavor by grinding up dried shiitake mushrooms in a coffee grinder.

Mise en place of the ingredients. Use a dish towel to absorb the moisture from pressing the tofu. I sandwich them between two cutting boards. Grind up extra mushroom powder to use as a seasoning for other dishes!

The secret to transforming the texture of the tofu is pan-frying or deep frying it to create a crisp, brown crust.  After drying the cubes and prepping the other ingredients, Fry on the first side undisturbed for 3 minutes, before turning. The remaining sides may only need 2-2.5 minutes.
Add fresh tomatoes simmered to a deep, thick red sauce enriched with a bit of garlic and soy sauce, to arrive at a perfect tofu dish!
The most difficult part of this dish is browning the little cubes of tofu on all 6 sides. The last time I made this dish, I decided to cut strips of tofu, which made the browning of 4 sides so much easier. I left the ends unfried, and enjoyed the contrast between the firm fried sides and the partially exposed creamy interior. After the tofu cooled, it was easy to finish cutting them into cubes before adding to the fresh tomato sauce for this amazing, unami-laden dish.

Keep an open mind: the possibilities are infinite!

The cookbooks...

From the rich, clear flavors of Jiangsu cuisine (eastern China), to the spicy, complex flavors of Szechuan (western China) dishes, and the fresh, brightness of Vietnamese cooking, these books are all  fabulous, with clear, easy to follow recipes and interesting writing.