tofu

[RobertN]

My wife made a veggie dish last night with tofu in it. We started thinking about it; how in the world do they turna soy bean into that semi firm mass called tofu?

Anyone have any idea's?

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>how in the world do they turna soy bean into that semi firm mass called tofu?
</font color=blue>

No idea, Robert, but even more than HOW they do it, I've wondered WHY would they do it?/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[woodmills1]

i think it is soy bean curd, the fermented mass of solids from soybeans, with the milk separated out. try this, wash a soybean cake the freeze it. it will become solid enough to make keat balls with it after you thaw. just squeeze out the water after thawing and it like a meat texture.

 

[PTRich]

I saw an interesting article in Popular Mechanics (perhaps the greatest publication in the world!). There is a company that has a process to make plastic with soy oil. So far only John Deere is using it (the said they use it on there combines) but they expect it to take off and make a big dent on our crude oil usage.

PTRich

(does that make the plastic edible?)

 

[PTRich]

Actualy it was Poplular Science (the second best publication)

PTRich

 

[GlueGuy]

Woodmills has got it.


We make a lasagna with tofu in it that is pretty darn good. We've noticed though that tofu itself has little or no flavor. The flavor comes from what you season it with and/or what you do to it.

IOW - Don't eat tofu alone. Seriously awful.

 

[Harv]

<font color=blue>tofu itself has little or no flavor</font color=blue>

That's fer sure, GlueGuy. /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif But one of the interesting properties of tofu, and soy in general, is that it readily takes on the flavor of whatever it is mixed with.

<font color=blue>more than HOW they do it, I've wondered WHY would they do it?</font color=blue>

You sound like a real fan of the stuff, Bird. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif Fact is, it's an excellent source of protein and can be incorporated into a whole lot of dishes. Can't say I'm a huge fan myself, but we have it regularly here at our house. Did I mention my wife is Japanese?

 

[Jeff396]

A couple years ago I went to some sort of a womans work group event with my wife. It was catered. They had Tofu cooked on the grill. It was real good though I can't imagine what else they did to it to make it that way. I thought after the first bite it was chicken of some sort. Very good......for healthy crap/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Jeff

 

[Thomas]

Sorry Robert..but I'm a meat and potatoe boy,but my better half does enjoy dishes like that.
Keep an open for tofu bread..heard it was pretty good.

 

[Andyfr]

Jeff

It could have been marinated tofu, we have it quite often in stir-fry.

Regards

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>You sound like a real fan of the stuff, Bird.</font color=blue>

Yep, Harv, like the other guys said, it ain't bad, it's just nothing./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif Kind of like rice cakes; I'd just as soon eat a piece of cardboard./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Actually, I consider myself among the least finicky eaters in the world; like variety and can eat most anything, but there are a few things, such as tofu, rice cakes, raw cucumbers (watermelon rind tastes better in my opinion), and yogurt for which I would not pay a nickel a carload./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[Egon]

Just reading about TOFU has me salivating for a spicy hot garlic flavored stir fry that has lots of tofu and shrimp in it.

Egon

 

[Egon]

Bird:

Fresh baked bread slathered with butter and topped with cucumber slices are one of my summer favorites.

Egon

 

[StoneHeartFarm]

RobertN

A couple of years ago I watched a PBS show on the making of Tofu. I don't remember much about it, other than it is bean solids, and it involves floating the stuff in a big open vat and skimming the "good" stuff off the top, then pressing the curds and cutting them.

Sorry it's such a sketchy description, but I figured I'd never make the stuff, so why know how to?

SHF

 

[Bird]

Egon, the hot bread and butter sounds great! But the addition of cucumbers sounds like something my wife and daughters would do. I grow lots of cucumbers 'cause they eat'em like candy, but I'm afraid I have no use for them myself. I do like a few pickles now and then, but would rather have pickled okra than pickled cucumbers.

 

[MossRoad]

<font color=blue>Don't eat tofu alone. Seriously awful.</font color=blue>

/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Did you ever see the "Far Side" cartoon where the pride of lions has attacked a herd of very square-cut-looking antelope-type-animals, made a kill but are spitting it out? The caption says something like "These lions accidentally killed a tofudabeast, one of the obnoxious 'health' antelopes of the Serengeti."

My reaction is similar.

 

[looch]

Bird, I'm with you and Thomas on this one. Tofu is what food eats (borrowed from papa Titus)!
Around here you can even go to the local dairy bar and have yourself a soy ice-cream cone.

I'm pretty much the omnivore myself, but there are a few (strange) things that don't agree with me:
Doughnuts
Peanut butter
Cucumbers
Iceberg lettuce
Green peppers
Just repeat on me all day, yet I can swallow a whole bud of raw garlic and be fine.

 

[Egon]

Bird:
Never had pickled Okra as we coundn't grow it up in the cold north.

Egon

 

[Chuck52]

Pickled okra is great! You should be able to find the Talk of Texas brand. I've seen it in both Tennessee and Missouri, so I bet it gets around. It's not nearly as good as homemade, but it does give the general idea. I like mine as garlic dill, with a hot pepper in each jar. Great with beer, and you can brush your teeth with the fuzzy little buggers. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif Just kidding about that last part.

Chuck