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Tofu is great, just misused as a meat alternative. The Chinese and Japanese don’t use it as a meat alternative (dishes like mapo tofu and agedashi tofu contain

Tofu is great, just misused as a meat alternative. The Chinese and Japanese don’t use it as a meat alternative (dishes like mapo tofu and agedashi tofu contain both meat/fish and tofu), they use it to provide textural support and contrast to rich, full-flavoured dishes. If the negative association you have is because of its use in organic kale tofu salads and the like, that’s not exactly tofu’s problem.

swores 3y ago
It's not tofu's fault, but it kind of is tofu's problem imo, since it seems to be a common view. Until a couple of years ago I had pretty much the same view as GP, that tofu was bland with an unpleasant texture and I couldn't imagine anyone eating it for pleasure - based on my experiences of how it was cooked/served by restaurants and friends here in England. Eventually I tried a tofu dish while sharing plates with a couple of vegan friends at a Chinese restaurant and was amazed at how tasty it was, so I then spent the time to figure out how to cook it in such a way that I actually enjoy! It's not exactly close to being my favourite ingredient, but I do now eat it fairly often since it's healthy and tasty. I think this experience - being put off tofu by the amount of people who make awful tofu dishes under the justification of it being healthy and vegan - is quite common, and it would be great if more people can discover ways they actually enjoy it. (Side note, my #1 favourite way of preparing Tofu is roughly this recipe - I'm away from my desk and can't remember the tweaks I made, but they're not significant: https://frommybowl.com/crispy-tofu-recipe/ https://frommybowl.com/crispy-tofu-recipe/ Bake it following that recipe, then it's ready to chuck into a salad, or stir fry, or some sort of sauce, or...)
- satvikpendem 3y ago
  I mean, disliking a food because it was cooked incorrectly is the problem of the eater, not the food. I can cook a steak well-done, that doesn't mean all steak is now bad.
  - swores 3y ago
    If you're going to be pedantic then clearly steak and tofu are both dead forms of protein so they don't care whether people eat them or not. When I said it's a problem for the food I obviously (I thought) meant that in western countries it's a problem from the point of view of it becoming a popular food.
    - satvikpendem 3y ago
      It's a problem because it's cooked incorrectly in the Western world. That's again not the problem of the food itself but of people not learning to cook it properly.
- SamoyedFurFluff 3y ago
  I think the reputation of tofu as bland is not dissimilar to people claiming to dislike veggies as bitter.

swores 3y ago

It's not tofu's fault, but it kind of is tofu's problem imo, since it seems to be a common view. Until a couple of years ago I had pretty much the same view as GP, that tofu was bland with an unpleasant texture and I couldn't imagine anyone eating it for pleasure - based on my experiences of how it was cooked/served by restaurants and friends here in England. Eventually I tried a tofu dish while sharing plates with a couple of vegan friends at a Chinese restaurant and was amazed at how tasty it was, so I then spent the time to figure out how to cook it in such a way that I actually enjoy! It's not exactly close to being my favourite ingredient, but I do now eat it fairly often since it's healthy and tasty. I think this experience - being put off tofu by the amount of people who make awful tofu dishes under the justification of it being healthy and vegan - is quite common, and it would be great if more people can discover ways they actually enjoy it. (Side note, my #1 favourite way of preparing Tofu is roughly this recipe - I'm away from my desk and can't remember the tweaks I made, but they're not significant: https://frommybowl.com/crispy-tofu-recipe/ https://frommybowl.com/crispy-tofu-recipe/ Bake it following that recipe, then it's ready to chuck into a salad, or stir fry, or some sort of sauce, or...)

satvikpendem 3y ago
I mean, disliking a food because it was cooked incorrectly is the problem of the eater, not the food. I can cook a steak well-done, that doesn't mean all steak is now bad.
- swores 3y ago
  If you're going to be pedantic then clearly steak and tofu are both dead forms of protein so they don't care whether people eat them or not. When I said it's a problem for the food I obviously (I thought) meant that in western countries it's a problem from the point of view of it becoming a popular food.
  - satvikpendem 3y ago
    It's a problem because it's cooked incorrectly in the Western world. That's again not the problem of the food itself but of people not learning to cook it properly.
SamoyedFurFluff 3y ago
I think the reputation of tofu as bland is not dissimilar to people claiming to dislike veggies as bitter.