Pages

▼

Saturday, 8 January 2011

Tasty tofu - part 3, Thai tofu cakes are ok!

Image © Onykahonie
Determined not to let the beancurd get the better of me (after my tofu disaster), I began phase 2 of the tasty tofu quest and started looking for recipes to use up my remaining half pack of tofu. As I was using Cauldron's tofu, I looked on their website and found this lovely sounding recipe for Thai Tofu Cakes, which uses grated firm tofu.

My first thought was "How on earth am I going to grate the tofu?"  I knew from yesterday's attempt than my 'firm' tofu was a little on the flabby side, so I googled and found various methods to drain and press the tofu to make it firmer. The most common method seemed to be to put it between several sheets of kitchen towel and place a plate on top with a weight on...so that's what I tried. After an hour of draining, the tofu, was definitely drier, but definitely not grate-able!

I decided to go ahead with the recipe, but bunged all the ingredients in the food processor (swapping the spring onion for a small red onion). My initial thoughts on reading the recipe, were that the mixture was going to end up too wet to form patties and I was right! To rectify the situation, I added some wholemeal breadcrumbs (25g), but the mixture was still too wet. I then added some gram flour (25g) which I had left over from making pakoras. That seemed to do the job, but I wasn't sure how it would affect the taste!

So here's the verdict: 2.5 out of 4 - Not bad, but the kids weren't keen! Crispy on the outside chewy in the middle, with a nice spicy kick.

Alternatives: Make these without egg, or use really firm tofu, that you can actually grate.

I still want to make proper crispy tofu chunks though, so the tasty tofu quest continues...

Image © Onykahonie
at

2 comments:

  1. Trout Mask9/1/11 7:26 pm

    I'm part way through a chinese take-a-way and thinking of your predicament. I think the problem might be the raw material - cauldron foods tofu just isn't up to the job - it's the japanese silken version. I think you need chinese style tofu actually called bean curd that is firmer and holds it's shape. But I don't know where to buy it yet - I think it might be a chinese supermarket job!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lisa @FacelessFood9/1/11 10:13 pm

    Thanks for thinking of me...hope your meal was nice! I think you may have hit the nail on the head there. I didn't realise that tofu and bean curd were different. I've looked in a local health food store and Holland & Barratt for other tofu brands with no luck, so will try and track down a Chinese supermarket next!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks very much for your comment. I love hearing your opinions, so please rest assured that genuine comments and competition entries will be visible after approval. This may take 24-48 hours, depending on how hectic my work/home life is at the time!