Where can I find tofu?

ZiX ZiX ZiX

Hello fellow vegetarians!

I live in Dublin City Centre and was just trying to find out if there's anywhere else to buy tofu. I am buying it in Tesco for the last while (Cauldron brand) but I heard some of the asian shops supply larger blocks of it? Any recommendations?

Thanks!

ZiX ZiX ZiX

ZiX ZiX ZiX wrote: »

Hello fellow vegetarians!

I live in Dublin City Centre and was just trying to find out if there's anywhere else to buy tofu. I am buying it in Tesco for the last while (Cauldron brand) but I heard some of the asian shops supply larger blocks of it? Any recommendations?

Thanks!

I prefer to buy flavoured tofu, taifun make. I get it in healthfood shops. Nourish in the gpo arcade stocks it.

For plain tofu, asian shops are better. There is a good one at the jervis center luas stop.
You can freeze the excess.

ZiX ZiX ZiX

Moonbaby wrote: »

I prefer to buy flavoured tofu, taifun make. I get it in healthfood shops. Nourish in the gpo arcade stocks it.

For plain tofu, asian shops are better. There is a good one at the jervis center luas stop.
You can freeze the excess.

Excellent thanks! I prefer plain tofu myself and usually fry it with some roast cumin, soy sauce, red peppers etc.

henryporter

Easy to get lumps of tofu at Asia Market on Drury Street http://www.asiamarket.ie/ie/images/asia.gif

ZiX ZiX ZiX

ZiX ZiX ZiX wrote: »

Excellent thanks! I prefer plain tofu myself and usually fry it with some roast cumin, soy sauce, red peppers etc.

I can never seem to get it crispy...It is always splodgey when I cook it.
Might give it a go again actually.

ZiX ZiX ZiX

Moonbaby wrote: »

I can never seem to get it crispy...It is always splodgey when I cook it.
Might give it a go again actually.

Yeah I used to have that problem, but now what I do is just heat the pan up really high and throw the spices in then lower it down to a low-medium setting and fry the tofu on low heat for around 20 mins. I know that's probably longer than it should take but it gets the job done!

ZiX ZiX ZiX

henryporter wrote: »

Easy to get lumps of tofu at Asia Market on Drury Street http://www.asiamarket.ie/ie/images/asia.gif

Thanks for that I had a look on their site and they seem to have a very wide range of tofu products in stock :pac: I'll be sure to check them out sometime.

Aoifums

Does anywhere sell extra-firm tofu? It keeps coming up in American recipes and I'm not too sure how firm the Cauldron stuff is.

sweet-rasmus

I think if you freeze the tofu you change the texture a little. I remember reading it in a big book about tofu Might help make the regular stuff firmer. I've seen 'soft' and 'firm' tofu in those small cartons, but can never rememebr the brand name. Not sure about the 'extra firm', but I remember coming across its requirement in recipes too.

veggieali

i became a veggie not too long ago nd i bought sum tofu 2day in dunnes...ne1 tryed it? is it good? and about tofu in general is it nice? i found a recipe on the bbc website entitled chile-fried tofu with egg-fried rice

Tar.Aldarion

Tofu is lovely, you can make it taste like what you want, I love the seeded smoked tofu..


You can get the big cauldron pack of plain tofu in tesco I think, mmmm

veggieali

k thanks

Tar.Aldarion

Enjoy, and welcome to the forum, have a look at the introduction thread.

Ms. Koi

There's a chinese restaurant in Maynooth and they don't have tofu on the menu, but I asked if they had it and they just said "tell us what way you want it and it's yours!". First time I'd ever had it, quite nice but a lil chewy!

sweetoblivion

If you press the tofu for a while it'll be less gooey - some brands are more gooey than others.

anothernight

Also for frying, make sure it isn't silken tofu. Silken tofu is really only suitable for desserts.


My favourite way to have tofu is as tofu nuggets. I normally just buy the plain stuff from one of the asian shops (such as Asia Market on Drury street). I prefer to freeze it, then thaw it and press it very well to remove most of the moisture. Then I marinate it with whatever I feel like on the day. Soy sauce is always good =] especially with other spices. Cover with a simple batter and deep fry until golden. Not exactly healthy but it's yummy with a choice of dips

Westenra

silken tofu makes a great vegan version of scrambled eggs; perfect for beating hangovers :-)

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5

Well seeing as we're talking about tofu, what I'm finding delicious at the moment is just to marinate it in soysauce and coat in a mix of flour and nutritional yeast and either bake it or fry it. Prefer baking myself just because it's easier to get the texture right I find. Low heat for a long time = perfect!

wunderbaaaargh

I am looking for extra firm tofu here in Dublin. I have found only the soft silken and the spongy kind with a lot of moisture inside. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tofu#Extra_firm_tofu I love it due to the firmness and because it is edible both cold and stir-fried. Is there a shop in Dublin where I can buy it?

Tar.Aldarion

wunderbaaaargh wrote: »

I am looking for extra firm tofu here in Dublin. I have found only the soft silken and the spongy kind with a lot of moisture inside. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tofu#Extra_firm_tofu I love it due to the firmness and because it is edible both cold and stir-fried. Is there a shop in Dublin where I can buy it?

We get our tofu in 1kg blocks from the asian shops for E2.xx. You then remove the water, freeze it, defrost it and have super firm tofu. So much nicer, not even comparable.

spiralbound

wunderbaaaargh wrote: »

I am looking for extra firm tofu here in Dublin. I have found only the soft silken and the spongy kind with a lot of moisture inside. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tofu#Extra_firm_tofu I love it due to the firmness and because it is edible both cold and stir-fried. Is there a shop in Dublin where I can buy it?

Dunnes sell a firm tofu, it's my favourite, nice and firm and I have been known to snaffle a bit raw while I'm cooking, or to use it raw in a vegan 'egg' mayo sandwich.

This is what it looks like: http://thehappypear.ie/shop/tofu-products/437-sing-tahoe-tofu-500g.html (although it's only €2 in Dunnes), it's usually with the bags of lettuce etc.

wunderbaaaargh

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

We get our tofu in 1kg blocks from the asian shops for E2.xx. You then remove the water, freeze it, defrost it and have super firm tofu. So much nicer, not even comparable.

Thanks! I will try that as an alternative.

spiralbound wrote: »

Dunnes sell a firm tofu, it's my favourite, nice and firm and I have been known to snaffle a bit raw while I'm cooking, or to use it raw in a vegan 'egg' mayo sandwich.

That one looks good. But I have never seen it at Dunnes. But i look again next time. Thanks!

Cats.Whiskers

The Tofu dishes in Siam Thai in Malahide are the nicest I have ever tasted.

The pieces are really light, airy and spongy.

Now if I could figure out how to recreate this texture at home it'd be great - does anyone have any ideas ?

spiralbound

Cats.Whiskers wrote: »

The Tofu dishes in Siam Thai in Malahide are the nicest I have ever tasted.

The pieces are really light, airy and spongy.

Now if I could figure out how to recreate this texture at home it'd be great - does anyone have any ideas ?

It might be deep fried tofu puffs? Like these http://www.templeofthai.com/recipes/fried-tofu-puffs.php ?

You can get them in an Asian shop, they sell them in Asia Market on Drury St anyway.

DeesWholefoods

Moonbaby wrote: »

I can never seem to get it crispy...It is always splodgey when I cook it.
Might give it a go again actually.

You need to press the water out first - here's a video I made of how to do it easily https://vine.co/v/bJQYZEDVpP1

Then dry cut into pieces, place on an oiled tray in the oven and add it back into dishes at the end of cooking.

Freezing the tofu straight away and then using it afterwards to add to recipes gives a different texture too. Slightly spongy but it soaks up a marinade well and doesn't go all soft when you add it to stir-fries etc.

The best tofu you can get in Ireland is made in Dublin and is found in Asian supermarkets Jan Jan Tofu, it costs about €2.00 for a huge block (press half/freeze half) is what I normally do. It is called Jan Jan and I use the non gm version.

DeesWholefoods

spiralbound wrote: »

It might be deep fried tofu puffs? Like these http://www.templeofthai.com/recipes/fried-tofu-puffs.php ?

You can get them in an Asian shop, they sell them in Asia Market on Drury St anyway.

I would say perhaps they freeze it first - this gives that texture. It is called "freeze dried tofu", something to do with it tofu being left outside overnight in Japan, it freezing and people realising it had a different texture.

Tar.Aldarion

Yes, it is incredibly nicer after freezing.

Cats.Whiskers

I bought the spongy tofu in the Asian shop behind the Jervis it was lovely but I don't think it is the healthy option.

I'm now freezing the tofu and squashing out the water before cooking it, it really makes a difference and absorbs more of the sauces/marinades before cooking.

Thanks for the tip :pac: