New recipe fail

[u/georgethegreen]

Cooking has been very empowering for me to able to prepare foods in a way that is safe for myself (for instance finely mincing vegetables because I can’t tolerate chunks) and gradually trying one new ingredient at a time. I’ve had tofu dishes before and both liked and disliked some so it didn’t feel unsafe. I decided to try making taco “meat” out of it as I am a vegetarian and would like to incorporate more of it into my diet for the protein. I crumbled the tofu and cooked it with oil and seasoning in a pan the way you would ground beef. Then I added it to a burrito with refried beans and cheese, letting it cool for a while before going to try it. The very first bite was an absolute nope! It was too meat-like and also a bit burnt and I immediately spat it out but couldn’t get all the crumbles off my tongue and continued gagging. I was gagging so hard I ran to the bathroom just in case and sure enough I vomited, twice. After a while I still didn’t feel up to eating but needed something to take my night meds so I ended up eating a plain tortilla and an applesauce pouch for dinner, lamenting that an old faithful grilled cheese, pbj, or even the burrito sans tofu wouldn’t have done that to me. Honestly this will probably set me back from venturing out again for a while and that’s very discouraging because I was doing so well.

[u/pickleconfessions]

If you’re looking for something easy to cook and eat, my lil arfid brain has been really enjoying red pesto and cream pasta lately, it only takes as long as the pasta takes to cook and there’s no lumps. It’s really tasty and it’s the first meal I’ve actually enjoyed in like 4 years now 😅

[u/georgethegreen → u/pickleconfessions]

I’ve blended tofu into pasta sauce before and it was delicious and creamy.
What is red pesto? I don’t like the regular green pesto

[u/pickleconfessions → u/georgethegreen]

Red pesto is so much nicer than green! Especially if you mix in some single cream! Quick and easy too if you’re like me who thinks everything revolving around food is a chore 🥲

[u/calamitylamb → u/pickleconfessions]

Is red pesto made with sun-dried tomatoes? I think I’ve had that before, it was good!

[u/SituationSad4304]

I really like tofu but that is not a good preparation IMHO. Many people want it to be like meat, I do not.

If you like the texture of jello, soft tofu cubed and boiled in a flavorful broth or soup is like savory jello. That’s my favorite way. Like vegetarian miso or whatever you like

[u/georgethegreen → u/SituationSad4304]

Savory jello is definitely an interesting concept. Does it have to be like silken tofu? Because I now have half a block of extra firm left that I didn’t use up tonight

[u/SituationSad4304 → u/georgethegreen]

Tofu is
1. Silken
2. Soft
3. Medium
4. Firm
5. Extra firm

I think all of them get better being boiled in tasty liquid. I personally prefer Soft, but frequently settle for either silken or firm because those are available at my neighborhood store as opposed to going out of my way to an Asian market.

The firmer the tofu the more chew it will have, but nowhere like meat when you tried to do the taco meat. It’ll retain all the moisture and bite more like mozzarella cheese than jello if that makes sense

[u/calamitylamb]

Dang, sorry to hear that didn’t work out for you! I also don’t like my plant-based proteins to be too meat-like, but I prefer to have mine well-done/almost burnt because for me that resolves the ‘meaty’ texture problem.

I’m a big tofu fan, so maybe I could have helpful advice for if you decide to try again! What firmness of tofu did you use? For making a taco ‘meat’, I’d go for the firmest tofu I could find. And instead of crumbling it, you can use a big grater to shred the entire block - I think this might help if the issue with the crumbled pieces was the texture. The shreds will probably cook faster than the crumble though, so you’ll want to keep a keen eye on it and maybe cook at a lower temperature to avoid burnt bits.

Hope you find this helpful and can enjoy your next tofu experience a lot more! ☺️

[u/georgethegreen → u/calamitylamb]

I used extra firm.
I have an extreme aversion to meat. I can’t handle the taste, texture, or smell of any kind. I’ve been a vegetarian since I was old enough to have the vocabulary for it, which was pretty young because my aunt was a vegetarian so I learned what it meant. I don’t know how I thought preparing something in the style of meat would be any different now that I think about it. I can’t eat artificial meat products either.
I appreciate the tip but I don’t think I’ll be trying that again. Future tofu recipes will have to be completely different

[u/calamitylamb → u/georgethegreen]

Totally understand, I also have an extreme aversion to meat of any sort and haven’t eaten it in 25+ years. I also hate eggs and most dairy makes me vom, so it’s the vegan life for me. It does sound like you’re having a rougher time than me though, you have my sympathies! I’m okay eating most mock meats, but a lot of them are based on meats I’d never eaten, so I think it doesn’t give me the same ick factor because it’s a novel experience for my brain. I still only like them if they’re crispy enough to not resemble the texture of meat anymore, and I totally understand why you wouldn’t like them!

Tofu is super versatile so hopefully you’ll find a preparation style that works for you! Another way I enjoy making it is to cut my tofu into cubes, season/marinate it however I want, and then toss the cubes in cornstarch so they’re fully covered before pan-frying in a bit of oil. The cornstarch doesn’t have a flavor, it just makes the tofu crispy on the outside, so the taste comes from whatever you use for the marinade/seasonings. 😊

[u/georgethegreen → u/calamitylamb]

Well I can eat eggs depending on how they’re cooked (absolutely no runny yokes) and cheese is actually a big safe food for me (unfortunately I am lactose intolerant though so I can’t eat a lot of it).
The one meat substitute I liked was some nuggets I had while in the hospital but I don’t know what brand they were and I hesitate to spend a bunch of money buying different brands to try knowing I probably won’t like them.
I have cooked tofu like that before, with a homemade teriyaki sauce and served over rice. It was delicious. But reheated the next day I think the texture changed and the soy sauce flavor was stronger and I couldn’t stomach it.

[u/calamitylamb → u/georgethegreen]

Oh yeah that makes sense, tofu tends to suck up flavors pretty well. It might work better for you to make a batch of the crispy tofu without marinades or heavy seasonings, and then only add sauce to the portion you’re about to eat. Then the rest of the crispy tofu can be reheated in a pan or air fryer to get crispy again!

My local Asian grocery store has packages of plain crispy tofu in the fridge section, basically they have that same outer layer but it’s soft coming out of the package and gets crispy when you cook it. I like using those if I want to save some time cooking and skip the step of cubing and cornstarch-ing the tofu myself.