After I inform folks I could make my favourite recipe in underneath two minutes, they not often consider it. There isn’t any secret, only a humble pantry ingredient: silken tofu. Mushy and wobbly with a subtly candy soybean taste, silken tofu is a flexible ingredient that takes on the flavour of any sauce or condiment. It is only one member of a bigger soybean curd household that features tofu pores and skin, tofu puffs, and agency tofu—all varieties I hold behind my fridge or freezer. However melt-in-my-mouth, luxurious silken tofu is all I have to convey my favourite dishes collectively at a second’s discover.
I began reaching for silken tofu commonly a couple of years in the past, after I moved to New York. I would eaten silken tofu loads of occasions in miso soup and mapo tofu, however I by no means thought it might star as the primary part of a whole meal. That every one modified one evening when my roommates and I, hungry from an evening wandering town, noticed silken tofu in our neighborhood’s 24-hour bodega. I instantly considered the refreshingly chilly, savory tofu pudding with chili sauce I would eaten on the Manhattan Chinatown establishment Fong On and determined to recreate one thing related.
We went residence, and I gently steamed the tofu within the microwave for a couple of minutes, then doused it with soy sauce and chili oil. We dug our spoons slowly into the block and savored every creamy, salty chew, and the tofu disappeared in seconds, leaving a pool of burgundy-tinged soy sauce on the plate.
Since then, I’ve taken liberties with the recipe directions and additional lowered the prep time. Many recipes advocate poaching, steaming, and even microwaving silken tofu earlier than incorporating it right into a recipe, because it supposedly improves the tofu’s texture. Nevertheless, I have not discovered a distinction, so I favor to skip this step. I merely open the bundle of tofu, drain the surplus liquid, and plop the tofu onto a plate. Then, I pour a soy sauce–primarily based dressing over it and eat it chilly.
The components for the dressing I take advantage of are easy. I whisk collectively a couple of pantry staples—soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, white pepper, and a splash of black vinegar—and add a couple of sliced scallions, then pour it over the silken tofu. And identical to that, I can get dinner on the desk in two minutes flat.
The tofu is luxuriously creamy and delightfully spoonable, virtually like a savory custard. The speedy preparation all the time belies how mouthwateringly scrumptious the dish is, which is why I make this a minimum of as soon as per week.
Past this fast, simple methodology for making ready silken tofu, there are numerous different savory makes use of for the ingredient. It is the star of mapo tofu, soondubu jigae (smooth tofu stew), and miso soup—comforting recipes I can eat any day of the week. I additionally slip it into creamy bases, reminiscent of corn chowder or seafood curry, to offer my meals a lift of protein. In fact, silken tofu’s candy soybean taste shines by itself, and I pair it ceaselessly with a rotating solid of sizzling sauces, soy sauces, and chili oils.
Critical Eats / Melissa Hom
Its versatility would not cease with savory cooking; silken tofu additionally works nicely in desserts. To create douhua, or tofu pudding, I submerge silken tofu in a pool of brown sugar syrup. It really works as an alternative choice to dairy in vegan desserts, reminiscent of key lime pie and chocolate mousse, and as soon as it is blended with sweetener and different components, its easy, creamy consistency actually stands out. I’ve even tossed it right into a smoothie for a protein enhance.
Whether or not it is the bottom of my quickest meal or the key ingredient in a dessert, silken tofu has added a little bit of jiggly pleasure to my meals. I like to recommend grabbing a couple of blocks in your fridge—you could be shocked how typically they turn out to be useful.