We hear a lot about tofu, its recognized nutritional virtues, its taste acclaimed by the Japanese but also its funny consistency! He does have many assets! Yes, but here is the thing, many of you are asking questions about this plant substitute. What does it taste like? How do I cook it? How do I find a tofu recipe? What is its true nutritional interest?
What is tofu?
Tofu, an excellent alternative to meat, fish but also dairy products!
Tofu is curdled soy juice. To make the soy juice, we use the yellow soybeans that are cooked with water for a long time, then the whole thing is mixed to obtain a thick liquid that is filtered to separate the pulp (called okara) from the juice.
It is commonly and wrongly referred to as soy milk because it is a soy-based beverage and not animal milk. This soy juice is then curdled with a coagulating salt. It is best to use nigari because magnesium chloride gives a less fluffy tofu.
The resulting curd will then be pressed to drain the excess water. In Japan, natural tofu comes in many ways. It is an institution like cheese in the West.
What is its nutritional value?
Tofu is naturally rich in plant proteins, magnesium and is a source of iron. Soy has the distinction of containing polyphenols (organic molecules widely present in the plant kingdom) called isoflavones.
What type of food can it replace?
In a “flexitarian” diet where one wishes to reduce its consumption of animal products, tofu can replace meat and fish in a complete dish with cereals and raw and cooked vegetables. It can also be used to make desserts, custards, béchamels, salty and sweet creams…
And its taste, it is said to be very neutral …
Its taste is indeed quite neutral, so it should be seasoned well with a marinade and the use of for example soy sauce, sweet spices, herbs, garlic or ginger. It is better to eat it with other ingredients such as raw and cooked vegetables, cereals, oilseeds, seaweed… The pleasure and nutritional balance of the meal will be enhanced.
How do you cook and accomodate it?
After cutting it into cubes and marinating as you wish, it can be pan-fried with a little bit of olive oil and served with plain cereals and raw and cooked vegetables sprinkled with gomasio.
It can also be used crumbled in a stuffing with eggplant and basil to stuff tomatoes, with a fondue of chard in a salmon wallet, in a tomato sauce to replace meat in spaghetti Bolognese or lasagna.
But you can also mix it to make delicious salty or sweet creams. For example, mixed with parsley, garlic, lemon juice, soy sauce and a little bit of water to get a parsley cream, or mixed with dates, hazelnut purée, and cinnamon to obtain a cream that can stuff macaroons, serve as topping for cupcakes…
Pour avoir plus d’information sur comment cuisiner le tofu, rendez-vous sur notre article
In what meals and in what types of dishes?
Tofu can be accommodated in many ways, it can be used in the preparation of an appetizer such as a cream of parsley tofu accompanied by toasts and grated carrots, a dish like a scramble of tofu with leek accompanied by cereals, a dessert like a chocolate mousse. To balance your meal, make sure to prepare only one of these dishes with tofu.
