you have questions about tofu and i went to all the grocery stores near me including
two asian supermarkets to buy all of the different kinds of tofu and tell you about them what are the
differences what do you use them for including very special types of tofu that you will only
find at a specialty store or if you happen to live in a urban center that it just has
stores with extremely extremely special and good tofu selection anyways let's get into it right
away i will be talking about your regular tofu also known as cotton tofu chinese style tofu it is
basically soy milk that has been coagulated put into molds pressed to varying degrees
soft medium firm extra firm super pressed and also silken tofu i'm going to be talking about
tofu noodles fermented tofu and a couple of very delicious specialty tofus so let's start with
one of my favorites it's soft tofu but because there is no standard in the world and brands love
to just make up their own thing sometimes silken tofu is labeled as soft tofu sometimes soft
tofu is labeled as silken tofu but it's not technically but when we're using the english
language is anything really technically right but usually when you go into a grocery store
if you have a well-stocked tofu section you're going to find soft tofu in something like this
it's going to be in a plastic tub it might be filled partly with water like this one this
one is partly filled with water i think we're going to have to break into it and let you see
this kind is what you would call the chinese style or cotton tofu the one that is coagulated
and then pressed this one however appears to be coagulated in its own container then you're also
going to have silken tofu in the tetra packs i couldn't find any at my local grocery stores but
these are the ones i'm talking about these are shelf staple so they are very popular where well
where tofu isn't that popular because it can stay on the shelf and you would use it very much like
you would soft tofu it is usually labeled as firm and extra firm although you can't compare
it to an extra firm or firm regular style tofu silken tofu and soft tofu are lovely in scrambles
and simply steamed and dressed with chinese black vinegar soy sauce maybe hoisin sauce add
some chilies add some green onions it's really delicious on rice treat it like
chinese steamed fish in a way if you're familiar a very very nice rice killer
or noodle killer whatever you would like to kill that day you can use it in your sweet
and sour soup as the softer tofu component hot and sour soup i meant to say hot and sour soup
soft tofu or silken tofu is also really good in agadashi tofu which is a deep-fried japanese tofu
it's just lovely and crispy on the outside with the contrast of very soft tofu on the inside
is really nice soft tofu can also be used to make puffed tofu so they deep fry it and it puffs up
so the outside is very crispy the inside is just hollow basically because of the high water content
that is driven out leaving this hollow space personally i wouldn't do it at home because
a little bit splattery and dangerous i do love to live dangerously but i want to keep my skin
some people love to pop soft tofu into smoothies which is nice it just adds a little bit more
protein a little bit creaminess sometimes i like to use it as a base for a condensed milk breakfast
pudding which is really delicious it's more it's more of a dessert for breakfast speaking of tofu
desserts they also make tofu desserts this comes in many different kinds of flavor i particularly
like the mango flavor i haven't actually tried this banana flavor it expired before i
got to it so i just froze it and freezing it does change the texture so i'll be interested to know
if it's good or if it's gross if it's gross you can just throw into a smoothie and no problem
another type of soft tofu comes in tubes it's basically coagulated in the tube format
so it's never pressed it's very soft and delicate when you go to the store you might find it next to
another type of tofu egg tofu which is very similar but it has an eggy flavor because it
has eggs incorporated in it as well if you are plant-based and the recipe calls for egg tofu
you can use this tube style silken tofu or soft tofu aka soon tofu if you go into a korean grocery
store and it will fit in the recipe perfectly i hope i've covered everything about soft tofu if
you still have questions please let me know in the comments below and i will be sure to answer them
moving on to medium and medium firm tofu i find that most brands that i come across just label
it from soft to medium firm rather than having a firm medium firm end firm and this is where it
gets a little bit confusing medium medium firm and firm are usually about the same thing there are
just minor differences between them and because of that from brand to brand you'll actually find that
one brand's firm is more like a medium from another brand or a medium firm is more like a
soft even in another brand there is no universal standard so you're really going to have to go
and buy a few different types and see what you like it can be labeled as traditional
tofu it can be labeled as smooth tofu chinese style tofu you can kind of guess the firmness
by how much protein is in a hundred gram unit or 85 as is most tofu brands have as their
serving but the firmness is basically if you just touch the base of your thumb that fleshy part
that's kind of the firmness that you're looking for it is still a bit squishy it's still tender
but it will hold its shape in things like braised tofu stews if you're gentle and it's not too thick
it's a really good sliced up and fried to make kind of an eggy filling for a
breakfast sandwich it's also really good for tofu scrambles it's what i prefer for tofu scrambles
but you can also use a tofu press and press it to make a you know slightly firmer version which is
really great for a stir fry like black pepper tofu lemongrass tofu things like that you can
also use medium firm tofu to replace soft tofu in some dishes where it's just a bit delicate
and you're not that confident about handling the tofu and keeping its shape medium firm tofu
gives you the ability to handle it more easily although don't get me wrong it is kind of delicate
if you go in there with bear hands you might make a mess of things but it is easier to handle than
soft tofu and of course medium firm tofu is what i call for for my double frozen best vegan chicken
ever when you freeze medium firm tofu once the ice pockets that form press the tofu into layers
if you thaw and press it at this point it is very likely to just fall apart on you but if you keep
it in the package without taking it out freeze it again those ice pockets firm up those layers
then you thought for the second time then remove it from the package and you get this very flaky
but also pressable chicken like tofu then you can marinate it to absorb some really good vegan
chicken flavor bread it deep fry it and make the best vegan fried chicken ever take that idea and
move it on to making vegan sesame chicken korean fried chicken any kind of fried chicken you like
basically the only downside is you have to find the right medium from tofu and i've actually found
recently my go-to brands have not been consistent maybe they've changed their process i don't know
but in my own experience trying to make medium firm tofu from scratch i have found that even
adding a little extra coagulant prevents it from forming layers but instead goes to a spongy
texture which tastes fine to be honest it just doesn't have that shocking chicken-like appearance
then you have actual firm tofu it is just a little bit more firm and so i would use it pretty much
the same way in a braised tofu dish it really has not very much difference it's just a tiny
bit firmer and so it all comes down to personal preference like i said also some brand to brand
some medium firms or more firm some firms or more soft you just have to try it out then we have
extra firm just to make things complicated some extra firm tofu comes in a tub like this as well
and it's not that firm it's not as firm as this so again very much personal preference this one is
what i've been using for all my recipes whenever i've called for extra firm tofu it seems to be the
more common version where it's vacuum packed and it is quite firm so i will show you also
how it looks sliced open this one you take it out of the package you want to drain it dab it
dry you may want to press it if you want a even meatier texture i find that this by itself when
it's just sliced and you want to like marinate it it doesn't take on flavors very well one of a few
treatments you can press it in a tofu press you can wrap it in towels and put it under some books
you can cube it up and put it in boiling water and drain it and let that heat just evaporate
the water and then marinate it bread it do whatever you want to do with it so this is
the common one for big tofu deep frying your tofu air frying your tofu it has a meaty chewier
texture when you treat it like that however this particular kind is so dense and it can be kind
of grainy feeling not as smooth as the other ones so it's not my preference to be honest i'm
a little bit sick of it if i had to compare it to anything i would say extra firm tofu is like
overcooked dry chicken breast or turkey whereas your firm tofu or medium from tofu you can
press it and the texture is more like comparable to a well-cooked chicken breast i guess or like
chicken thigh where it's really hard to overcook so there's the difference to me one is this grainy
and can can be kind of unpleasant if you dry it out too much and medium firm or firm tofu
that comes in the tubs of water if you treat it correctly you can still get that meaty texture but
more tender if that makes sense lastly on the chinese style or traditional or regular style
tofu you have your pressed tofu or you might have it called super pressed it has you can almost say
rubbery or like it feels kind of like a mozzarella don't confuse it with mozzarella though it's even
more plain than mozzarella and if you take a bite out of it expecting mozzarella you will be sorely
disappointed it is pressed so much but it still has kind of a smooth texture you can even grate it
which is really nice if you want to make a pulled pork style sandwich or you want to
make a crab style salad this makes a lovely flaky protein you can also slice it up marinate it pan
fry it glaze it whatever anything you would do to an extra firm tofu you can do with a
super pressed tofu or pressed tofu and i prefer it and then related to this one is smoked tofu
this brand makes a smoked tofu that has the same texture but it has that smoke layer on the outside
and if you add a little salt maybe a little soy sauce it pretty much slice it up and pretty much
tastes like ham you would use it the same way the only thing is lately it has been so expensive it
used to be like 2.250 and now it's like 5 bucks so i didn't buy it this time but it is a crowd
favorite if you're, say, hosting anybody that doesn't really like tofu they're not allergic but they
just don't like tofu try smoked tofu keep in mind not all smoked tofu is like that some smoked tofu
can just be like a regular little tofu and that is smoked and flavored so there's many different
kinds branta brand they're all different and now it's time for the specialty tofu and excuse the
fact that my outfit has changed my hair is crazy and i have a cat so first on the specialty tofu
list this stuff and yes i've had some already this is a alternative to fish balls it has the same
texture as fish balls it kind of has a similar flavor as fish balls you can eat it just like this
and chester thinks it's for him too it is not
sorry they also make this it's called q tofu and this is like a flavored tofu
has a bouncy spongy texture
next we have fried tofu and this can come in many different forms it can be more dense or more soft
you can just take it out of the package put some seasoning on it and then bake it or air fry it
or pan fry it or more commonly you're going to find it in braised dishes you can use it for stew
it's just all around excellent next i found this i haven't tried it before this is hakka stir-fried
dried tofu this has some flavor and color added to it actually it's very very firm and you can
use it in a stir fry this i haven't really figured out that well yet i mean i have made a few dishes
with tofu noodles it is a like a really dense tofu made into noodles into these strips so you can use
it like you would use a cooked pasta noodle but it is still tofu it doesn't taste like pasta it
doesn't feel like pasta is this the last thing on my list i have fermented tofu these are two
kinds of fermented tofu it's also known as fuyu it can be like red colored like this or it could be
kind of clear like this it could be brown colored it could be yellow colored it can be in really
many types of fermented tofu but the fermented tofu that you'll find at the asian grocery store
or a really well stocked international aisle in a more typical supermarket might have this and it's
used as a condiment generally i would put this on congee or as a rice killer you can also use it to
flavor other other foods like vegetables like you can also use this tofu to flavor other tofu the
red in this is from red rice yeast and it's just a natural color although sometimes you will find
this type of thing with an artificial color in it just make sure you look at the ingredients if that
is not a thing that you want to have but it is kind of a strong flavor this particular one is
actually really good for making Char Siu or Chinese barbecue pork style seitan or pork style tofu this
one i haven't actually tried this particular brand before i just bought it because it was
on sale and look cute so i shall try it and tell you how it is this is a spicy fermented bean curd
mild it has soybean water soybean oil salt chili sichuan pepper sesame cooking liquor
spices and magnesium chloride the soybean water and the magnesium chloride together
make the tofu and the rest of it is the flavor for the fermentation this one has lost its english
label so i can't tell you exactly what's in it the flavor i've heard it described as a sort
of cheese like flavor but i think it's more like miso but different it's like miso but completely
different if that makes sense you just have to try it and i will show you in a couple of recipes uh
maybe going forward because now i have two jars and i have to use them so i hope that
answered your questions about the differences between the different kinds of tofus and which
one you should buy for what and if you still have questions please let me know in the comments below
please hit the like button if you like this video and subscribe if you haven't already because i
will be using all these different types of tofu in brand new recipes coming up soon
oh and if you have suggestions for what i should make let me know in the comments below i'm more
than happy to make your requests alright thank you so much for watching my friends bye for now