getting a tofu press made a huge difference in my faux “egg” salad and my stress levels
for the longest time, i've been pressing tofu in a completely inefficient and painus-in-the-anus way: putting the tofu block on a plate, putting a plate on top of it, and then putting a cast iron pan on top of the plate. i'd have to stay in the kitchen to make sure it didn't tip over (it always did) or that my cat didn't mess with it (he always did). and i could never press it for too long because it was out of the fridge. it may sound silly to have so many issues about preparing tofu, but as bon jovi said, it's my life![[MORE]]
when i started getting into reading vegan blogs, i saw how all of their tofu recipes looked so perfectly crisp and not soggy and my hypothesis was that they were properly pressing their tofu (spoiler alert: i was right). after reading some reviews, i got myself a tofuxpress. it arrived a couple of days later and i broke it in with some faux egg salad.
i often "forget" to "read the manual" or "look at the box" when i get things, so i immediately set up the press upside down on a plate before realizing...this is probably incorrect.
so i read the instructions and they said that i did put the tofu and spring correctly together, but that i don't have to put it upside down; i can put it spring-upwards in the fridge and then, after pressing for as long as i need, i can pour the water out that came to the top. so don't do what i did above, i'm just showing you what a dumbass i am. the instructions also show that the bottom piece is a lid if you want to use it for marinating the tofu, so that's pretty cool and clever.
after pressing the tofu for a few hours, i broke it into small chunks with a potato masher and mixed in the following ingredients to make a faux egg salad.
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/4 tsp black salt, for the eggy flavor
- 1/4 cup vegenaise to start, add more at the end if you need more moisture
- 2 tbsp spicy brown/dijon mustard
- a splash of distilled white vinegar
- some chopped scallions
- salt and pepper to taste
getting the water all pressed out meant that any moisture would be from the added flavors, which made a huge difference from past batches i've made. the tofuxpress was easy to clean and my tofu came out in one piece - which matters for some recipes! i'm quite pleased with it, and with my sandwich. the box says it can be used to "press vegetables and fruits - eggplant, cabbage, spinach, salads, fruits and more" so if you're looking to press fruits such as "fruits and more," you may want to try this out.
sometimes if i'm feeling like a fancy baby (i always am), i'll add everything bagel seasoning and cholula to my "egg" salad.
xoxo j$
