Who’s in the kitchen? To fu or not to fu…that is the question

If the word tofu reminds you of “flower child” of the 60s and tasteless health food, you are not alone—but you are missing out on one of the most versatile, healthy-for-you ingredients. Made from soybeans, water and a coagulant, tofu is high in protein and calcium, and is an all-star at absorbing spices and marinades.  It has a neutral flavor that will adapt to any kind of recipe, from the most savory and spicy to the sweet and decadent cheesecakes and chocolate mousse  parfaits that can be whipped up by it.

Tofu is an uber ingredient because of its ability to replace other ingredients with aplomb.  

It’s chameleon like qualities and nutritional value made tofu a staple in Asian cuisine for hundreds of years. John Locke was quoted as saying “We are like chameleons. We take our hue and the color of our moral character from those around us.” Fortunately, tofu fares much better when referred to as a chameleon. Simply put, it is soybean curd. Tofu is to soymilk as cottage cheese is to cow’s milk.

One half-cup serving of raw firm tofu contains 10.1 grams of protein. The recommended daily intake is 56 grams for most men and 46 for most women. A half-cup of tofu is approximately 4 ounces by weight.  By comparison, 1/2 cup dairy milk contains 5.1 grams of protein; one 3 ounce egg contains 6 grams. Four ounces of tofu contains 94 calories, 4 ounces of ground beef contains 331 and half a cup of cheese has 320 calories. For each 100-calorie serving, tofu contains 11 grams of protein. A hundred calories of beef provides 8.9 grams and 100 calories of cheese contains 6.2 grams.

When it comes to fat, tofu really comes out as a winner. A half-cup serving of tofu has 5 grams of fat. Four ounces of beef has 15 grams of fat, and one egg contains 5.5 grams of fat.

For those who want to further slash their intake of fat, tofu comes in a low fat version as well and has only 1.5 grams of fat.

Another added bonus is that tofu is plant-based so it has no cholesterol, and it also contains 22 mg of calcium, about 22% of the RDA.

Tofu has become an everyday word, but many of you probably have never experimented with the foreign looking substance and would wonder what to do with it, once you take it out of the neat little package it comes in.

For those of you who have never experimented with tofu before, I am going to share an easy recipe that, I think, even those afraid of trying new foods, will admit that it isn’t all that bad.

I’ll supply the recipe, but those of you, who have kids, spouses or guests, that are adamant about not trying new foods....well, I’ll leave it up to you as how to try to get them to taste it.

Too bad those hard to please guests aren’t like fish in an aquarium, that gobble up those flakes as soon as they are sprinkled into their tank, or like the pigeons, who spend way too much time on the ground gobbling up crumbs than in the air flying.

Trust me, I know what it’s like to have those around me not willing to try new foods. My kids were never willing to try new foods. Once, while at my friend Janet Grosser (who is an amazing cook), I was helping her serve her famous fricassee. As she handed me a plate filled with gizzards and necks along with the meatballs for my eldest son, Daniel, I thought I should probably ask her to take the gizzards and necks off his plate, then I thought, why not live dangerously, and let’s just see what happens. To my surprise and delight he asked for seconds. Of course I waited till he was finished to teach him the lesson that one should always try something before saying they don’t like it.

My son Jeremy was no better. One day when he came home from second grade, I noticed that he hadn’t even opened the aluminum foil to see what type of sandwich I sent him. I asked how his lunch was, he answered great. I then asked him, what I put on his bagel as I forgot. He thought for a moment and said tuna?  I said, no cream cheese.

A week later the lunchroom teacher called me and said Jeremy was throwing out his yogurt without even tasting it. When questioned, he said it had “water” on top. When the teacher explained that it was the juice from the yogurt, he said he did not like yogurt juice in his yogurt, and that she could eat it if she liked.

Needless to say, I thought twice before introducing new foods in those days. However, the next time I have all three of my kids home I am going to try the recipe below. Since Daniel and Jordana don’t really read my articles and I haven’t bothered Jeremy to proof my column in a while (he was quite the good sport about it, but I felt badly, as he’s pretty busy in law school these days), I’m going to give it a try. Tried it on my hubby last week and he loved it!

TOFU AND BROCCOLI IN GARLIC SAUCE

INGREDIENTS;

n 1 ½ lbs of tofu cut into cubes and marinated in ¼ cup soy sauce (stir occasionally while preparing the recipe)

n 2 medium onions cut in half, then sliced in thin half rings

n 8 ounces of fresh mushrooms sliced

n Half red pepper sliced into thin strips

n 8 cloves of garlic, crushed

n 1 pound of broccoli cut into florets

n 2 cubes of vegetable bouillon dissolved in 2 cups of boiling water

n 4 tbs oil

n 3 tbs honey

n 1 tsp crushed red pepper

n ¼ tsp dried ginger or 1 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated

DIRECTIONS;

n Drain the tofu and reserve the liquid.

n Brown tofu in a pan or wok on all sides in 3 tbs of oil.

n Remove tofu when brown, and set aside.

n Add 1 tbsp. of oil to the pan, and fry the mushrooms and onions until soft.

n Add the crushed garlic, bouillon mixture, honey, crushed red pepper and ginger and stir together.

n Add the tofu and reserved marinade.

n Simmer over medium heat for one minute, and then add the broccoli.

n Simmer an additional 3 minutes, then turn heat off and set aside for 5 minutes.

So to fu or not to fu.......that is the question.

And as Hamlet continues....”Whether it’s nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.” Or shall I say whether it is nobler in the mind to suffer the trial of mom’s new tofu recipe?  I will let you know next week. 

Judy Joszef is a pastry and personal chef and a party planner.

She can be contacted at Judy.soiree@gmail.com.