I Make Dinner in 2 Minutes With This Versatile Ingredient

After I inform folks I could make my favourite recipe in beneath two minutes, they hardly ever imagine it. There is no secret, only a humble pantry ingredient: silken tofu. Gentle 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 maintain behind my fridge or freezer. However melt-in-my-mouth, luxurious silken tofu is all I must carry my favourite dishes collectively at a second’s discover. 

I began reaching for silken tofu commonly a number of years in the past, once I moved to New York. I would eaten silken tofu loads of instances in miso soup and mapo tofu, however I by no means thought it may star as the principle element of an entire meal. That every one modified one night time when my roommates and I, hungry from an evening wandering the 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 chunk, 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 suggest poaching, steaming, and even microwaving silken tofu earlier than incorporating it right into a recipe, because it supposedly improves the tofu’s texture. Nonetheless, I have never discovered a distinction, so I desire 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 number of pantry staples—soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, white pepper, and a splash of black vinegar—and add a number 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 at the very least as soon as every week.

Past this fast, straightforward technique for getting ready silken tofu, there are various different savory makes use of for the ingredient. It is the star of mapo tofu, soondubu jigae (mushy tofu stew), and miso soup—comforting recipes I can eat any day of the week. I additionally slip it into creamy bases, resembling corn chowder or seafood curry, to present my meals a lift of protein. In fact, silken tofu’s candy soybean taste shines by itself, and I pair it continuously with a rotating solid of sizzling sauces, soy sauces, and chili oils.

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 to dairy in vegan desserts, resembling 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 increase.

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 number of blocks on your fridge—you may be shocked how usually they turn out to be useful.