How to Firm Up Tofu

How to Firm Up Tofu

Years ago I had a friend tell me that compressing tofu and removing as much liquid made a huge difference in the texture and consistency. I was doubtful, but luckily I followed her advice and agree – it does make a huge difference. Now I always do it when I need to work with a firm tofu – whether it is frying, grilling, baking, or even eating diced in a warm or cold salad. It does not take much work, and the long preparation time is simply because the more it sits, the more solid it will become. I like to let the tofu compress for 24 hours, but even as little as half an hour can make a big difference! Patting the whole block and even the chunks or diced pieces dry with several paper towels does also help a lot, especially if you are browning it rather than cooking it over moist heat.

The concept is quite simple – put a heavy object on the tofu and allow the liquid to drain from the tofu. If you leave the tofu sitting in the water that is pressed out it will just reabsorb it all. Another key component is that, unless you are only compressing for two or less hours, you will need to refrigerate the tofu and somehow make sure the tofu is wrapped to make sure it will not absorb random flavors from your fridge.

Doing this can be a little bit tricky, and it took a while to figure out a way to arrange things. I started out using a regular, large strainer with a rounded bottom placed in a huge plastic bowl with a lid. It worked, but the tofu did not compress as well because it was not on a flat surface and the bowl took up a huge amount of room in my refrigerator. I then bought a collapsible strainer - which I left collapsed to make a flatter surface, which worked better and took up less space – but it still took up a lot of space and it did not drain as well.

The third thing I used was a old stainless steel vegetable steamer (without any posts) like this one. That was OK, but not perfect – it took up a lot less room, but still did not provide a flat surface.

The fourth, and final solution, which I have been using for over three years now is an 11” silicone vegetable steamer It is the perfect size, and because it is silicone it presses perfectly flat under the weight of the tofu so you get the best compression – while also being soft and flexible enough to conform to whatever size container you have on hand to store the tofu in.

Other people use all sorts of different things, from a splatter guard, mesh wrapped around the edge of a bowl, even a plastic plate that they poked holes into – but the key thing is to make sure the tofu can drain well and not pick up any funky odors from the fridge. You can also wrap the tofu and strainer in a plastic bag or plastic wrap rather than using a container and just place whatever you are using to weigh down the tofu on top of the plastic.

And speaking of whatever to use to compress the tofu – there are lots of options. Basically anything heavy works great! I typically just throw a 10” plate on top and pile random jars and bottles that are already in my fridge on top of it, but I know people use books, bricks, stones, a bowl full of water, heavy pans, and in one memorable story, a toddler who was on “time out.”

While this description seems to take forever, the process really is simple and takes about two minutes to put together.

1. Find a surface that will strain out the liquid the tofu will release and place it on a plate or bowl that can catch that liquid.

2. If your straining surface is large enough, cut your tofu in half to form two flat, wide rectangles. If you have a larger surface, cut your tofu into even smaller pieces. Place all the pieces on the straining surface.

3. If refrigerating, place everything in an airtight container (leaving room for whatever you are going to use as a compression weight), tightly seal it in a plastic bag, or wrap it with plastic wrap.

4. Place a plate, bowl, pan, or pot with a flat bottom larger than the surface area of the tofu on top of the tofu. Fill with whatever heavy things you have on hand.

5. Let sit for at least one hour, and up to 48 hours. If you are compressing for more than 2 hours, make sure to place the tofu in the refrigerator.

6. Before cooking, pat the rectangles dry with paper towels or clean dish towels. Cut the tofu as directed in your recipe and then pat thoroughly dry again.