pass up a good challenge, so when Clare posted her tofu press machinations, we knew we had to show ours off too. Ben has been working on this variation of a press for a while now and thinks he's mastered it, but wants to take it one step further with two wooden cutting boards and a dowel in the center to hold the weights still so that they don't slide off the top. Bittman suggests using extra firm tofu from this method in many of his tofu recipes. I am not a huge fan of tofu right out of the package, but this method makes the consistency much more palatable.
The system is simple: two cutting boards with holes cut into the sides to allow for two dowels on opposite corners to slide up and down the board. You insert the tofu in the center, place the top board over the food and then place heavy weights (in this case 10 pounds worked best). After approximately one hour, much of the moisture pours out of the contraption (use a towel and place near the sink to avoid a mess) and you have a delightfully extra firm piece of tofu.
After the tofu was nicely firm, Ben sliced it into nugget-size rectangles and sprinkled them with soy sauce and a touch Worcestershire sauce. He then dipped them in egg white and dredged them in cornmeal spiced with Italian herbs, paprika and some salt.
He then filled the frying pan with a 1/4 inch of oil and added the tofu in small batches once heated allowing each side to become golden brown. he then transferred the crispy tofus to a paper towel.
We ate the tofu over a bed of quinoa with artichokes.
It was a delicious, satisfying and filling meal.
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