So last night I smoked some tofu and, despite the doobie jokes on FaceBook, I enjoyed it very much. If you want to try tofu, I highly recommend this preparation, whether you smoke it or bake it or fry it, though each way results in a different texture. No, you don’t have to run out and but a pack of ZigZag. If you don’t know what is, God bless you.

Anyway, first buy some tofu, the firmer the better. I get Extra Firm, if I can find it. NOT SILKEN. Even the extra firm silken tofu is soft. Okay, stuck the package in the freezer. When it’s frozen solid, get it out and defrost it. The freezing breaks down the something and makes it more porous and makes the water come out better…or something. Anyway, that’s what I was told to do, and it works for me, so I do it.

Then press as much of the water out as possible. That’s why the firmer the better. I don’t have the patience to put the tofu between two plates and weight them down and let the water slowly drain out. I just grab the block and squish it. SQUISH! SQUISH! TAKE THAT, WHOEVER PLANS TO SEND ME A REJECTION LETTER! TAKE THAT AND THAT AND THAT!

After the tofu is good and squished, mix up this marinade:

TOFU MARINADE

• olive oil infused with garlic–little less than 1/3 cup
• sesame oil added to olive oil to make full 1/3 cup
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup white wine
• salt (if soy sauce is low sodium)

Mix.

Now, decide how you want to cook your tofu. If I’m going to bake or fry it, I slice it into equal slices. Because I was going to smoke it in my stove-top smoker, I left it whole. Put it in a container in one layer. Don’t stack it, if you’ve cut it into slices or cubes.

Pour marinade over tofu. Turn tofu once, to make sure it soaks up as much of the marinade as possible.

When you’re ready to cook it, smoke it for about an hour, bake it at 350F for about 45 minutes (turning once) or fry it until it’s brown on both sides–not long.

I smoked the tofu along with some vegetables (yellow squash and sweet potato) using hickory wood. When it was done, I sliced the tofu and served it. It needed a little salt because I didn’t add much to the marinade. It tasted very rich and smoky. Tofu doesn’t have much flavor of its own, so it picked up the tastes of the smoke, the wine, the olive and sesame oils, the garlic and the soy sauce. Unlike the fried or baked versions, this version was juicy. It’ll be good cubed and added to stir-fry, or maybe in a cold salad in place of smoked chicken, and it’s always good in a sandwich.

MA

writing prompt: Under what circumstances would you eat tofu? If you already eat tofu, how would you try to get a non-tofu eater to try some?