A Kitchen Must Have

When I first started cooking with tofu I had no idea what to do with it. I was a complete fish out of water. Looking back, it is pretty funny to see what I novice I was.

All I knew about tofu at the beginning was that it needed to be pressed. The more water that is taken out of the tofu, the better the meal tastes in the end...especially when using a marinade. Since I am the first one home at least 50% of the time, often pressing the tofu falls on my shoulders.

At first I tried squeezing the tofu with my hands. Next I attempted to lean on it with all of my weight. While these methods worked pretty well, they were not practical and were sometimes painful. Finally I started to wise up. I came up with different ways to rig my own tofu press, none of which went really well.

My first contraption was a large bowl with a paper towel and a cooling rack resting on it. The tofu sat on the cooing rack with another paper towel on top of it. Then 2 dinner plates sat on top of the tofu. This not so ingenious idea relied on the plates to press the water out of the tofu. The rack would direct the water into the bowl. However the results were not as successful as I would have liked.

The next idea I had was a whole lot simpler. The tofu was placed in between 2 cutting boards with paper towels on each. Then 3 large cookbooks were set on top to apply enough pressure to drain the tofu. While in theory this plan was just simple enough to work...

It too had its flaws. I could never get the books to stay on top of the tofu long enough for them to be effective.

Finally, Josh's sister Jana solved my problem. She sent us a tofu press. And now my days of trying to figure out how to drain tofu are over.

All I have to do is open up a package of tofu when I walk in the door, place it in the press, fasten the top, and walk away.

30-45 minutes later my tofu is pressed, allowing me to make perfect tofu meal every time. It is so easy to use and makes the tofu so much firmer and better tasting, it truly is a must have kitchen item for every vegetarian or tofu lover.

The tofu press has truly revolutionized the way I make and enjoy tofu. How do you press your tofu?