Buddha's Delight (You Give Tofu a Bad Name)

This very simple vegetarian dish relies on hoisin sauce, red pepper flakes and garlic for flavoring. The rest is just onions, asparagus, and mushroom, with scallions for garnish. Some chicken stock and corn starch rounded out the sauce.

And then there was the tofu...

I'm a meat eater who considers vegetarianism and veganism irrational and/or extreme. But then I realized that anti-tofuism isn't very rational either. So I've tried it out a few times, and I've been fairly happy with it. Tofu has two big problems: it has a boring texture, and a boring taste. It does better when it comes to the nutritional aspect of things, but that becomes irrelevant unless you can address those two first ones.

My experience with tofu is very limited, but I like to sauté it, to add a little crispness to the surface. That helps with the texture problem. For the taste, I think it's a good idea to marinade it before you start cooking it. Tofu is very pourous, so it soaks it up ten times faster than meat does.

So that's what I did, in this case. I drained the (extra firm) tofu, and marinated it in soy sauce and toasted sesame seed oil. And then I sautéed it in a pan. The meal turned out great.

But the original recipe just suggested I'd just drop the tofu in as is — just plain tofu, heated up. That would have been extremely boring, I think. This is the first time I've looked at an entirely unfamiliar recipe and just said, "That's wrong. And I know how to do it better" — the first time I've said that, and actually been right.

What kinda idiot would just drop plain tofu in, without adding some taste and texture to it? No wonder people are suspicious of vegetarians.