Oh My God. Tofu Chili Is My New Go-To

So thanks to rainbebez.tears., I learned how to cook/prepare tofu last week. Figuring out how to cook those puppies was an adventure in awful but I'm glad I was finally able to find a method that worked. (I ultimately bit the bullet and went out and bought sesame oil like rainbebez.tears suggested, and was able to get a bottle for less than $3 at Walmart which was a steal, since I could only find a bottles for around $10 at the grocers.)

So I used up one package - the firm - on experimenting and then today I cooked the second package - the medium firm - with chili and nomnomnonmnomnom. It's so good.

Here are some unappealing pictures of my efforts:



I think this ^ was the cornstarch covered tofu, fried. I did not like at all. :( I don't know why or how but the cornstarch really made a difference in the flavor or in how it fried.



This ^ was the prep for the tofu just fried with no cornstarch or panko or anything covering it. Out of all the batches made with corn oil, this is the kind I liked the best. I would probably make it this way again if I'm ever out of sesame oil.



This^ was the tofu fried in panko crumbs. The panko crumbs didn't really do anything for the taste and it cooks up the outside so fast, the inside stays pretty much unaffected - which I didn't like.

Ultimately, I really just liked the simple - coat the frying pan with a little sesame oil and then crisp the edges of the tofu - like rainbebez.tears suggested. It cost me a little more to have to go out and buy a different kind of oil, but it worked wonders.

So thanks again, rainbebez.tears! You saved me.

* I also made a packet of rice noodles - which is so incredibly easy to do - and it yielded a huge amount of noodles, so I ended up draining the water and putting the remainder in a ziplock back and it held up really well. I ate the rest of the noodles in a red curry sauce about a week later and it was delicious.

I'm going to post a tutorial for the chili soon. :)

Anyway, goodbye.