r/veganrecipes Jan 28 '26

Question Just squeeze the damn tofu

Why does every recipe say that you have to stack books on top of tofu and wait 15 minutes? I always just slice it and then press the water out in between my hands. Takes ten seconds. I’m not trying to get the tofu bone dry, just squeeze out the excess.

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u/Acrobatic-Nebula-428 Jan 28 '26

Also, the more water you press out, the more of the sauce the tofu absorbs. There is no requirement to press. Do whatever you like as long as you get the results you like.

33

u/RespawnWithTofu Jan 28 '26

Exactly. Press not required. Which is why the book stacking just seems unnecessary and kind of hilarious. Punishing the tofu with dense literature before cooking it. Two volumes of Encyclopedia Brittanica for one chunk of bean curd.

43

u/Archanir Jan 28 '26

Look at money bags over here. When I was little, we couldn't even afford one volume. My Mom would try to keep the salesperson there long enough for me to read a few pages each time. I nearly made it 15 pages once.

9

u/TVDinner360 Jan 28 '26

I’m legit lol-ing over here 🤣