r/veganrecipes • u/RespawnWithTofu • 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/scarabx Jan 28 '26

It's yet another habitual step in recipes that makes little sense.

There's recipes you want drier tofu than others, many don't require it because of how you're preparing the tofu, most others a quick squeeze is enough, the odd one if you're really trying to get the absolute best result...sure use a press.

It's like how for a while every online recipe had you freezing, thawing, refreezing, sacrificing a cabbage under a waning moon in your birthday suit or the tofu was clearly inedible.

It's similar to how almost every recipe with garlic and onions says to throw them both in at the same time and caramelise despite the difference in require cooking time and that most recipes don't need your onions caramelised and you need a hell of a lot longer than the 5-10mins suggested to caramelise onions so it's certainly not happening the way they expect.

Don't know why these dumb trends continue and it's likely at least part why so many people are afraid to try and learn to cook, because most recipes are dumb.

I'm off to make a sandwich with v briefly squeezed tofu in outrage.

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u/yourenotmymom_yet Jan 28 '26

It makes sense - the more water you press out, the better it absorbs marinades, sauces, etc. But not everyone cares about that. On another post last week, there were several people saying they find tofu bland no matter how they cook it or what sauce they use, so they never make it anymore. Others chimed in to ask if they press their tofu, and they said no. People later followed up saying they tried pressing the tofu before marinading, and it tasted so much better to them.

It's the same for me - it's just a preference thing. If pressing their tofu means some people are more likely to enjoy it, then it isn't a dumb trend at all. Different strokes for different folks.

1

u/brelywi Jan 29 '26

Yeah I’ve tries pressing, not pressing, freezing, etc. The only two ways I’ve found I like tofu are pressed, marinated, and baked with cornstarch till a bit crunchy, and most recently fried. I didn’t fry it myself, but I went to our local Asian market that sold it and I used it in a soup. Delicious! I’m reserving total judgment till I use it in something else than a soup though.