Tofu, Pressed

Press the fresh, white cake of tofu with a weight, season it with soy sauce (and occasionally cinnamon or star anise), and you have the brown compact cake with a texture like muenster cheese that is frequently shredded and included in vegetarian stir-frys such as Buddha’s Feast. You must hunt for a truly good-tasting brand. Avoid the very dark, ¼-inch thin sort that is typically sold in Cantonese markets in sealed plastic bags of 6–8 squares. It is usually heavily seasoned with five-spice powder and is lacking in flavor and unpleasantly hard. Search instead for a small market that has thicker and sometimes smaller cakes of a caramel color that smell savory and taste delicious when you bite into them. This homestyle sort is most often found loose and stacked on a tray in a Chinese market or packaged informally in small baggies. In the San Francisco area, there is a luscious variety called Savory Baked Tofu, manufactured by Quong Hop and sold mainly in whole food stores. See if you can get your local dealer to stock it, as well as Quong Hop’s firm fresh tofu.