— ingrid ortega

So, um, tofu can be tricky. And, um, the silken tofus I like to use for desserts for making puddings or for making an icing for a cake or something like that. Uh, if I'm making, um, let's say tofu kebabs, I like a really extra firm tofu. And before I will use it, I will rinse the brine off of it, and then I will wrap it in a kitchen towel or cloth and put it in their refrigerator in a bowl for about an hour or so, so that more of the liquid is expunged, because I like a really tough tofu, so to speak. So, um, usually if you're following a recipe, the recipe will tell you, um, what kind of tofu to use. If you're out on your own and you're wondering what to do, depends what you're going to make. For example, if I were going to make a, um, breakfast scramble, I would not use an extra firm tofu. I might use a firm, uh, just to add a little body to it. Um, I, I'm just gonna, let's see, what time is it? We have a couple of minutes. I wanna tell you a funny story. Um, Dr. Esselstyn was going to speak at a hotel in Scranton, Pennsylvania, if you were a fan of the office. Uh, it's where the office was supposedly located. And, uh, he was doing a big, big, big dinner with a medical school. And, um, Mrs. Ann called and asked me if I could go and could I shadow the chef to make sure that he was doing everything right. And, um, there's a famous quote that Ann will use that if you use the wrong tofu, that dessert is going to look terrible. I won't tell you what it'll look like. Kitty litter is what she says. So, um, there I was in the kitchen with the chef and he was an omni chef and he didn't really have a grasp on the basics of plant-based cuisine. So, um, he showed me this chocolate pudding that he had made, and it was gritty and heavy and not good at all, but I didn't want to offend him. And I said to him, Hey, is there a Wegman's anywhere near here? And when you shop a big store like a Wegman's or a Publix or wherever, essentially they have the same planogram for every store in the world. If you know where the silk and tofu is, it's the king of pressure store, you're gonna know where it is in Scranton, pa. So I went to the Wegmans and I bought many, many bricks of the silk and tofu, and I said to the chef, you know, I think let's just try and see how this will work with the, uh, with the silk and tooth. I think you're gonna see a really big difference. And he was kind of hoof about the whole thing, but in the end, he, he got to see the difference of what using the right tofu meant, and he was ever grateful and very appreciative. And, um, it's just kind of funny how having that awareness about what tofu to use can really make a very big difference whether you're making a dessert or a savory dish.