this post was submitted on 03 Apr 2026
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The anti-soy stuff is 100% a psyop by the meat industry. (hexbear.net)
submitted 3 days ago by Dr_Pepper@hexbear.net to c/chat@hexbear.net
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Complaining about tofu being bland is the equivalent of saying that a blank canvas is boring.

Saying you hate tofu is such a self own. It is one of and maybe the most versatile food of all time. It is cheap. It's macros are at parity with chicken breast. It keeps well AND is much safer (food safety and healthwise) than meat.

I can confirm as someone going from eating meat with every meal to vegan, basic ass fried tofu tastes better than most restaurant meat these days.

What is even wilder is that the US grows a lot of soybeans, and the ideal target for MAGA would probably be a soybean farmer.

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[–] culpritus@hexbear.net 12 points 3 days ago (1 children)

A trick I tried recently is to boil the tofu (ideally cubes or other small shapes with good surface area) for ~15-20 minutes. This reduces the water content and helps it get a crispy surface when frying. I don't quite understand how it works, but it helped make the pan frying get them crispy quickly.

[–] Trying2KnowMyself@hexbear.net 8 points 3 days ago (5 children)

boil

reduces the water content

brow

I don't quite understand how it works

So we’re on the same page, at least

[–] NephewAlphaBravo@hexbear.net 10 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

heat makes protein structures contract and squeeze out the water trapped in them, same thing as overcooked meat/eggs being dry

[–] SocialistSpectre@hexbear.net 11 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I can definitely vouch for the boiling method, it's completely replaced pressing for me. Tossing them into a flavorful broth is my go to now.

[–] Kuori@hexbear.net 11 points 3 days ago (2 children)

iirc cooking nerds have said it's something to do with reverse osmosis or some shit idk but it DOES work (salt the water though)

[–] GalaxyBrain@hexbear.net 9 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Im going to bed rn, but im looking into this tomorrow at work. It counts as part of my job cause im researching food and im a cook. I work witha guy who has a geology degree and I a have had a casual interest in biochemistry as a long time nerd and former every drug user who likes not to die. Together we have done whar no cook has every attempted: applied the principles of basic chemistry to our job occasionally, it does genuinely help to know why something does or doesnt work.

[–] Robert_Kennedy_Jr@hexbear.net 6 points 3 days ago

The act of adding tofu to salted hot water for a time and then removing it to drain and dry firms up the texture. The process counterintuitively draws moisture from the outer layers because heat brings some of the innermost liquid to the surface of the curd, which you can either blot off with kitchen roll (or a tea towel) or leave to steam dry.

Furthermore, the use of salt adds seasoning that improves the flavour. After draining the salt water treated tofu, the surface firms up. Of particular importance if you intend to fry the tofu is ensuring the surface is dry, which occurs naturally if you leave the hot strained tofu on a tea towel to dry out.

[–] culpritus@hexbear.net 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

My hypothesis is that it forces some of the water inside to turn into steam which then boils off, but it's definitely very counterintuitive.

[–] Trying2KnowMyself@hexbear.net 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

You'd think the same would happen when you just throw some tofu in a pan thonk

[–] Speaker@hexbear.net 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

It does, but you're not heating the tofu evenly with only one contact surface, and once you've got a nice crust on there's nowhere for water to go very efficiently. When you put food in an oiled pan and it sizzles, that's water leaving the food and boiling off.

[–] soybeanis@hexbear.net 4 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I think the idea is that by boiling it in salt, you osmosis water out of the tofu; then, after removing the unequilibrated and still-hot tofu, which has soaked up some salt/flavors and lost some moisture (relatively, once it's been cooled and patted down), is tastier and drier