Nobody commenting on the fact that this good scientist nearly shares a name with the largest fast food chain on the planet on the planet. I like to think this Dr. Chris Macdonald is rebelling against their father, Ronald.
this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2026
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I agree Macdonald is clearly a plant working against big meat.
I like tofu. My wife eats it almost daily, I eat it occasionally (typically, I make mabodofu). My biggest issue is that it's fragile and doesn't have a texture akin to meat. Before anyone recommends seitan, I like that but can't have gluten or wheat anymore. Any suggestions?
I live in Japan, so we have no shortage of types of tofu, but even our firmest doesn't do it for me.
Press your tofu for 2-4 hours, wrapped in paper towels. You wanna get it real dry. Microwave it for like 1-2 minutes. Get it REALLY dry. Once all that water is out, you wanna rehydrate it with some sauce + seasonings, basically like a marinade. Once it’s soaked up the goodness, air fry it (preferably) or pan fry it. Should end up with a texture almost similar to chicken. It’s still gonna be softer than real meat, but getting it just absurdly dry first is the first step to getting it close
There is another method and my girlfriend's favorite too:
Boil it in salt water for 2-5 minutes like pasta before draining it, seasoning it, and frying it (air fryer, convection oven, or pan fry)
The salt draws out the moisture, seasons it lightly inside, and relaxes the proteins. All of which make it absorb seasonings and sauces better. It makes it super crispy on the outside too.
This is also THE method for crispy fried mushrooms. Same principle. If you shred oyster mushrooms, boil in salt water, press out for a minute or two, and pan fry them, you get extremely tasty, crispy mushrooms with a meaty flavor. Toss them in some seasoning and BBQ sauce and you have a crispy pulled pork replacement for tacos or something.
Can I just slice it into slices and dehydrate it in a low temperature oven for hours and hours?
Like can I make 'dehydrared tofu chips' is what Im asking.
Or does anyone please know any brand of CHEAP dehydrated tofu chips already made and sold in canada?
Also does anyone please know how much of the essential amino acids tofu offers per 100grams of tofu (and I do mean any form of tofu. Fermented tofu , whatver form you pick) and then compare it to the essential amino acids 100 grams of ground beef gives.
Thanks
Searched it up in 5 seconds:
- https://nyomirecipes.com/tofu-chips/
- https://tofucurious.com/tofu-chips/
- https://www.powerhungry.com/2026/07/13/tofu-chips/
Man, I had no idea this stuff existed. I wanna make it now! lol.
thanks
Standard answer is get extra firm tofu, drain it, pat it dry, then freeze it. Later when you defrost it, it has a chewier texture.
Oh, I hadn't tried freezing it. I'll raise the flag on this to try.
The ice crystals change the structure of the tofu. This is an ongoing research topic in modern food science as the growth direction and firmness of the tofu matters.
But you should just try it and see what happens with yours.
I'm excited that we'll likely get better textured plant based protein sources soon.
I'm a bit surprised that tofu is ahead of beans, especially in the Planet Score, since it's kind of just further processed beans.
My best guess is that the non-determinate "beans" are an average or something like kidney beans, whereas tofu is specifically soy beans.
And well, Wikipedia tells me that soy beans kick ass:
Cultivation of soybeans has one of the lowest needs for land use (1.3 m² / 1000 kcal) and emits some of the lowest amounts of greenhouse gas emissions per gram of edible protein of any food (1.6 kg CO2 / 100 g protein).
Would probably need to e-mail them to ask for the actual data... 🥴
Beans are a less complete protein than soy, so you need to either eat a lot more or supplement with grain or dairy.
The focus on complete protein is not useful in 99.9% of cases. You do not need to eat all amino acids in the same meal. As long as you get it at some point in the day, it's fine. The main person who popularized the idea has actually said they regret doing so
"In 1971 I stressed protein complementarity because I assumed that the only way to get enough protein ... was to create a protein as usable by the body as animal protein. In combating the myth that meat is the only way to get high-quality protein, I reinforced another myth. I gave the impression that in order to get enough protein without meat, considerable care was needed in choosing foods. Actually, it is much easier than I thought.
Damn, good link. I was also about to type up a lengthy explanation about why it's not relevant, but then realized you need to explain a ton of stuff before you can argue that on a logical basis, which they wouldn't trust me on either.
I have a serious question, if someone is a person that is bulking does her quote about : "With three important exceptions, there is little danger of protein deficiency in a plant food diet. The exceptions are diets very heavily dependent on [1] fruit or on [2] some tubers, such as sweet potatoes or cassava, or on [3] junk food (refined flours, sugars, and fat). Fortunately, relatively few people in the world try to survive on diets in which these foods are virtually the sole source of calories. In all other diets, if people are getting enough calories, they are virtually certain of getting enough protein." also apply?
Like suppose a person need 4000 calories a day to bulk I can actually just eat a diet of tofu, rutabagas, confierous vegetables, oil for frying them and a multivitamin and Ill be eating enough protein and calories per a day to bulk?
If you are eating 4000 kcal/day, you are almost certainly getting a lot of protein. At 4000kcals, even the example of a 100% sweet potato diet is getting you to around ~80g of protein (well above average person recommendations of 50g/day). If any significant portion of that is tofu, the number is going to be even higher. Tofu has like 30-50g of protein per block (varying based on soft vs firm vs extra-firm)
~800 kcals of tofu (~2 blocks of firm tofu) is already putting you at like 90-100g protein assuming you ate zero other protein from anything else for the rest of your 3200 kcals (which will not be the case unless you ate like somehow ate 100% pure cornstarch)
I was going to rebuttal that you typed out a wrong comment since you didnt account for ESSENTIAL AMINO ACIDS anywhere in your comment . But then I plugged in a 4000 calorie serving of boiled sweet potatoes into a website and found out that you are correct and Im wrong. If a person is willing to eat 5.2 kilograms of boiled sweet potatoes EVERYDAY they are indeed getting in enough essential amino acids into their diet even if they are bulking cause theyll be getting WAY more than enough each of the essential amino acids for an average adult lol https://tools.myfooddata.com/nutrition-facts/168484/gm/5269
Thanks for that . I didnt even know that you could get essential amino from potatoes...
Adding to what the other person said about complete proteins, the whole thing is really overblown and frankly almost never something to even begin to worry about. Virtually every plant food contains every essential amino acid, it's just that the ratio of those amino acids is slightly different than the ratios in human or other animal flesh. Notably legumes have marginally less methionine than a lot of other protein sources. But even in an outlandish scenario where you had to live on nothing but beans, this deficiency would still be easily overcome by just... eating a little bit more of the beans..
But people don't do that. They eat lots of things, and many foods supply varying amounts of protein. Despite the hype, there is no need for the average person to worry about their protein intake. If you are eating real food and getting enough calories, you are getting enough protein.
What's with the protein obsession? Eat more fiber, that is what almost everyone is lacking.
Marketing. Also, people think you can only get protein from meat.
Laughable new USAian nutrition guidelines plus accompanying social media nutrition grifters
This is the take.
Which is funny, because tofu is low fiber. Eat more beans.
+1 to more beans!
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I’m here for tofu recipes pls
Grate a block of tofu on a cheese grater with large holes, fry with oil and some soy sauce in a pan while stirring. Add a diced onion as it gets firmer, then garlic, then strained tomato and italien herbs.
Voila, vegan Bolognese.
Or just spread some hot sauce on tofu slices and fry both sides. Goes great with many things.
Check out Thai vegetarian recipes. Mostly soy protein and the most flavorful food in the world. You can substitute a lot of Asian ingredients if they are not available in your region very easily too.
Been vegetarian for over 20 years now and focusing on maximalist kitchens (thai, indian etc) is the way to go with vegetarian constraint!
For something different, apply this technique to any of the suggested recipes here. ETA: firm and extra firm tofu works best.
Freeze it. Thaw it. Press it. Shred (or cube) it.
It takes on a different texture, and can remove even more liquid through pressing than fresh.
Agedashi tofu is one of my favourite Japanese dishes https://www.justonecookbook.com/agedashi-tofu-2/
A few from my recipesage library.
Mapo Tofu,
Garlic Eggplant Crispy Tofu,
Tofu Broccoli Quinoa,
Tofu Taco Filling. Hmm. I feel like I should have more good tofu recipes...
Magic Tofu
Per pound or 454g of extra-firm tofu:
- Break the tofu block apart by hands in a bowl, make pieces of 2cm/1'' large
- Add 1 table spoon of preferred oil (nut, vegetable oils)
- Add 1 table spoon of cider vinegar
- Add 1 table spoon of soy sauce
- Add 1 table spoon of sugar (best source are honey, agave or maple syrup)
- (Optional) Add 1-2 table spoons of preferred spicy sauce (I use sambal oelek or thai red curry paste)
- Mix
- Add 30 g of nutritional yeast
- Mix
- (Optional) Add more nutritional yeast for flavor (another 15 g should do), mix again
- Put on a baking tray, preferably with a parchment baking sheet to cover it, and spread the tofu apart
- Bake for 25 minutes at 375°F or 190°C in the oven
Enjoy on everything! I add it on top of pizzas, in wraps, in a plate with vegetables and rice...
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