Which tofu should I buy if I only buy one?

Firm, also labelled 老豆腐. It browns, survives a stir-fry, and works in braises. Press it for ten minutes and it behaves close to extra firm, which covers most of what soft and silken tofu are used for.

How do I stop tofu sticking to the pan?

Dry the surfaces, get the pan properly hot before the tofu goes in, and leave it alone until the underside releases on its own. Tofu let go of the pan when it has browned; if it is sticking, it is not ready to turn.

Do I need to press tofu before cooking?

For pan-frying and braising, yes, ten minutes is enough. For soups and steamed dishes, no, the extra water is part of the texture. Dried tofu and extra firm blocks are already pressed and skip the step.

Yes, and it changes the texture on purpose. Freezing pushes water out and leaves a spongy block that soaks up broth and sauce. Thaw it, squeeze it gently, and use it in hot pot or a braise rather than a stir-fry.

10 Tofu Dishes Beyond Mapo: What to Cook With a Block of Tofu

Tofu recipes are the cheapest twenty-minute dinner there is, and most people only know one of them. Ten chinese tofu dishes built from the same block, ordered easiest first, plus why the block you buy decides whether the dish holds together.

Tofu recipes are the cheapest twenty-minute dinner there is, and most people only know one of them. Mapo tofu takes the attention, but this index carries forty-odd tofu dishes beyond it. Below are ten chinese tofu recipes built from the same block, ordered so the first needs one pan and the last asks for a little more patience. If what to cook with tofu is the question, here is the answer in ten parts: braised tofu recipes that hold their shape, dry-fried versions that brown properly, and two that use the soft block people never know what to do with.

Which block of tofu you actually have

Four types sit in the same fridge case, and swapping one for another is the usual reason a tofu dish falls apart in the pan.

Extra firm or pressed: dense, holds a cube edge, the one to pan-fry or grill.
Firm (老豆腐): the default for stir-fries and braises. It browns and survives a spatula.
Soft or silken (嫩豆腐): breaks if you stir hard, correct for soups and steamed dishes.
Dried tofu (豆干): already pressed, more chew, takes a marinade better than the rest.

The dish-by-dish substitution table is at /blog/firm-vs-soft-tofu, and the wider category breakdown sits at /blog/tofu-types.

Chinese tofu recipes, easiest first

Ten dishes, one block each. The first three need nothing you do not already have.

Home-style tofu (家常豆腐) at /recipes/home-style-tofu. Pan-fried cubes finished in a light sauce. The one to learn first, because every technique below builds on it.
Braised tofu (红烧豆腐) at /recipes/braised-tofu. Browned cubes simmered in soy, sugar and stock until the sauce clings. Works with firm or pressed tofu.
Kung Pao tofu (宫保豆腐) at /recipes/kung-pao-tofu. The sweet-sour-spicy sauce you know, with tofu standing in for chicken and dried chilies doing the work.
Clay pot tofu (砂锅豆腐) at /recipes/clay-pot-tofu. Tofu, stock and whatever protein you have, simmered in the pot it is served in.
Braised dried tofu (卤豆干) at /recipes/braised-dried-tofu. Dense slices simmered in master stock. Keeps for days and is better cold on day two.
Cold-dressed dried tofu (凉拌豆干) at /recipes/cold-dressed-dried-tofu. No stove at all: sliced dried tofu, scallion, chili oil, black vinegar.
Stir-fried dried tofu with celery (芹菜炒豆干) at /recipes/stir-fried-dried-tofu-with-celery. The fastest vegetable dish in the set, done in under five minutes of heat.
Frozen tofu hot pot (冻豆腐火锅) at /recipes/frozen-tofu-hot-pot. Freeze a block, thaw it, and it comes out spongy and soaks up broth like nothing else.
Napa cabbage stewed tofu (白菜炖豆腐) at /recipes/napa-cabbage-stewed-tofu. Cabbage releases its own water, so this one needs almost no added stock.
Wen si tofu (文思豆腐) at /recipes/wen-si-tofu. Soft tofu shredded to threads and floated in a clear broth. The knife work is the whole dish.

Braised tofu recipes that hold their shape

Braising is where tofu either soaks up flavor or disintegrates. Four habits separate the two outcomes.

Brown the cubes before any liquid goes in. Raw tofu in stock stays pale and bland no matter how long it simmers.
Do not stir with a spatula. Shake the pan, or push the cubes with the back of a spoon.
Add liquid hot, and only up to about two thirds of the way up the tofu. More than that and it boils rather than braises.
Finish with the heat up so the sauce reduces onto the surface rather than staying as a thin broth underneath.

💡 Salt draws water out of tofu. If you salt the cubes before browning they will steam instead of colouring, so season at the end.

What to cook with tofu on a weeknight

Three of the ten work on a Tuesday with nothing planned, and one of them needs no stove.

Cold-dressed dried tofu, because the fridge does the work.
Stir-fried dried tofu with celery, because dried tofu keeps for a week and celery keeps longer.
Home-style tofu, because it is one pan and roughly twelve minutes from block to table.

An easy tofu dinner in twenty minutes

If the fridge has one block of firm tofu, a scallion and soy sauce, this order gets dinner out fastest.

Press the block for ten minutes while the pan heats. A plate and a tin on top is enough.
Cut into cubes about two centimetres across and dry the surfaces with a towel.
Fry in a thin layer of oil, undisturbed, until the bottoms are golden. Turn once.
Add soy sauce down the side of the pan so it caramelises on contact, then a splash of water and a lid for two minutes.
Scallion on top, off the heat. Rice underneath.

Start with /recipes/home-style-tofu tonight and read /blog/firm-vs-soft-tofu before you buy the next block. Every recipe above is on haoweirecipes.com with timings and a full ingredient list. More lists like this are at /blog, and the full recipe index is at /.