How to make the perfect scrambled tofu – recipe

Scrambled tofu? Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. Just follow a few simple steps for the best texture and flavour

Felicity Cloake
Wed 5 Jun 2024 07.00 EDT

If you’re one of the many non-vegans currently screwing up your nose in disgust at the idea of scrambling tofu, I confess that no one was more sceptical than me … until I actually tried making some. After all, though it’s not so difficult to substitute plant-based ingredients in more complex recipes such as meringues or custards, scrambled eggs offer no place to hide. But, actually, eggs, like tofu, are more about texture than flavour, so get that right, and you’ll be surprised how well this plant-based version works.

The tofu

Just as some people prefer their scrambled eggs cooked to dry, firm flakes while others favour a looser, creamier set, the consistency here is a matter of personal preference. What type of tofu you use will depend on the result you want: as BBC Good Food points out: “You can use any kind of tofu when scrambling it and the choice depends on whether you like a soft scramble or a firm scramble.”

I try recipes using soft tofu, which America’s Test Kitchen found had “a texture closest to eggs, yielding pieces that, when crumbled, were smooth and creamy”, as well as firm and super-firm varieties. Ali Slagle dries and presses the tofu before use, while Mob Kitchen dries it, but explains that there’s “no need to press it, as we want to keep some of the moisture here”. Indeed, unless you want your scramble to be very firm and dry, I wouldn’t bother.

If that’s your idea of perfection, though, the extra-firm or firm tofu suggested by Slagle in the New York Times are your best bet; if you’re looking for a wobblier, but still solid scramble, and don’t want too much washing-up, then, like America’s Test Kitchen, soft, and preferably silken tofu, is the stuff to go for (silken tofu is made without coagulating the soy milk or pressing the tofu itself, so it’s wetter, smoother and more delicate than the ordinary kind).

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