# can you freeze fried tofu?



## mamabeard (Sep 27, 2002)

hey. i'm going to be making up some rice dishes to freeze for after my baby is born, and in some of them i plan to use up some tofu i have that expires soon. i just noticed, tho, on the package that it says not to freeze. it's premarinated, if that's possibly a concern (?).. i have frozen plain tofu before, and tho it gets all yucky looking, when it thaws it is fine.. so i'm wondering if i fry a bunch up and freeze it in rice dishes if it'll survive the journey. any one ever done this?


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## KathinJapan (Mar 25, 2003)

I freeze tofu all the time. It changes in texture, gets spongy and softer but the taste is fine. I live in Japan, and the tofu is a little different here, but I am sure it will be fine. You could do one small batch to test and see how you like it.
Kathryn


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## Mama Lori (Mar 11, 2002)

I freeze fresh tofu, but I've never frozen already marinated/fried tofu. I think the reason not to might be that when you freeze it, the liquid drains out of it, then when you defrost it, it's a completely different texture. But I don't know if that's a problem. I freeze fresh tofu not for economy but because it adds variety. Once it's defrosted, squeeze the water out of it. I like to then slice it thick, dip it in a mixture of beaten egg/tamari/black pepper, then pan saute on both sides in olive oil. Very yummy. The texture is most similar to the stuff I find at Chinese restaurants and have trouble duplicating, but this comes close.

Eli says:


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## mamabeard (Sep 27, 2002)

thanks, that does sound yummy!

hmm.. so i wonder if i just chopped up some plain tofu and threw it in the dish with the other stuff (rice, veggies, sauce), and then cooked it slowly, if that would prevent what you're talking about, and still soak up flavour..? i've never done any freezer cooking, and i imagine i'll be plenty exhausted so i want to keep it as simple as possible..

thanks for the replies!


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