Giant Book of Tofu Cooking

This book has easy recipes and an overview of the different textures of tofu that are available. A great book for the beginner with some delicious and easy recipes.

I got this book as a gift last Christmas and I have made about ten or so of the recipies and they all came out wonderfully. Just about all of the dishes are very simple to make and don't have a lot of complicated ingredients. There is a short bit at the front which teaches you about tofu and how to work with it. This book has dishes for every taste including Mexican, Indian, Middle Eastern and Italian. It has an incredible breakfast food section and a fabulous dessert section as well. If you love the taste and texture of tofu or if you want to start eating tofu but don't want it to be the main focus of the dish this book has everything. I can't rave about this book enough. The authors obviously did a lot of research to compile such a fine collection or recipies and I can honestly say it is the best tofu book in my collection.

I was quite surprised by the sheer size of this book. It is quite large and contains over 250 pages, most of which are recipes. There is a brief introduction to various types of tofu and methods that affect texture, flavor, etc. There are also several pages on the variety of soy products currently available on the market and how to use them. As with most cookbooks, recipes are divided into tofu basics, breakfasts, appetizers, soups, salads, lunch and dinner, dressings, sauces and spreads, desserts, and a metric conversions chart, if you're interested. There is no lack of diversity in flavors here. There are plenty of "normal" recipes and creative variations thereof, as well as Indian, Mexcian, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, and a few others. Some are highly seasoned, others are very basic. Unlike some books I've seen, these don't look like 200 variations on the same recipe. There are color photographs every couple of pages and literally hundreds of recipes. Some emphasize tofu very strongly as a main ingredient and other incorporate it as one in many. There are definitely recipes here for those who LOVE the taste and texture of tofu, and plenty for those who want it in their diets but would prefer to not know it's there. ALL of these recipes are vegetarian, and many are vegan. There is no fish, or meat broths of any kind. Still, some are very quick recipes and some more complicated. The recipes are typed in a medium-sized print which is easy to read, and the steps are separated by spaces and numbered, making directions easier to follow. Quite a number of these recipes are also low in fat. There is definitely something here for everyone. I think it's an impressive and noteworthy collection in which many people would be satisfied. It is more than worth the price.

With a name like "tofu", this ingredient needs all the help it can get. This help comes in the form of beautiful color pictures for many of the recipes in this new book. Those of us who want to increase our intake of this wonder food also eat with our eyes and the photos in this book encourage us to try the recipes. There is one for Tofu Benedict that looks more appetizing than the original version that uses eggs. It is a great addition to my vegetarian cookbook library.