[stigmata]

Here's how to do nice tofu:

1) Get a decent make. The Oak-smoked cauldron is nice, you can get from Holland & Barret in the UK.

2) Drain the liquid. Dry tofu by squeezing it in kitchen roll firmly but gently.

3) Cut the tofu into triangle shapes about 1cm thick, maybe 7x4 or something. It looks better this way.

4) Marinade it for a couple of hours. Something like Mirin, Soy Sauce, Garlic, lots of Ginger. Tofu is so bland, you need to do something serious to give it an interesting kick. Sounded like your marinade should of worked.... did you leave it long enough?

5) Take it out of the marinade and use the marinade for some extra flavouring in stir-fry.

6) *Griddle* the tofu on a griddle pan. Just put it on the pan for a few minutes either side on a medium heat. Make sure you get the darkened stripes across the tofu pieces (again, this looks cool) and it is a little crispy around the edges.

7) Do this at the same time as the stir fry, and then just bung the tofu in at the end, or layer it on top.

Bingo, perfect tofu. Badly cooked tofu (e.g. 99% of it) is minging. Well cooked tofu should be well marinaded (because it has no flavour) and be a little crispy on the outside with a softer but firm interior. In this way it should be able to act as a sort of "meat subsitute" as the flavour/texture should offest nicely against the veg.

Another good meat substitue is Quorn. The texture is quite chicken-like, but again it lacks in flavour. However, the quorn pieces work well in things like curries, were the flavour of the meat is completely drowned out anyhow.