For many recipes you’ll want to squeeze the liquid out of the block of tofu before using it in those recipes.
For years I used paper towels. One day when out of paper towels, I cut a round out of a sheer white curtain that was quite a bit larger than the block of tofu. I placed the tofu in the middle, brought the fabric up around the tofu till it hung like a ball from a rope.
Then I twisted it round and round as the twist in the fabric squeezed the tofu into a ball, then I twisted as hard as I could to extract all of the liquid.
It worked perfectly, and I’ve been using my handy little tofu cloth ever since.
After using tofu cloth, soak in water immediately till you’re ready to clean it, so that the particles don’t stick to the fabric. Wash in hot soapy water, making sure to thoroughly clean and thoroughly rinse. It saves money on paper towels; you always have it handy and it does a superb job in squeezing the tofu.
If you don’t want to squeeze the tofu, because you’ll be using it for slices or cubes, then wrap tofu in a clean kitchen towel and gently press all sides, then let set for a few minutes to absorb excess fluid.
A tofu cloth also works well to extract excess liquid from cooked or canned vegetables when required for a recipe. Follow the same instructions. It works perfectly every time.
UPDATE: When my polyester curtain cloth began to show signs of wear and tear, I substituted a large square cut from one of Steve’s old, but still usable, white cotton Tee shirts and it worked great. There was no problem with the water seeping through the cloth when twisted.
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