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Feto: Nutritional Values and Uses of Fermented Tofu

Feto is still a niche product in the group of vegan substitutes. Here you can find out why it is worth trying out the fermented tofu (even if you are not vegan) and how you can easily make it yourself.

Feto: production and nutritional values

Feto is tofu that has been fermented using lactic acid bacteria. This gives this type of tofu its slightly sour taste, which is reminiscent of the taste of feta. The lactic acid bacteria also support the functioning of our intestines and can help to fight off pathogens. This also applies to other fermented foods such as sauerkraut, yoghurt or kefir.

The lactic acid bacteria also ensure that the sugar and carbohydrates contained are metabolized beforehand. This makes feto easier to digest than conventional tofu. In terms of nutritional values, Feto is very similar to regular tofu.

Here’s how you can make feto yourself

You can ferment tofu yourself in just a few simple steps. Proceed as follows:
First squeeze as much liquid as possible out of the tofu. The best way to do this is to wrap it in a tea towel and weigh it down with a few heavy objects. (e.g. cutting boards, bowls, books etc.)
Let the tofu stand for about half an hour.
Now mix about half a tablespoon of salt with 500 milliliters of water. The water should be so salty that only lactic acid bacteria and no mold bacteria can form. However, if you use too much salt, the feto will be completely oversalted later.
Cut the pressed tofu into cubes, put it in a mason jar and fill it up with the salt water.
close the jar
The tofu will take about a week to fully ferment at room temperature.
Due to the work of the lactic acid bacteria, it is possible that some liquid will leak out again and again. Make sure the tofu is always completely submerged in salt water to prevent mold from forming.
Open the jar about once a day to allow the gases produced to escape.
You can also ferment vegetables like peppers or onions with the tofu to give it extra flavor.

You can serve the finished fermented tofu cold or warm. Cut into cubes or crushed into crumbs, you can use it as a feta substitute for salads. Fried in a pan, it is a delicious side dish for vegetable, pasta and rice pans. Due to its strong cheese note, it is also suitable as a basic ingredient for vegan cheese sauces. Feto is also recommended as an ingredient for Asian stews and soups.

Tip: Make sure you use organic tofu. This ensures that farmers do not use synthetic pesticides and genetic engineering when growing soy.

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Cooking Tips

Frying Tofu: This is How it Gets Сrispy

Frying tofu doesn’t have to be difficult: With a few extra steps during the preparation, you can create crispy, golden-brown tofu cubes with lots of flavor in the pan or in the wok.

Sometimes tofu doesn’t want to get crispy enough in the pan or doesn’t absorb enough flavor. With a few simple tricks during the preparation, you will no longer have this problem in the future and your fried tofu will be nice and crispy.

Frying tofu: How to prepare it

So that tofu also tastes good when fried, you should first prepare it:

Press the tofu dry: the less moisture it contains, the crispier the tofu can be fried. Before you continue to use it, it is therefore important to first remove the liquid from it. You can simply place the tofu block between several layers of cotton towels and weigh it down with a thick book or another object. Then leave it there for about ten to fifteen minutes. The weight forces most of the liquid out.
Marinating the tofu: Because tofu doesn’t have a strong taste of its own, you can season it in a variety of ways. If you marinate the tofu for a few hours before cooking, it will absorb the flavors best. You can prepare the marinade according to your taste, for example with soy sauce, ginger, garlic or chili.
Toss the tofu in cornstarch: when it is marinated, you can fry the tofu. Cut it into oblong slices or cubes. Before the tofu pieces go into the pan, it is best to turn them in some cornstarch. You can use potato, wheat or corn starch for this. The starch draws out the remaining liquid from the tofu before it is fried, making it even crispier.

This is how you can fry tofu crispy

The right pan: To fry tofu, it is best to use a high-quality cast iron pan or a non-stick pan. This will prevent the pieces of tofu from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Of course, you can also prepare the tofu in the wok, especially for Asian recipes.
The right temperature: To make it as crispy as possible, you should sear the tofu. To do this, set your stove to high, heat some oil in a pan and add the tofu. A few minutes is enough for it to turn golden brown and crispy. Don’t forget to turn the tofu regularly while frying so that it can brown evenly and doesn’t stick or burn.
The right oil: You can be generous with the oil if you want to fry tofu crispy. Note, however, that not all cooking oils are suitable for frying at high heat: Olive oil, for example, is ruled out here because it has a comparatively low smoke point. Instead, use unflavored sunflower oil to fry your tofu — or, if you like, sesame oil or coconut oil. They also give the tofu an interesting flavor.
Once you have finished frying the tofu, you can use it, for example, for vegetable pans, as a soup ingredient or as a special addition to salads. Or you simply eat it with a delicious dip.

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Food

Tofu: The Soy Product is So Healthy

Opinions are divided on whether tofu is healthy. Proponents value the soy product for its high protein content, while critics condemn soy and accuse tofu of having a poor environmental balance. You can read here how healthy tofu really is.

How healthy is tofu really? This question is often discussed, especially between meat eaters and vegetarians. Tofu has long been an integral part of Asian cuisine and is not considered a meat substitute there.

In this article, we not only look at tofu from a nutritional perspective, but also ask how healthy tofu is for our planet. You will also learn what to look out for when buying tofu.

Is tofu healthy? The nutritional values and ingredients

Before we can judge how healthy tofu actually is, it’s worth taking a look at the nutritional values:

127 kcal/532 kJ per 100 grams of raw product
Fat: 7 grams, of which 1.30 grams are unsaturated fatty acids
Carbohydrates: 1.60 grams, including 0.50 grams of sugar
Protein: 14 grams
Fiber: 1 gram
The high protein content of tofu is particularly striking. This makes it particularly interesting for people who opt for a purely plant-based diet. According to the German Society for Nutrition, tofu is a very good vegetable protein source. With just 100 grams of tofu, you can cover around a third of your daily protein requirements.

In addition to the macronutrients, the micronutrients are of course also crucial. Tofu provides your body with valuable vitamins and minerals and contains secondary plant substances:

iron
phosphorus
folic acid
magnesium
B vitamins
vitamin E
isoflavones
Isoflavones are also known as phytoestrogens. The phytochemical has structural similarities to human estrogen and can, under certain circumstances, bind to the body’s own receptors. The study situation on the effects of isoflavones is still unclear, babies and children should only consume small amounts of soy products.

Is Tofu Healthy for the Planet?

However, whether tofu is really healthy cannot only be judged by the nutritional aspects. In addition, we also have to consider the impact of tofu on our environment and the effort involved in production.

Tofu is made from soybeans. The production can certainly be compared to the manufacture of cheese. Soy milk coagulates, liquid is squeezed out and what remains is a solid block – to put it simply.

Regardless of its healthy nutritional values, soy is increasingly being questioned. Quite rightly so: After all, soya is often cultivated in huge monocultures using genetic engineering. Rain forest areas often have to give way for soybean cultivation and are cut down. At the same time, soya is one of the legumes. These plants improve the soil in the long term and provide it with nutrients. That is why the question of environmental compatibility is not so easy to answer.

First of all, it is important to consider that the large-scale cultivation of soy is mainly used to produce animal feed, which is used on a large scale in factory farming. Indirectly, more rainforest soy is grown for a diet with animal products than for a purely plant-based diet. This is one of the reasons why meat has a significantly worse ecological balance than tofu.

You can also find substitute products such as tofu in stores with regional soy from Germany, France or Austria. Therefore, when shopping, pay attention to the origin of the product.

Buy healthy tofu

So that you actually eat tofu that is healthy for you and your environment, you should consider the following points when buying:

Pay attention to the origin of the tofu. This way you avoid long transport routes and can make sure that no tree was felled for your dinner.
In order to rule out genetic engineering, you should also pay attention to organic quality. For example, the organic seals from Demeter, Naturland or Bioland are recommended.
You can also buy tofu unpackaged in some organic or health food stores. Then it’s placed in brine instead of sealed in plastic to keep it fresh.
You can also make your own tofu.
In order for your tofu to taste really good, the preparation is crucial. Since it does not have an intense taste of its own, it is worth marinating tofu. Check out our tofu recipes for more inspiration.

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Food

Eating Raw Tofu: Is It Healthy?

Can you eat tofu raw? We explain to you what you should consider. You will also learn how to use raw tofu in dishes.

Eating tofu raw: possible without hesitation?

Tofu is a good plant-based source of protein and can be easily and versatilely integrated into the diet. Many recipes call for frying, baking, frying, or even grilling the tofu. But you can also eat tofu raw and thus make many dishes more nutritious – because tofu contains many other healthy nutrients in addition to proteins. You can read more about the ingredients here: Tofu: The soy product is so healthy.

Actually, tofu is never “raw”: tofu is made from boiled soy milk that is curdled using calcium sulfate, magnesium chloride or nigari (a seawater salt). This causes the soy protein in the liquid to flocculate. This can then be separated from the liquid and pressed into blocks. By the way: You can also make tofu yourself.

Like almost all legumes, raw soybeans contain lectins, proteins that are toxic to humans. However, you can destroy lectins by heating them. As described above, tofu is made from cooked soy milk and therefore no longer contains any lectins.

Eating tofu raw simply means that you use and eat it without further heating.

Eat tofu raw: delicious recipe inspiration

Eat natural tofu raw

Tofu comes in many different consistencies. This is due to the different moisture contents and processing methods. There are natural tofu with various textures, from soft and silky to dry and rather crumbly. The taste of these varieties is very unobtrusive. You can use natural tofu raw in many dishes without the soy flavor being the main focus.

Protein-rich smoothie: As a filling basis for your morning breakfast smoothie, you can simply add some raw natural tofu to the blender. This not only makes the smoothie particularly creamy, but also keeps you full for longer thanks to the protein in tofu.
Fluffy mousse au chocolat: This recipe for mousse au chocolat proves that raw silken tofu makes a wonderful, vegan dessert without cooking.
Dips, dressings and sauces: You can also eat silken tofu raw in the form of sauces, dips and dressings. To do this, puree it into a cream. This can serve as the basis for a vegan sour cream or an American dressing, for example. You can also use it to make a plant-based quark alternative.
Vegan feta alternative: You can marinate raw firm tofu in oil with Mediterranean herbs, making it a vegan alternative to feta cheese.

Eat smoked and marinated tofu raw

Smoked tofu has a firmer consistency than plain tofu. There is now also a range of tofu products that provide variety with a delicious marinade or additional ingredients such as herbs, nuts and spices. You can eat all of these types of tofu raw.

Smoked tofu sandwich: If you have an appetite for a hearty snack, you can use raw smoked tofu as a topping. In addition to a smoky aroma, this tofu also has a good bite. It is best to bed the smoked tofu on a delicious spread, lettuce and slices of tomato or cucumber.
Tofu as an ingredient and topping: Diced smoked tofu and other types of tofu are good in salads, stews or as an ingredient in soups. Because you’re using the tofu raw, you hardly need to spend any time preparing these toppings.

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Shelf Life of Tofu: How long does it last?

Unopened, tofu has a fairly long shelf life. However, once the package is opened, it is often difficult to judge whether it is still edible. We tell you how long tofu can be kept.

Tofu is a protein-rich food made from soy that is particularly popular with vegans and vegetarians. You can use tofu in a variety of dishes and add flavor to your taste with marinades and spices.

A typical criticism of soy products like tofu is that the soybeans come from rainforest regions. However, organic tofu in particular mostly consists of European, sometimes even German, soybeans. Read more about how to eat vegan regionally at Utopia. Due to the shorter transport distances, you can save CO2 emissions and thus reduce your ecological footprint. Tip: You can also make tofu yourself.

We recommend that you buy organic tofu for other reasons as well. Organic seals such as Bioland, Demeter or Naturland stand for certain standards in cultivation and production, for example they do not allow chemical-synthetic pesticides.

The most important numbers on the shelf life of tofu

Tofu is mostly vacuum packed. This makes it particularly durable. The best before date (MHD) tells you how long the tofu will last. However, if stored properly, tofu can be kept for a long time. A long-term test by the environmental protection organization Greenpeace showed that tofu can still be eaten up to six months after the best-before date.

Once opened, tofu can be kept in the refrigerator for two to three days. You can extend the shelf life of tofu by storing it properly:

Always keep unopened tofu refrigerated. An exception are varieties that were freeze-dried during production and can therefore also be stored at room temperature. As a guide, if the tofu was already refrigerated when you bought it, you should keep it in the fridge as well.
Place opened tofu in an airtight container (such as a box or jar) and place in the refrigerator. It is best if you add some water. The tofu should be at least half covered.
If you freeze tofu, you can extend its shelf life by up to six months – regardless of whether it is still unopened or opened.

Shelf life of tofu: how do you know that tofu is still good?

A first indication of the shelf life of tofu is the best before date. However, as mentioned, unopened tofu lasts far beyond that.

Are you unsure whether your tofu is still edible? If these factors apply, you shouldn’t eat the tofu anymore:

Appearance: greasy, eventually mold
Odor and taste: sour or bitter
In particular, the smell of spoiled tofu can become very strong.

If the pack is still closed, the following also indicates that tofu is no longer edible:

Pack is bloated
The brine that tofu is in is creamy or crumbly

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Food

Freeze Tofu: You Should Pay Attention to This

Freeze tofu? That’s fine! This not only keeps it longer, but also makes it particularly crispy or tasty. You can find out what you should consider here.

Freezing tofu has several advantages: Not only can you extend the shelf life, but you can also change the consistency. Tofu can be frozen for up to six months.

When does it make sense to freeze tofu?

Freezing tofu makes sense to prevent food waste – for example in these cases:

You don’t consume your tofu within its shelf life. Note: Most foods are still edible beyond the best-before date without any problems.
You opened the package and you have tofu left over. Tofu usually only lasts a few days in the refrigerator once opened.
Because it contains a lot of water, the tofu changes its consistency when it freezes. You can use this:

The pores get bigger. As a result, thawed tofu can absorb the marinade and spices better and tastes more intense. For particularly flavorful marinated tofu, it makes sense to freeze the tofu beforehand. However, be careful not to over-season – this can easily happen due to the larger pores.
Depending on the type, freezing the tofu makes it either firmer, softer or more crumbly. Natural tofu becomes firmer and easier to express. You can take advantage of this in dishes with crispy tofu, such as breaded tofu sticks. All other types of tofu, such as silken tofu, become softer and more crumbly and are then great for soy Bolognese or desserts such as vegan chocolate mousse or vegan cheesecake.
It is possible that some varieties will turn yellowish when frozen. However, the yellow tinge often disappears again when it is thawed.

Freezing tofu: what do you have to consider?

Pack the tofu airtight, for example in a tightly sealable box. Alternatively, you can leave it in the vacuum pack that you bought the tofu in. This is important to keep the tofu from drying out and freezer burn.
If you like, you can chop or portion the tofu before freezing.
The tofu should be in the freezer compartment or cupboard for at least half a day so that it is properly frozen. Then you can use the changes in consistency (see above).
Don’t marinate and season the tofu until it’s thawed.
The best way to thaw frozen tofu is to place it in the fridge the night before.

Which tofu is recommended

We recommend buying organic tofu. In particular, organic seals such as Bioland, Demeter or Naturland have strict guidelines and ban chemical-synthetic pesticides, among other things. In addition, organic tofu mostly consists of European soy.

Ask your supermarket or health food store about regional products and pay attention to the indications of origin. With shorter transport routes, you can save on CO2 emissions and thus reduce your ecological footprint. Here you can find out more about how you can eat regionally despite a vegan diet: Vegan regional: Soya and seitan are also available from Germany.

Tip: You can also make tofu yourself.

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Tofu From the Air Fryer: Crispy, Delicious and Fat-free

With the hot air fryer you can prepare tofu particularly crispy and low in fat. We’ll show you a simple, delicious basic recipe for crispy tofu from the Airfryer.

Tofu tastes best when fried crispy or fried in plenty of oil. But even without oil, your tofu will be crispy if you prepare it in the air fryer.

It is important that you use tofu that is as firm as possible and that you press it out before baking. You can do this with a tofu press or a heavy pan. Soft tofu with a high water content does not become crisp in the Airfryer either. Whether you use firm natural or smoked tofu is up to you. The result is spicier and tastier with smoked tofu.

Tofu from the air fryer: the basic recipe

Buy the tofu and the other ingredients in organic quality if possible. This is how you support organic farming that doesn’t use chemical-synthetic pesticides that could end up in your food and the environment. Recommended organic seals are, for example, Demeter, Naturland and Bioland. With tofu, you should also pay attention to the country of origin, because soybeans for tofu are also available from German or Austrian cultivation and are therefore more climate-friendly than soybeans, which have been transported a long time.

Note: You can also prepare the recipe without fat, but you will get the best result with a small amount of oil.

Ingredients:

400 g firm tofu
2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (optional)
1 teaspoon garlic powder (or fresh garlic)
1 tsp paprika powder
1 tsp onion powder (optional)
0.5 tsp chilli powder (optional)
Salt
pepper
1 tablespoon starch

Directions:

First, you need to squeeze the tofu for at least 15 to 30 minutes. This can be done using a tofu press or a heavy cast iron skillet that you place on top of the tofu. Wrap the tofu in a clean kitchen towel beforehand to absorb the excess liquid.
Cut the tofu into bite-sized cubes and add soy sauce or tamari (a gluten-free soy sauce) as well as the vegetable oil (optional).

Mix in the spices. We use garlic, paprika, onion and chili powder, as well as salt and pepper. Mix well with the tofu. Then add the starch and mix thoroughly. Optionally, you can add more spices.
Preheat the Airfryer to 190 degrees Celsius and distribute the tofu evenly in one layer in the cooking basket. Make sure that no pieces of tofu are on top of each other. You may need to bake the tofu in two batches.
Bake the tofu for about 10 to 15 minutes until crispy. Shake the tofu once during the baking time so that all the pieces are evenly browned.

Crispy tofu from the Airfryer: tips for cooking

You can serve the tofu as a meat substitute with side dishes such as rice, vegetables or potato wedges (e.g. also from the hot air fryer) or as a soup ingredient or in flatbread. The crispy tofu also tastes very good with fresh salad and vegan dips.

Cooking tips:

Freeze the tofu beforehand: For an extra crispy result, you can freeze the tofu beforehand and let it thaw and pat dry before further processing. When thawing, the tofu loses water and becomes particularly crispy.
Use fresh garlic: You can also replace the garlic powder with freshly pressed garlic. This makes the aroma even more intense.
Add more spices: You can modify the basic recipe as you like and add more spices. Variants with cumin, dried Italian herbs or curry powder, and turmeric are particularly tasty. Sesame oil also gives a very fine taste.
Marinating the tofu: Marinating the tofu makes it particularly flavorful. Let it soak in the marinade for 30 minutes before frying. However, since most marinades are very runny, the tofu will be a little less crispy.

Optionally, you can serve the tofu with a sauce after baking. However, you should then adjust the salt content and the spices, because the sauce is already seasoned.

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