Tofu– one of the most misunderstood ingredients, yet it’s one of the most versatile that I know of, with such great range of flavours, textures and their endless possibilities!! The texture of the soft silken tofu is rather panna cotta like, turning the slices can be a challenge, especially with chopsticks!
However, it’s actually harder using other utensils, as any sharp edges and even the lightest forces could easily break them up. Chopsticks are much gentler and have much more direct feedback of the contact and subsequently one has better control of the manoeuvres. Silken tofu slices shallow fried first allow seasoning and mixing with other ingredients without turning into mush!
When I was a Mandarin teacher, there would be an obligatory game of ‘Chopsticks race at every end of term party, where the kids compete to move 10 dried chick peas from one bowl to another– we always ended up in hysterical laughs!!!
Have a go and see how you do? My record was 16 seconds. (Hmm, must try again and see how I do now. It’s been a few years!)