killer tofu!

i was always under the impression that tofu was for those weird hippies in college.
i can't lie, i'm a huge fan of morning star's array of fake meat. but, tofu?
no thanks, buddy!
then, it happened. i cozied up to tofu.
i had no choice!
brontosaurus diet plainly said that i was allowed one ration of tofu a day.
...to whole foods!
i had enough sense to know that i wanted extra firm tofu. just looking at it reminded me of some delicious miso soup. extra firm it was! that's where the easy part ended. i had this spongy white mass in my kitchen, and nothing to do with it! so, i enlisted the help of brother.
brother, a vegetarian from the time of the brontosaurus, would know what to do! the best piece of advice he gave me, was to 'press' the tofu. he said that making a sandwich out of a cutting board, paper towels, the tofu, more paper towels, another pan, and a set of 5lb dumbbells works just perfectly! pressing the tofu gets most of the excess moisture out of it, allowing it to crisp up better. i feel that it makes the tofu 'denser' if you will, giving it a more 'meaty' quality.
(my press is fashioned out of a cutting board, paper towels, tofu, paper towels, baking pan, stacked stone-wear, and my fruit tray.)
typically, i'll cut my tofu into thick sticks, and marinate them in some delicious concoction i create. i'll blindly pull out random jars & bottles of condiments from our refrigerator door. my most favorite: pineapple juice and recaito. delish! other tasty options: spicy bbq sauce, or thai sweet chili sauce. i'll marinate for a day, press for at least an hour (reserving the marinade), throw the pressed tofu in a pan, let it brown up on all sides, then dump in the marinade.
yum!
sticky, crispy, tofu!

i promise, you'll be a believer.