Wobblesome, firm or silken, tofu is a star ingredient in Chinese cooking. These dishes show why

In the west, tofu is often viewed as a substitute for meat, which may explain why firmer types that can be cut into chunks and fried or grilled like meat have become so ubiquitous. In China, however, where tofu has been eaten for at least 1,000 years, it isn’t a substitute for anything; it’s simply a protein-rich ingredient that forms part of most people’s diets, can be cooked with meat and fish, and comes in myriad forms, from the tender, wobbly tofu used to make Sichuanese mapo tofu to firm smoked tofu, sheets of tofu “skin” and the silken tofu that can be as soft as creme caramel. Many Chinese tofu recipes are so delicious that habitual meat-eaters will devour them as keenly as vegetarians.

Fragrant, punchy vegan dishes that can be kept in the kept in the fridge or freezer for an easy midweek dinner

Whether you love it or loathe it, tofu is one of the most versatile ingredients in any kitchen. For me, it’s the saviour of stressful dinner times, because it cooks in minutes, absorbs flavour like no other and packs a real nutritional punch. Here, it plays two very different roles: crisped until golden in a fragrant, spice-infused Vietnamese-style pho, and mashed to give body and bite to bold, punchy Thai-ish fishless cakes.

This cool summer dish can be easily enhanced with a range of store-cupboard staples

What’s your favourite hot weather food? Mine’s gazpacho. I’m joking – gazpacho’s lovely, but cold noodles are my top pick because, in the summer, they meet me exactly where I am in both the cooking and the eating. They don’t need much by way of cooking, and they can be dressed and paired with many a store-cupboard ingredient – in today’s case, tahini, miso and sesame oil. Best of all, cooling the noodles shocks the starches, which makes them firmer and gorgeously “QQ”, a Taiwanese term used to describe food that’s delightfully bouncy and springy. Which personally, is how I’d like to feel all summer long.

Three ways with summer’s versatile vegetable: as a simple meal, a deliciously moist loaf and a South Asian achaar to spice up any cheese sandwich

Courgettes don’t have to be boring, thanks to their shapeshifting magic. Shave with a vegetable peeler, douse in olive oil and lemon juice and eat raw, or spiralise for noodles. Alternatively, grill until blackened, scoop out the creamy innards, and fold into tahini for a smoky dip. Courgettes are irresistible grated and turned into fritters, deep-fried or cut into thick rounds and roasted on a high heat so they caramelise, but don’t turn to mush. Finally, you can pickle them to enjoy their sunny flavour in the gloomier months.

This endlessly adaptable salad is the perfect addition to your summer picnic basket

When I was growing up, picnicking was a favourite Sodha family pastime, but we did it in a very Indian way. The focus was never on the place: we never had to eat in a bucolic location to have a good time. Our understanding was that homemade food was the best and therefore should be eaten always and anywhere. The food came first; a view was a bonus. As such, even now, decades after leaving the family home, I am always thinking of a good meal for us to eat outdoors. This nutty, chewy freekeh with fennel, dill and tofu has shot up to the top of my favourites: robust, easy to assemble and, above all, delicious whether you eat it on the bank of a lake or in a service station car park.

Simple and spicy, this dish is adaptable enough to become a firm favourite with all the family – and it will fill lunchboxes the next day, too

This is one of those rare dishes that I can make both for us and for the children – reserving the kimchi topping and chilli peanuts for the adults, of course. I also like to add the kimchi just before serving for freshness (this helps to keep all the good stuff in it from deactivating, too). Leftovers are excellent in lunchboxes the next day, so it’s well worth making the full quantity and popping the excess in the fridge.

The answer is probably more about absorption than quantity, say our panel of experts

I’ve been advised to increase the iron in my diet but, as a vegetarian preoccupied with getting sufficient protein, I’m at a loss.
June, by email
Last year, a study by Randox Health found that almost one in three women who attended its UK clinics have an iron deficiency, which is to say that June isn’t alone. Yes, there are good sources that vegetarians can tap into, but we first need to address a few key points: “The heme iron you get from animal sources – red meat and darker poultry, say – is in a form that’s slightly better absorbed than non-heme iron, which is found in the likes of beans, tofu and leafy greens,” says Dominique Ludwig, nutritionist and author of No-Nonsense Nutrition. This is where vitamin C is your friend: “When we eat non-heme iron and vitamin C together, it increases absorption, so it might be a case for having peppers or tomatoes with your tofu.” But there’s another potential hitch: “On a vegetarian diet, some of that iron can be blocked from absorption because of things such as phytates [a plant compound found in whole grains, legumes, etc], or tannins in tea and dairy,” Ludwig adds, so it’s not simply about how much iron you’re getting, but how good your absorption is.

“Women aged 19-49 should aim for 14.8mg iron a day, but after menopause that drops to about 8.7mg, which falls in line with men’s requirements,” Ludwig says. “If you’re vegetarian, then, you can’t just be having pesto pasta, you need to be eating beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, soy products, and leafy greens, too.” Tofu can have 3-5mg iron per 100g, cooked lentils 3-4mg, chickpeas 2½-3mg, cashews 6-7mg and sesame seeds 14-15mg. So, much like getting dressed, layering is important.

Oats in the morning are a no-brainer: “A 40g serving will give you 2mg iron, so have them with milled flaxseed and berries for the vitamin C,” Ludwig advises. The same principle applies to the likes of a tofu scramble: “Throw in some kale and tomatoes [again, for the vitamin C] and serve it with wholemeal bread, and you’re looking at about 7mg iron,” Ludwig adds. In other words, your day is getting off to a good start.

Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.com

From wood pulp in ice-cream to peat in portobellos, science has transformed how we dine. Do you know exactly what’s lurking in the grub we eat?

Microbial slime and a side helping of sand doesn’t sound like much of a meal, but a startling amount of the food we eat today contains ingredients that are, at the very least, unexpected – and, at worst, dangerous, such as heavy metals from polluted soils.

Then there is the thorny question of what ultra‑processed foods in our diets might be doing to us. “While each food additive, so‑called processing aid, fortificant and unrecognisably modified ingredient has been tested individually and declared safe, are they really?” asks Chris Young, who runs the Real Bread Campaign for Sustain, the alliance for better food and farming, and was named joint winner of Slow Food In The UK’s 2025 person of the year award. “The studies are relatively small and short, leaving history littered with additives that we were once promised would not harm us but were later withdrawn or banned on health grounds. What might the long-term effect be of eating such substances, individually or in the cocktails created for each product and across our shopping baskets?”

The higher you toss it, the more luck you’ll have this new lunar year. Chopsticks at the ready …

This Tuesday marks the start of the lunar new year and the year of the fire horse, which represents fresh opportunities, personal growth and good fortune. I, for one, am keen to usher that horse in, and to celebrate I’ll be making this noodle salad, which is a variation on one I first ate at Mandy Yin’s restaurant, Sambal Shiok. It’s a dish that’s eaten across Malaysia and Singapore, and the idea is that everyone around the table tosses the salad high into the air at the same time: the superstition goes that the higher the salad is tossed, the more luck will ensue. Come on, Nelly.

Discover the joys of creamy soy bean curd in this spicy Sichuan dish that comes together in minutes

Mapo tofu is a Chengdu favourite typical of the “spicy generosity” of Sichuan food, Fuchsia Dunlop explains, though it’s perhaps better not translated as “pock-marked old woman’s tofu”. It may even convert you to the joys of tofu itself, should you still be on the fence about the stuff, because its creamy softness is the perfect foil for the intensely savoury, tingly seasoning involved here. It’s also ready in mere minutes.

Prep 10 min
Cook 7 min
Serves 2

A comforting and filling mix of Korean and Italian flavours and textures that’s ideal for weeknight dinner

• Share your questions for Meera Sodha, Tim Dowling and Stuart Heritage for a special Guardian Live event on Wednesday 26 November.

I am a ragu-fancier and a kheema fanatic. Unlike with most foods, however, it doesn’t do to rationalise this love for ragu, because it is a mash of things chopped up so small that they all lose their texture. This might sound a bit woo-woo, but the joy of ragu comes from feeling your way through it, from the chopping and standing with your thoughts, to stirring a bubbling pot and the smell creeping under the door. A ragu isn’t just a ragu, it’s a coming-together of good things: thoughts, feelings, ingredients, time and effort.

Join Meera Sodha at a special event celebrating the best of Guardian culture on Wednesday 26 November, hosted by Nish Kumar and alongside writers Stuart Heritage and Tim Dowling, with Georgina Lawton hosting You Be The Judge live. Live in London or via livestream, book tickets here.

Cut corners, but not flavour, with this updated take on a hearty, vegan-friendly curry

A confession: I have already written a recipe for massaman curry. But since that was published in 2018, I have had a baby, a breakdown, travelled back to Thailand and eaten more massaman curries, all events that have contributed to this new recipe. The old dish is delicious, but in 2025 I didn’t want to make a paste from scratch. Instead, I wanted the funk and soul that a ready-made curry paste could give me and to use that as a springboard to fly into dinner time. A shortcut on time and ingredients, yes, but not on fun and flavour.

Join Meera Sodha at a special event celebrating the best of Guardian culture on Wednesday 26 November, hosted by Nish Kumar and alongside writers Stuart Heritage and Tim Dowling, with Georgina Lawton hosting You Be The Judge live. Live in London or via livestream, book tickets here.