The very first thing I do with my tofu when I bring it home from the store is throw it in the freezer. This step is key, in my opinion, to achieving more of a "tough" texture, as opposed to a mushy one. Let it get nice and frozen. I usually leave it in there for at least a full day.

About 48 hours before you need to use the tofu, take it out of the freezer to begin thawing in the refrigerator. The frozen tofu takes quite awhile to thaw, so be sure to give it plenty of time.

At least 2 hours (and up to 8) before you are planning on cooking with the tofu, it's time to work on pressing the water out of the tofu. There is such thing as a tofu press, but for some reason, I've never felt the need to be fancy. My way of pressing tofu may not be the most glamorous, but it works just fine, and I don't have to buy any extra equipment.

Put a colander in an empty side of your sink. Open the package of tofu and dump all the water it's been sitting in. Place the tofu into the colander. Now you will start stacking things onto the tofu, distributing weight as equally as possible. I start with a plate or small cutting board. Then I put a few heavy cans or jars on top of the plate. Then if you can keep the balance, place another dish on top of the cans and then maybe a sack of flour on top of that. This amount of weight will be perfect for pressing the water out. Let press for at least 2 hours.

When you're ready to use it, you can cube it, slice it into filets, or crumble it up. If you're interested in marinating your tofu (yes, I know we JUST removed all the liquid from the tofu, but this method has never failed me), feel free to place cubed tofu in a plastic baggie and cover with any marinate you'd like. The longer you let it marinate, the more flavor will get into the tofu. I like to let it rest all day if I'm going the marinating route.