The whole thing in one table
| Type | Water | Behaves like | Use it for | Don't |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silken | most | set custard | blending into sauces, desserts, soups, spooned raw | fry it, press it, stir it hard |
| Soft / medium | high | fresh cheese | scrambles, gentle simmering | expect it to hold a cube |
| Firm | less | halloumi | pan-frying, marinating, baking, skewers | blend it smooth — it goes grainy |
| Extra-firm | least | dense cheese | tearing, grating, anything handled a lot | use it where softness is the point |
Silken
Silken is not "soft firm tofu" — it's made differently, set in its own package without being pressed at all, which is why it's smooth rather than grainy.
It blends into something genuinely creamy, which is why Vegan Chocolate Mousse and Roasted Miso Cabbage with Whipped Tofu both use it. And it stays intact if you leave it alone — the Korean-Inspired Tofu Bowl lowers cubes into the marinade rather than stirring them in, because stirring is what breaks it.
Shelf-stable cartons are almost always silken. That's why it lives in the cupboard while firm tofu lives in the fridge.
Firm
The default. It takes a marinade, holds a cube, and browns properly once pressed. Nearly every fried-tofu recipe we publish uses it, from Marry Me Tofu to Tofu Tikka Masala.
Extra-firm
Firm tofu with more water removed. Worth buying when the recipe tears, grates or skewers it, because those are the times a block gets manhandled.
When the recipe lets you choose
Some genuinely work either way and say so. Vegan Tofu Scramble gives both: silken cut into larger cubes for something soft and custardy, or firm crumbled small for something drier and more scrambled-egg-like. Japanese Braised Tofu says the same — silken makes it softer.
That's the useful way to think about it: the type isn't right or wrong, it decides what you get.
