Freezing then thawing gives it a more spongy, chewier, meatier texture that helps it absorb sauce/marinade/flavor, good for things like adobo, al pastor, or other flavorful chewy meats. I don’t do it because i don’t remember to defrost things but i’ve tried it and i like it but not sure if it’s worth the effort for me.

I press tofu most of the time if i have time but i also mainly buy extra firm tofu or versions even more firm so it doesn’t need it but i do taste a difference i like more.

I think a lot of tofu techniques help to dress it up and make it look nicer but the biggest thing is making sure you got a good flavor base going into it. For something like chicken tinga you need to create a well seasoned sauce to cook chicken in and it’s not different for tofu, the more time and flavor you put into it the better. I will say though i’m not a huge fan of plain tofu so i’m always trying to do more to it, some people like it on the more simple less seasoned side