All about tofu

[touaregsand]

heheh well we all eat our own country's produce, right? wink.gif

but having said i wonder which country exports the most amount of tofu?

Don't know. I think in California it's locally made by Korean, Chinese and Japanese companies. I recall seeing some Vietnamese brands as well.

Hinochi used to be the most common general supermarket brand, but Pulmuone (a Korean company) shot out of nowhere a few years and grew like a bonfire.

I've seen the Chinese brands in mostly Chinese grocery stores, but not in general supermarkets.

[JasonTrue]

Fresh tofu is almost never exported because of the short shelf life. Dried tofu products such as koyadoufu, dried yuba, and so on can be exported. The stinky tofu from Taiwan is sometimes exported in jars. Frozen yuba products are exported from China to Japan, but I don't think that much actual tofu is exported even within Asia. It can't be frozen without changing the texture dramatically, and it doesn't like to be stored for more than a few weeks in the best case without turning sour.

Because of this, I don't even really want to eat tofu exported from California, much less another country. Like tomatoes, the best tofu is local. I get the ideal results when I buy from a little Vietnamese tofu manufacturer in Seattle where the tofu comes still hot from the machine.

A huge percentage of the soybeans used in making tofu come from the US.

Some shelf-stable tofu like that made by Mori-nu, which has a modified starch additive used as a coagulant in addition to traditional coagulants, and is not drained like traditional tofu, can be exported because it keeps about a year, unlike regular tofu.

Silken tofu other than this type is still placed in a mold and drained, but has a higher water content than momen-doufu, which is pressed against a coarse-textured cotton cloth.

Yeah its gonna be the chinese that invented tofu but its usually the japanese that refine it.

Take paper as an example, no arguement that the chinese invented it

but it was the japanese that turned it into the art form origami

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And the Koreans just eat it.

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heheh well we all eat our own country's produce, right?

but having said i wonder which country exports the most amount of tofu?

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[helenjp]

Process for making silken tofu explained in English here....I know I'm nagging, Jason, but the idea that silken tofu is strained through silk cloth is such a popular misconception that I didn't want to see it perpetuated on eGullet!

Sorry...

[JasonTrue]

I think that page says the same thing I did here: Kinugoshi-doufu is made from coagulated soymilk, placed into a mold and drained. The Mori-nu stuff is one-step coagulation because of the extra additive.

(I only perpetuated the myth in the Japan forum, when I was relying on my folklore-heavy Japanese Country Cooking book )

[helenjp]

placed into a mold, yes; drained, no!

[Dejah]

The term silken tofu still puzzles me.

I googled "what is silken tofu" and it gives me terms like silken soft, silken med, silken firm.

Is it silken because of the smooth texture? without any skin?

The medium firm tofu has a rough "skin" on the outside pieces and the top.

The soft does not have any skin.

I buy tofu in the little pastic tubs. Some are labelled soft, medium firm, firm, extra firm;

some have the firmness of a block of cheese...I have seen tofu in tubes...

We can also buy them in Chinese grocery stores...squares immersed in cold water. These are medium firm without skin.

Are these all silken tofu?

HELP!

[BonVivant]

silken tofu has no skin. it's thick and soft. nice in soup, sauces, deserts, smoothies ect. comes in round plastic tubes, ismost likely imported from Singapore,. specifically spells out 'silken tofu'. it's nice. give it a go :)

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[is it originally Japanese? i am not sure.....have to check that out]

Edited July 19, 2005 by BonVivantNL (log)

[mizducky]

The term silken tofu still puzzles me.

I googled "what is silken tofu" and it gives me terms like silken soft, silken med, silken firm.

Is it silken because of the smooth texture? without any skin?

The medium firm tofu has a rough "skin" on the outside pieces and the top.

The soft does not have any skin.

I buy tofu in the little pastic tubs. Some are labelled soft, medium firm, firm, extra firm;

some have the firmness of a block of cheese...I have seen tofu in tubes...

We can also buy them in Chinese grocery stores...squares immersed in cold water. These are medium firm without skin.

Are these all silken tofu?

HELP! 

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Okay, this is my admittedly non-Asian-background observation of the way tofu gets labeled and packaged here in the US, so bear that in mind:

What I see in markets around here: there is "regular" tofu and "silken" tofu (as well as a whole bunch of other types of dried, pressed, seasoned, fermented, etc. tofus, but let's just set those aside for the moment and concentrate on the two main categories...)

Anyway, both "regular" and "silken" tofu are each available in a variety of firmnesses, variously designated as soft, medium, firm, etc. But the "regular" tofu, regardless of firmness designation, is always of a slightly spongy texture, the sponginess more pronounced in the firmer varieties and almost undetectable in the softer ones. This tofu tends to have a skin, which will be slightly tougher and more obvious on the firmer varieties, and maybe completely undetectable in the softer varieties. This "regular" tofu is the one most often sold immersed in a water bath.

Whereas the "silken" tofu, again regardless of firmness designation, will always be uniformly creamy and smooth-textured, with not even a hint of sponginess, and always skin-free. I don't ever recall seeing the silken tofu sold immersed in water--I tend to see it in those aseptic shelf-stable packages that are such a bear to get open.

In other words, the key distinction between "regular" and "silken" as marketed in the US is the texture (spongy vs. creamy).

It does seem to be the case that a given firmness-designation of "regular" tofu is a bit more solid than the corresponding firmness-designation of "silken" tofu. Adding to the confusion is that there don't really seem to be any standards for those "soft", "medium", "firm" etc. designations in either style of tofu. In addition, it can be hard to tell the softest varieties of regular tofu apart from silken tofu without the packaging to give a clue, and nigh impossible once both are thoroughly mushed up.

But those complications aside, I just go with "regular"=spongier and in the water bath; "silken"=creamier and in the water-and-airfree aseptic packaging. Works for me.

[mudbug]

From The book of Tofu by William Shurtleff & Akiko Aoyagi (1975 edition)

page 311

In Japan, silken tofu is called kinugoshi. Kinu means "silk, kosu means "to strain": well-named, kinugoshi tofu has a texture so smooth that it seems to have ben strained thru silk. Soft and white, it melts in the mouth like custard or firm yogurt. Make from thick soymilk...

The bottom line is that is created via a fundamentally different method than other tofu. One being it's source of thick soymilk, others being the fact that it's not strained but more created by pouring into a container like a soft cheese.

[mudbug]

Adding to the confusion is that there don't really seem to be any standards for those "soft", "medium", "firm" etc. designations

Silken tofu is particularly silky in texture. Like other tofu on the market, it ranges from soft to extra-firm. Silken tofu is poured directly into an aseptic box and needs no refrigeration before opening.

In the process of making tofu, hot soy milk is blended with a coagulant to form a curd. At this stage, soft tofu is poured directly into its package. For medium to extra-firm tofu, the curd is poured into a mold, covered with cotton, pressed to form a block, cut and then packaged.

http://vegetarian.lifetips.com/cat/11080/protein/

There is quite a bit of information on the differences in firmness and texture in this Good Eats transcript of the TofuWorld episode:

http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/Season3/Tof...uTranscript.htm

[yimay]

From The book of Tofu by William Shurtleff & Akiko Aoyagi (1975 edition)

page 311

In Japan, silken tofu is called kinugoshi. Kinu means "silk, kosu means "to strain": well-named, kinugoshi tofu has a texture so smooth that it seems to have ben strained thru silk. Soft and white, it melts in the mouth like custard or firm yogurt. Make from thick soymilk...

The bottom line is that is created via a fundamentally different method than other tofu. One being it's source of thick soymilk, others being the fact that it's not strained but more created by pouring into a container like a soft cheese.

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i think you might have misunderstood your quote. "...SEEMS to have been strained thru silk". the reality is that all tofu is strained to remove the solids. the liquid that is left over is soymilk which is made into tofu by adding a curdling/setting agent.

the difference between silken, soft, medium, hard... whatever, is whether or not, and how much the tofu is pressed to extract moisture. silken tofu is not pressed at all, thus giving it a silky, moist texture, versus hard tofu which is pressed until most of the moisture is gone. that's the only difference between the different firmnesses of tofu. so as stated above, many times silken tofu is poured directly into the final container before it is set, and there is so much moisture no skin is formed

[Transparent]

Yimay pretty much got it on the head, I think.

[mudbug]

From The book of Tofu by William Shurtleff & Akiko Aoyagi (1975 edition)

page 311

In Japan, silken tofu is called kinugoshi. Kinu means "silk, kosu means "to strain": well-named, kinugoshi tofu has a texture so smooth that it seems to have ben strained thru silk. Soft and white, it melts in the mouth like custard or firm yogurt. Make from thick soymilk...

The bottom line is that is created via a fundamentally different method than other tofu. One being it's source of thick soymilk, others being the fact that it's not strained but more created by pouring into a container like a soft cheese.

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i think you might have misunderstood your quote. "...SEEMS to have been strained thru silk". the reality is that all tofu is strained to remove the solids. the liquid that is left over is soymilk which is made into tofu by adding a curdling/setting agent.

the difference between silken, soft, medium, hard... whatever, is whether or not, and how much the tofu is pressed to extract moisture. silken tofu is not pressed at all, thus giving it a silky, moist texture, versus hard tofu which is pressed until most of the moisture is gone. that's the only difference between the different firmnesses of tofu. so as stated above, many times silken tofu is poured directly into the final container before it is set, and there is so much moisture no skin is formed

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I don't believe I misunderstood the quote at all. My conclusion with the second paragraph was not a direct response to the first paragraph alone. I continued to read the next few pages which I wasn't going to type her. It proceeds to provide instructions and various methods by which to make silken tofu. Perhaps my second paragraph should have read:

The bottom line (based on further reading of Chapter 11) is that silken tofu is created via a fundamentally different method than other tofu. One being it's source of thick soymilk, others being the fact that it's not strained and non-silken tofus are (thus they have less water content to begin with from the initial stages even before pressing). Silken tofu is ceated by pouring the liquid while hot into a container with no drainage holes or liners and coagulated with an agent such as calcium sulfate. It is the higher water content that gives the tofu it's softer consistency. The whey is never removed from siilken tofu which allows it to retain more of the nutrients from the soybean (protein, vitamin B, natural oils and sugars).

According to the book, your statement that "silken tofu is not pressed at all" is incorrect. According to the book, silken tofu is not strained - silken tofu can however be gently pressed. You can create soymilk without having to go thru the process of making tofu first.

Soymilk is not the liquid that remains from the process of creating tofu. Soymilk is created with dry soybeans (less than one year old) and hot water.

Edited July 20, 2005 by mudbug (log)

[yimay]

the chinese invented everything.

[mudbug]

the chinese invented everything.

Sushi included. heh...

All of which lends itself to an entirely different thread...

[shinju]

Helen is right. Kinugoshi doufu is not _drained_ at all. I make tofu often (momen), and have tried making kinugoshi 4 times so far and failed miserably. Not sure why, but it does not set. If anyone successful in making kinugoshi doufu, please, oh please share your experience. I love kinugoshi doufu and got through a container every two days.

[chefzadi]

the chinese invented everything.

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Really?

Do you have a list?

[herbacidal]

Just look at everything in the world. There's the list.

[chefzadi]

Just look at everything in the world.  There's the list.

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The Chinese invented the typewriter, couscousiere, TVs, light bulbs, phonetic alphabets....

[Ben Hong]

Chefzadi: doucement monsieur. Je pense que Yimay a fait un petit blague, n'est-ce pas? Peut-etre avec un grand soupcon de "sarcasm" aussi.

[chefzadi]

Chefzadi: doucement monsieur. Je pense que Yimay a fait un petit blague, n'est-ce pas? Peut-etre avec un grand soupcon de "sarcasm" aussi.

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Oui

me too.

[hzrt8w]

I may be wrong, but I think yimay and herb's comments are kind of tongue-in-cheek self-sarcasm, just for fun. Don't take this too seriously.

The Chinese invented everything? Don't be silly. Of course not. May be just 90% of it.

[Tepee]

Let's sweeten this thread with some Tau Foo Fah...made this using glucono delta lactose (GDL) as the coagulant. Usually, we use gypsum (sek ko) but decided to try this 'safer' alternative. Well, the texture is very different. The one using GDL is more like the silken tofu, only with more liquid/softer. The TFF using sek ko is firmer; I think sek ko is a stronger coagulant.

This one's for my fav sook-sook Ben...

I like it with sugar syrup fragranced with pandan leaves and a knob of ginger, but the children like theirs with palm sugar syrup.

[Ben Hong]

TP, not nice to make an old man drool on his keyboard.

[chefzadi]

TP, not nice to make an old man drool on his keyboard.   

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She has some really beautiful photos on her website. Such a fine hand!