Stop Hatin’ On Tofu

Let’s talk about tofu today. What you put into your body is super serious and if you want to be the best you can be, fuel my friends is très important! Tofu is one of these super foods, even so, a lot of people seem to have issues with it. Maybe it was due to a horrendous first experience or maybe you just hate it on spec. Look, I can accept people not liking tofu, like people who hate strawberries or beans, but hating it after trying it once…well…that is just not acceptable. It may have been that the preparation was not to your liking that first time, but tofu only tastes like how you season it. The texture as well is up to the chef. I mean it is not only super fresh for your brain, body and soul, but extremely versatile. You must love it!!!

Let’s see what wiki has to say on the subject of tofu…

Tofu, also toufu (the Japanese Romaji spelling), doufu (the Chinese Pinyin spelling often used in Chinese recipes) or bean curd (the literal translation), is a food of Chinese origin made by coagulating soy milk, and then pressing the resulting curds into blocks. There are many different varieties of tofu, including fresh tofu and tofu that has been processed in some way. Tofu has very little flavor or smell on its own, so it can be used either in savory or sweet dishes, and is often seasoned or marinated to suit the dish.

The production of tofu from soy milk is similar to the production of cheese from milk (fermentation), although some tofu is made by processing non-soy products, such as almonds or black beans. Two major byproducts of the process are tofu skin and soy pulp.

Tofu originated in ancient China, but little else is known about the origins of tofu and its method of production. The origin is the source of some speculation and legend, but there is insufficient historical information to support such speculations. Tofu and its production technique were subsequently introduced into Japan in the Nara period (late eighth century) as well as other parts of East Asia. This spread likely coincided with the spread of Buddhism as it is an important source of proteins in the religion’s vegetarian diet.

Tofu is low in calories, contains beneficial amounts of iron (especially important for women of child bearing age) and has no cholesterol. Depending on the coagulant used in manufacturing, the tofu may also be high in calcium (important for bone development and maintenance), and magnesium (especially important for athletes).  

One cool thing I learned about cooking tofu is if you want the texture of tofu to be like chicken, buy the extra firm, freeze it for 24 hours, let it defrost, cook it however. You’re welcome. :P There are a million recipes online. I don’t want to give any here because i don’t know what you like, if you like chicken nuggets search for fried tofu recipes, if you like steak teriyaki, search for tofu teriyaki…you get the point.

Plus, tofu is just fun!

Wanna make your own tofu?

150g Dried Soy Beans

2g Calcium Sulfate (aka Gypsum, used for wine/beer making) water

Soak beans in water overnight.

Place the beans in a blender, adding water until they’re covered (about 1″ above the bean level). Blend for two minutes until it’s a smooth liquid.

Using a sack made from two pieces of cotton cloth, squeeze out the soy juice.

Bring the juice to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally to avoid burning. Reduce flame to low and simmer for two to four minutes or so.

While the mixture continues to boil, prepare a small dish and dissolve Calcium Sulfate into two to three tablespoons of water.

Using a food thermometer, bring the temperature of the boiling mixture to 176F.

Pour all of the mixture into a dish with the Calcium Sulfate while mixing briskly for three seconds and stop. Wait 10 minutes for the tofu to set. Serve hot right away, chill or squeeze more water with a cotton cloth while it’s still hot for harder tofu.

Good luck.

-Cara