I apologize for asking such a simple question, but what is “rare tofu?” I’m aware that tofu is generally processed soy beans (and sometimes refers to a “tofu-like solid”), but what do you mean by rare tofu? Do you literally just mean types of tofu that are uncommon and hard to find?
This is a fair question! I should have added more explanation to the post.
TLDR: tofu is like chicken. Just as you would never cook chicken feet like chicken breast, so too do different tofus have vastly different uses, forms, and production methods. In particular, a few varieties that are “rare” or uncommon on China (and mostly absent elsewhere) seem particularly well suited to western cooking styles. I think of these like “chicken breasts,” whereas common tofus have about as much western appeal as “chicken feet.”
If you’re curious, I can shoot you a more in-depth explanation from our book. Just shoot me your email.
In its simplest form, tofu is bean curd. Think of this like soymilk cheese. Drop something sour or minerally into fresh, hot soymilk and its proteins will coagulate, or bind together, into soft, pillowy curds. These curds can be left as is – to coalesce into silken tofu – or spooned into a mold and pressed into soft tofu, firm tofu, pressed tofu, or tofu sheets. In China, firm and pressed tofu are often smoked, salted, dehydrated, or fermented – which chemically transforms them into several other distinct varieties.
Not all tofu is bean curd, however. Some varieties are made from soy protein, rather than whole beans (like spongy tofu or qianyedoufu 千页豆腐). Others are harvested atop steaming soymilk, as a luxurious and creamy film (see yuba or youdoupi 油豆皮). While some Americans might scoff at calling these varieties “tofu,” they would be lonely in China. In the birthplace and mecca of tofu cooking, most everyone treats curded and non-curded soy products as one large category.
Beyond soy-based tofu, there are several non-soy varieties. These include starch-gelled tofus – made from rice, almonds, peanuts, chickpeas, oat chestnuts, hemp, and sesame – as well as a few protein gels – from eggs, pig’s blood, and milk. In terms of taste, texture, and nutrition, these ingredients differ greatly from their soy-based counterparts, but they are still referred to as “tofu.”
I apologize for asking such a simple question, but what is “rare tofu?” I’m aware that tofu is generally processed soy beans (and sometimes refers to a “tofu-like solid”), but what do you mean by rare tofu? Do you literally just mean types of tofu that are uncommon and hard to find?
This is a fair question! I should have added more explanation to the post.
TLDR: tofu is like chicken. Just as you would never cook chicken feet like chicken breast, so too do different tofus have vastly different uses, forms, and production methods. In particular, a few varieties that are “rare” or uncommon on China (and mostly absent elsewhere) seem particularly well suited to western cooking styles. I think of these like “chicken breasts,” whereas common tofus have about as much western appeal as “chicken feet.”
If you’re curious, I can shoot you a more in-depth explanation from our book. Just shoot me your email.
A list of Chinese tofus (link)
What is tofu?
In its simplest form, tofu is bean curd. Think of this like soymilk cheese. Drop something sour or minerally into fresh, hot soymilk and its proteins will coagulate, or bind together, into soft, pillowy curds. These curds can be left as is – to coalesce into silken tofu – or spooned into a mold and pressed into soft tofu, firm tofu, pressed tofu, or tofu sheets. In China, firm and pressed tofu are often smoked, salted, dehydrated, or fermented – which chemically transforms them into several other distinct varieties.
Not all tofu is bean curd, however. Some varieties are made from soy protein, rather than whole beans (like spongy tofu or qianyedoufu 千页豆腐). Others are harvested atop steaming soymilk, as a luxurious and creamy film (see yuba or youdoupi 油豆皮). While some Americans might scoff at calling these varieties “tofu,” they would be lonely in China. In the birthplace and mecca of tofu cooking, most everyone treats curded and non-curded soy products as one large category.
Beyond soy-based tofu, there are several non-soy varieties. These include starch-gelled tofus – made from rice, almonds, peanuts, chickpeas, oat chestnuts, hemp, and sesame – as well as a few protein gels – from eggs, pig’s blood, and milk. In terms of taste, texture, and nutrition, these ingredients differ greatly from their soy-based counterparts, but they are still referred to as “tofu.”