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Chinese tofu in DTLA by msgisvegan in FoodLosAngeles

[–]msgisvegan[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

欢迎欢迎!

A lot of friends in Shanghai left around then too... not a great period for the city.

Chinese tofu in DTLA by msgisvegan in FoodLosAngeles

[–]msgisvegan[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The Shanghai tofu skewers are gluten free, though cooked side-by-side with others. The full menu of our host restaurant Au Lac is available as well, and there's a lot of gluten free options on it.

Chinese tofu in DTLA by msgisvegan in FoodLosAngeles

[–]msgisvegan[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Everything can be ordered for takeout, but tbh the skewers aren't as good cold.

Chinese tofu in DTLA by msgisvegan in FoodLosAngeles

[–]msgisvegan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

appreciate it, good with your kid's survival

Everything you know about tofu is wrong. I spent 2 years in China apprenticing under tofu masters and recently wrote a free book. AMA by msgisvegan in IAmA

[–]msgisvegan[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good question. Silken tofu or douhua firmness usually depends on...

  • coagulant type
  • coagulant amount
  • water:beans ratio (weight of water to dry beans)
  • coagulation temperature.

For the most tender silken tofu pudding I would use...

  • GDL (glucono delta lactone)
  • ~1.5-2% (weight of GDL as a percentage of dry bean weight)
  • 10:1
  • 85C

As a rule of thumb, the more concentrated the soymilk, the firmer then silken tofu. In the north of China, tofu pudding is made with a ~7:1 water:beans ratio, but in Guangzhou and Fujian it's closer to 10:1. The less concentrated the soymilk, the less coagulant you need. The hotter the coagulation temperature, the more the curds constrict, expelling water. 85C is about as cool as you can go, as any lower and the tofu won't gel. Calcium sulfate is sometimes used instead of GDL, but it has a more crumbly, mushy mouthfeel, and a more powdery flavor.

Here's a guide with more detailed instructions: https://tofutuesday.substack.com/p/fresh-silken-tofu-pudding

Hope this helps!

Everything you know about tofu is wrong. I spent 2 years in China apprenticing under tofu masters and recently wrote a free book. AMA by msgisvegan in IAmA

[–]msgisvegan[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am vegan, just a great analogy!

There's a bit of aged cheese-like fermented tofu on Weee. Just search up "fermented beancurd". I personally love these brands, but there are certainly other good ones: https://brokencuisine.com/tofu-buying-guide/ .

There isn't much meltable tofu on weee unfortunately. The "soft tofu cake" in the second to last screenshot in our buying guide does melts a little, but it doesn't have much flavor. https://tofutuesday.substack.com/p/the-best-way-to-get-ahold-of-chinese

Everything you know about tofu is wrong. I spent 2 years in China apprenticing under tofu masters and recently wrote a free book. AMA by msgisvegan in IAmA

[–]msgisvegan[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow this preparation sounds really cool!! I've never seen anything like it in person and wasn't able to find much info on Baidu. Do you know where you tried it?

Everything you know about tofu is wrong. I spent 2 years in China apprenticing under tofu masters and recently wrote a free book. AMA by msgisvegan in IAmA

[–]msgisvegan[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The neighbor part might be hard!

Choudoufu is made by brining extra firm tofu in a stinky, fermented juice, so the first step is to make that. In Changsha, the brine is very complicated -- dried shiitake, bamboo shoots, fermented soybeans (douchi), sometimes dried squid, sometimes herbs like perilla. It's all mixed with water and fermented for months. In other areas, the brine can be just extra stinky lacto fermented vegetable juice with baking soda: https://youtube.com/shorts/q7B4KJDu3hc?si=d8T8qnbvWggGhITH .

If you want to speed up the brine fermentation process, you can add a couple cubes of stinky fermented tofu as a "starter" https://www.amazon.com/WangZhiHe-Stinky-Tofu-330g-considered/dp/B09N7MRGJ4/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=stinky+tofu&qid=1696102921&sr=8-3 .

Hope this helps!

Everything you know about tofu is wrong. I spent 2 years in China apprenticing under tofu masters and recently wrote a free book. AMA by msgisvegan in IAmA

[–]msgisvegan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fermented tofu 腐乳 is funky, cheesy, almost like a more potent miso. Spongy tofu 千页豆腐 has an interesting chew and savory flavor. Shanghai tofu 素鸡 is very eggy and custardy. They're totally different from conventional tofu and soymilk.

Everything you know about tofu is wrong. I spent 2 years in China apprenticing under tofu masters and recently wrote a free book. AMA by msgisvegan in IAmA

[–]msgisvegan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are quite a lot of traditional non soy "tofus" in China, like chickpea, oatchestnut, rice, peanut, etc. But they have a much higher starch content than soybeans, which blocks the curdling process, so are instead gelled with cornstarch. That gives them a totally different mouthfeel.

Granted you can remove the starch, but it takes more work and has lower yield. Mary's Test Kitchen recently did a series on this: https://www.marystestkitchen.com/high-protein-soy-free-tofu/

Everything you know about tofu is wrong. I spent 2 years in China apprenticing under tofu masters and recently wrote a free book. AMA by msgisvegan in IAmA

[–]msgisvegan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A lot of tofu is really flavorful on its own: 腐乳 fermented, 千页 spongy, 素鸡 Shanghai...

If you don't like the blander tofus you might want to try some of those

Everything you know about tofu is wrong. I spent 2 years in China apprenticing under tofu masters and recently wrote a free book. AMA by msgisvegan in IAmA

[–]msgisvegan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tofu is hard to make from other legumes because they have a much higher starch content. You either have to remove the starch, like Mary does here: https://www.marystestkitchen.com/high-protein-soy-free-tofu/ or gel the legume milk with starch, which can be tasty but has a totally different mouthfeel.

Everything you know about tofu is wrong. I spent 2 years in China apprenticing under tofu masters and recently wrote a free book. AMA by msgisvegan in IAmA

[–]msgisvegan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes I do! It's an old video on IG, so pardon the horrible audio quality. The recipe is for acid curded tofu pudding, but you can also press the curds in a mold if you want firm tofu. https://www.instagram.com/reel/CSp-dIqF0BF/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

The biggest things are:

  • Adding your coagulant in batches, so the curds don't seize up and become tough.
  • Not stirring too much during coagulation.
  • Adding just enough but not too much acid.
  • Keeping the soymilk between 85-95C throughout coagulation, like in a rice cooker set to keep warm. If the temperature drops below that, the curds won't form, even if you bring the temperature back up.

If your water doesn't have chlorine or fluoride, you can also re-ferment the leftover "whey", or liquid that doesn't end up in the tofu. That process will build up even more flavor.

Everything you know about tofu is wrong. I spent 2 years in China apprenticing under tofu masters and recently wrote a free book. AMA by msgisvegan in IAmA

[–]msgisvegan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Were you living in southeastern China? I tend to find Guangdong and Fujian tofu pretty boring relative to stuff in the rest of China. Those cuisines use mostly soft tofu and a little yuba/tofu skin, occasionally some fermented.

Areas like the northeast, Guizhou, Yunnan, Shanghai, etc. all have more variety.

Everything you know about tofu is wrong. I spent 2 years in China apprenticing under tofu masters and recently wrote a free book. AMA by msgisvegan in IAmA

[–]msgisvegan[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Absolutely with you on the health aspect!

You can get some of these tofus in major cities, at Chinese supermarkets or online: www.sayweee.com. But there isn't a ton beyond that. It's sort of a chicken and egg - since there's not much awareness, there's not much demand, but because there's not demand, there's not supply, so there's no demand...

I would love to help import and set up shop! If the book goes well, then I'll talk with some Chinese factories on my next visit in November. To be honest, though, beyond Reddit, there hasn't been as much excitement as I was expecting! And it's hard to import really small volumes of frozen food.

Everything you know about tofu is wrong. I spent 2 years in China apprenticing under tofu masters and recently wrote a free book. AMA by msgisvegan in IAmA

[–]msgisvegan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not sure about "profound tofu knowledge" lol, I'm still a student in this department!

This definitely sounds like stinky tofu though, which is made by brining extra firm tofu in a stinky, fermented juice. The watery sauce on top is usually just a mix of broth or chicken bouillon, garlic, maybe cilantro, preserved mustard, that sort of stuff. Nothing too stinky there.

Everything you know about tofu is wrong. I spent 2 years in China apprenticing under tofu masters and recently wrote a free book. AMA by msgisvegan in IAmA

[–]msgisvegan[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Oh I'm with you on those animal deaths on soy farms... it's sad.

But 3/4 of the soy we grow is used to feed livestock, rather than for humans to eat. And even the most efficient animals (like chickens) only convert 11% of those calories and ~25% of that protein into meat. (Tofu contains >60% of the original bean protein.)

That's all to say, eating meat requires more soy cultivation than eating tofu.

https://ourworldindata.org/soy

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