Tofu | Articles on Japanese Restaurants | Japan Restaurant Guide by Gourmet Navigator
Tofu Summary
A processed soybean product where soy bean is boiled and crushed, a liquid called "nigari" is added to the sieved mixture and hardened. It has been eaten broadly in Asia for a long time, and the Japanese tofu has more water compared to other regions, and has a white soft texture. It has been loved by the people and eaten daily before the Edo period, and the tofu then was a firm tofu.
Wasyoku(Japanese Cuisine) encyclopedia : Tofu
Tofu sellers were abundant, and the tofu sellers that blew horns making a distinct sound made their golden age in the Showa era, and many of the old and middle aged people remember the sound of the horn as a part of the Showa era scenery. As the supermarkets appeared, tofu sellers have mostly disappeared, but in recent years, tofu shops that sell traditional hand made tofu have began appearing. Today the smooth and slippery textured "kinugoshi", and "momen" which has a firm and distict texture like it is tightened by a cloth, are the two most popular styles, but the kinugoshi tofu was first made by a shop called "Sasa no Yuki"in the Edo period.
Soy milk is born in the tofu making process, and the hardening agent(nigari) is added to the soy milk, and tofu that is not ran in water and taken out are called "oboro tofu" and "yose dofu". In okinawa, "yuri dofu" is thought to be mostly the same. The byproducts of tofu also include "okara". Okara has a very high nutritional value, and it can be eaten as a side dish after it is cooked with hijiki. Also, when tofu is fried it becomes "aburaage" and it is used in miso soup or opened with sushi rice stuffed to make "inarizushi". In addition, there are also some foods that do not contain soybeans, but are still called tofu, like "tamagodofu" which contain eggs, and "gomadofu" which contains sesame seeds, and in Okinawa prefecture, "Jimamidofu", which contains peanuts. In Okinawa, its own type of tofu "shimadofu", which has a firm texture, is often used in its many regional foods, and it is a vital part of the "champloo" dishes, where it is stir-fried with vegetables and eggs.
