We're focusing on How To this month, with lots of pointers on how to make stuff in the kitchen. But we're fascinated by how things get made outside the kitchen too. Take tofu, for instance. A recent Bon Appétit article explored the place where perhaps tofu reaches perfection: Kyoto.
Adam Sachs visits Kyoto, where tofu is a high art. He differentiates their approach to tofu from the chalky, cheesy blocks of mass-produced product that we are familiar with in the United States. He says:
Here, tofu is a delicate handmade food, produced every morning in small shops and large industrial kitchens throughout the country. Each region makes its own styles of tofu, but Kyoto is to tofu what Naples is to pizza, New York to bagels. The Kyoto variety—perfected over centuries by Buddhist monks, in imperial kitchens, and in neighborhood shops like this one—is the accepted standard; it is regarded as the best in Japan and thus the world.
We just thought this was a fascinating look at tofu the way it should be: Creamy and light, with a texture between "burrata and panna cotta." It was a little peek into the world of Kyoto's chefs and artisan tofu-makers, too. With the attached recipes, it's definitely worth a read.
• Read the full article: Kyoto's Tofu Obsession at Bon Appéti
Related: Good Question: How Can I Use Soft Tofu?
(Images: Jeff Lipsky/Bon Appétit)
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I was in Tokyo a couple years ago and fresh tofu was having a vogue, with fancy restaurants doing tofu menus. I like tofu anyway, but man...this was not even in the same class.
I have no desire whatsoever to make my own tofu, but boy would I love to have a little neighborhood tofuery like they do in Japan.
I think you meant to say what montreal is to bagels ;D
"Kyoto is to tofu what Naples is to pizza, New York to bagels"
Err, no, what Montreal is to bagels!
They make homemade tofu that is wonderful and like burrata at EN Japanese Brasserie on Hudson St in the West Village, NYC.
I never was a fan of tofu, having eaten it as a child and remember it being cold, hard and crumbly. The tofu at EN totally changed my mind about tofu, and I have been back a few times for lunch just for that.
I wish I could find homemade tofu in SF, you think it would be possible and there is nothing like it.
In Japan, I was always told that if tofu was three days old, it was better to toss it than to eat it, because the taste changes. You should buy it fresh the day you eat it (and the shops make fresh tofu every day).
Here in the states, the expiration date on the tofu packages is MONTHS away from the date of purchase. So of course it tastes awful.
When I was a kid there was a tiny tofu shop on my way to school, and as I'd ride my bicycle past each day I'd take a deep breath of the steam pouring out of their vents. So wonderful.
There's nothing like fresh tofu. I miss it.
Oh, and to clarify, not all tofu is a texture between "burrata and panna cotta." It totally depends on the kind of tofu and how it's made. If you read the article, you'll see what I'm talking about.