Globecord - House Tofu Mix

During a regular Friday-night social event a few months back the ponderous question of tofu came up. While I was well aware that tofu (豆腐) is the curdled phase of the soya bean oft used as a meat substitute, I realized that I had no concept on how the curdling process was actually accomplished. Actually, I had the same paucity of understanding for the process of making cheese curds, but somehow this ignorance didn’t trouble me in the slightest. But my discomfort with this lack of knowledge faded with my blood alcohol levels that evening and I was left to wallow in my ignorance until the following Friday when Kyohei (恭平先生), a regular attendee and my soon-to-be tofu sensei, kindly gave me a box of House brand Tofu Mix. What follows is not only a review, but a detailed documentation of the steps necessary to make tofu in your own kitchen, and tasty tofu at that!

Making your own tofu for fun and profit:

Back of the Box

As you can see from this slightly out-of-focus image, making your own tofu is easy – almost like making Jell-O. Actually it is twice as complex as making Jell-O as instead of just heating the dissolved ingredient package, with House Tofu Mix you have to add a second packet to the boiling mixture - but I am getting a head of myself. Step one in making your own tofu is to make some soy milk by dissolving the soybean powder in water and bringing it to a boil.

Bringing the Soymilk to a Boil

In fact, the package specifically says you can stop at this point and take your fresh soy milk and put it in the fridge. But only quitters would stop here – the truly adventurous press on and add that unfortunately named second packet, the coagulant. Although technically accurate, one might imagine that if some American marketing hacks got their hands on this product the name would be most certainly changed to ‘setting agent’ or something of that ilk. Regardless of the name, this ingredient is primarily made up of slightly acidic glucono-delta-lactone that will induce the pH-dependent curdling of the soya proteins in your pot. Quickly, before it sets, it is necessary to pour the liquid into another vessel – I chose a plastic, Tupperware-esque container.

Molding the Tofu

After 20 minutes or so, the ‘firming process’ is complete and the tofu can now be cooled by plunging into cold water. I actually think my tofu might have benefited from a little more time in the mold as there was some breakage during the de-molding process. However, now submerged, the tofu is ready to eat!

Homemade Tofu

Tastewise, the tofu was silky and delicious, with a subtle-flavours noticeably absent from the one brand of tofu available at the local Coop. It was however, definitely less firm and more watery than the store-bought variety which made its dismemberment into fine pieces for inclusion in the Pad Thai that was on the menu for dinner a little difficult. The consistency could likely be tweaked by controlling the water:soybean powder:coagulant ratio, but overall, making your own tofu is a highly satisfying experience. I would recommend everyone try it at least once, if not for the taste, to broaden your understanding of food chemistry. Now I just need to find a kit to let me make my own cheese!

Homemade Tofu