豆腐の日 (tofu no hi) : Day Of Tofu

The 2nd of October is Tofu Day “Nihon Tofu Kyokai”(日本豆腐協会), Japan Tofu Association decided that Oct 2nd as Day of Tofu (豆腐の日: tofu no hi in 1993. It’s a bit of a play on words due to the date. In japan the month comes before the day so the 10 for the month of October and 2 for the 2nd day in that month read in Japanese is 十二 is also read as to (十) fu (二) .

Tofu is one of the foods which represents the essence of traditional Japanese cuisine. The soybean, which is the key ingredient of tofu is rich in vegetable protein along with vitamins and minerals. Recently the world has come to recognize the health benefits of tofu and the appeal as an Ingredient.

In this blog post I discuss this and take you on a tofu journey for “tofu no hi”.

You may of noticed I’ve been creating tofu recipes this year using “Shizenno Megumi” tofu from Dragonfly foods. Shizenno Megumi means natures best, the brand was started to follow the traditional style of tofu making in Japan.

Nestled near the beautiful Devonshire coast is Dragonfly Foods. A tofu manufacturer that has gone above and beyond to uphold making tofu by a small group of passionate members, who bring traditionally made Japanese style tofu to the U.K

So how is tofu actually made ?

I had a rare chance to  see first hand for myself a traditional tofu factory at work when I visited Dragonfly Foods this summer. And took an exclusive look into the art of making tofu and find out the process of what makes “Shizenno Megumi”tofu stand out from the rest.

I was greeted by Shunzo Horikawa the managing director of Dragonfly Foods, who arrived in the U.K. in April 2022 from the parent company Hikari Miso, who bought dragonfly foods in 2015 a company that had been producing tofu since 1984. Hikari Miso wanted to upscale capacity and start to make tofu in a traditional Japanese way. To do  this they decided to take on the massive task of shipping a whole new purpose built facility for making tofu from Japan to Devon in 2017.

Shunzo was so kind to take time out of his dedicated busy day to give me a guided visit of the factory and an overview of the tofu making process.

We put on our protective clothing so we could enter into the factory.

First I was shown the organic soy beans from which the tofu making process all starts. The beans are soaked in water for 9 ~ 16 hours, after this time they have increased in size considerably. Once the soybeans have fully absorbed the water they are then washed and ground with water to make a slurry this is called (Namago). The slurry is then cooked under strict temperature control.

The heated slurry becomes Nigo and is then squeezed to separate soyamilk and okara (soy bean pulp).

Shunzo then explained that when soy milk is heated it produces foam and this is where Dragonfly Foods tofu becomes special. Other tofu may have an anti-former added to reduce foam developing. Dragonfly do not add any processing aid, and uses equipment called a Deaerator to remove foam by chilling milk while removing foams naturally. 

Heated soya milk is then mixed with coagulant called Nigari to create curd. Nigari naturally promotes umami and sweetness, Nigari derived from the Japanese word for “bitter” is a product created through harvesting sea salt and letting the water evaporate. Nigari contains a high concentration of minerals such as magnesium, potassium, calcium, iron, copper, zinc, selenium and chlorines.

The soya curd is then placed in a box and pressed gradually to make the appropriate firmness tofu slab.

Tofu slabs are then cut into 300g sizes and packed into individual containers.

The packs of tofu are filled with water, sealed and go into a pasteurisation system for 3.5 hours. Finely the tofu is checked for weight and quality .

Dragonfly tofu is made with modern equipment but with a traditional method as purely processing as possible and the taste and texture profile is targeted to be similar to Kyo Tofu and Shima Tofu for richness in soya flavour and sweet after taste.

Who would have thought so much love and attention goes in to every single block of tofu.

The origins of tofu:

It is said that tofu originated in China over two thousand years ago when a cook over seasoned a soy milk broth with too much salt. The salt then caused the milk to coagulate and that is how tofu became to be.  Tofu was introduced into Japan with Buddhism as Buddhist eat in general a plant based diet. It soon became the quintessential Japanese ingredient becoming a popular food among the general population during the Edo period.

The book “Tofu Hyakuchin”, which contained one hundred tofu recipes, was published in 1782 towards the end of the mid Edo period. The book shows an extensive variety of cooking techniques and a variety of ways of eating tofu. The most popular way of eating tofu was “yu-dofu”, a simple dish of boiled tofu with a dash of soy sauce. I think to truly taste tofu you have to first strip back everything to its freshest form by adding just a small amount of condiment. Only then can we really appreciate the subtle sweet flavour. I was lucky enough to try fresh tofu just as it had been made when I visited the tofu factory it was still warm and I could have just eaten a pack just as it was with nothing else.

Tofu and the health conscious:

Tofu has now become a popular choice for people trying to be more health conscious in their diet, being low in calories and packed with nutrients. Tofu is a concentrated source of easy to digest protein along with amino acids for cell growth, calcium, iron, magnesium, selenium, folic acid, essential B vitamins and more. Soybean has also something called isoflavones which has shown to reduce cholesterol, help regulate sugar, help with osteoporosis and even the menopause.

For those wanting to cut down or restrict meat totally from their diet tofu is the perfect meat alternative due to its high protein content one 115 gram serving of firm tofu containing around 20% of your daily requirements.

Cooking with tofu:

Tofu is an incredible versatile ingredient to cook with, it has little taste of its own but absorbs flavours extremely well. Dragonfly make three kinds of tofu in their Devonshire factory Firm, Super Extra Firm and Soft.

The soft variety this year I have been working with to produce a multitude of delicious desserts for you to try from donuts to ice cream, the softer variety also work with for dips and dressing as well as adding to the humble miso soup. The firmer varieties work wells in dishes like my recipe for Chanpura or my yakitori skewers or anything from frying, marinating, grilling or stir frying.

Shopping for tofu:

When shopping for tofu make sure you choose organic, made with the highest quality ingredients and containing no GMOs. Choosing Organic Dragonfly Tofu gives you that peace of mind as they are BRC AA+ soil association approved, the highest grade possible, they are also BRCGS food safety certificated. After purchasing simply store in the fridge and use before the best before date stated on the pack. When ready to use unpack from its packaging and discard the water. Your tofu if soft is ready to use straight away or press out any remaining liquid from the firmer varieties.

Yudofu 湯豆腐

Why not try using it simply in yudofu taking inspiration from the “Tofu Hyakuchin” cook book or Buddhist temples where it is often served. Buddhist kitchens focus on cooking natural foods with simple techniques. Yudofu 湯豆腐 is a nabe (hotpot) which is healthy, light and packed full of umami flavour.

Japanese hot pot is usually cooked in a clay pot called donabe (土鍋), however if you do not have one at home, you can make it in a regular pot.
All you need to do is simmer tofu in water konbu (昆布, kelp) and then eat it with a tsuyu dipping sauce and various condiments known as yakumi 薬味.
Yakumi are small amounts of condiments that are seasoning to bring out the umami of a particular dish. They are said to bring out the five tastes, amai (sweet), nigai (bitter), suppai (sour), karai (spicy) and shio (salty). Think of the paring together of wasabi and sushi. Some dishes have yakumi on the side where others are incorporated into the meal it’s self, like sauces and dashi.
Some of the most common yakumi are chopped green onion, schichimi pepper, shiso, oroshi daikon (grated daikon), sesame seeds and grated ginger. Yudofu is about one of the simplest forms of Japanese cuisine you can make, it is sometimes referred to as boiled tofu, although it is actually cooked at just below boiling.

To make Yudofu you will need a piece of dried konbu and one to two packs of Firm “Shizenno Megumi” tofu drained and pressed. If you would like to add some greens like watercress or mizuna that’s nice also.
You will also need your Yakumi any of the ones listed above.
You will need a dipping sauce and I find a citrus variation works wonderfully with the delicate flavours. If you want to make your own simply add 4 tablespoons of soy sauce and 1 tablespoons of mirin to a bowl and dilute with some kombu dashi, adding a little citrus juice is definitely recommended like yuzu or sudachi juice which you can buy already squeezed in bottles.
Put a 2-3 inch piece of kombu in a donabe or pot and enough water to half fill the pot, turn on the heat and when you see bubbles take out the kombu. Prepare your tofu then cut it into large squares, now gently add your tofu to the kombu infused liquid (dashi). Let the tofu simmer gently with the lid on for the tofu to warm through. Don’t let it boil. Add any greens to wilt in the hot water. With a slotted spoon or ladle transfer to your serving dish. Serve with your sauce poured over and experiment with flavours by adding condiments of choice.

However you decide to use tofu in your diet even if you are not vegan or vegetarian I am sure you will enjoy using it for its versatility and health benefits. I hope you will try out some of my many original tofu recipes that I have to offer on my recipe pages.