Tofu is a rapidly growing product these days as a plant based protein. Tofu has mainly 2 types, silken and firm, that you can find in the supermarket. What is the difference?
Silken Tofu – Made slowly by pouring soy milk into a mould and compacting it. Because it becomes hardened over time, the cross section is really smooth.
Firm Tofu – After soy milk is set using nigari (food grade magnesium chloride), it is broken down and then moulded into shape and compressed to form pieces of tofu.
Silken Tofu – About 1.3x the amount protein compared to firm tofu, high calcium and iron content because of the production method.
Firm Tofu – More potassium and vitamin B because of the water content.
Silken Tofu –It can be eaten cold, or added to soup, and if you stir it it will break up so it’s also appropriate to make smoothies, soups and desserts. This is a really good tofu for people who have lactose intolerance or people who are cutting dairy from their diet because it can be used as a substitute when making mayonnaise or cream. If you mix this tofu into pancake batter or omelettes it will give it a really fluffy texture.
Firm Tofu – Because it’s hard to crumble, it’s easy to cook with, including deep frying, stir frying, grilling, steaming, or as an ingredient in soups and you can use it as a main ingredient too. Thanks to the string like properties of the “cotton” tofu, it absorbs flavours really well so you can use your favourite sauce over the top of the tofu or as a marinade. This kind of tofu is perfect if you’re on a diet because it’s really filling.
When I first moved to Australia from Japan, one of the most shocking things was TOFU. For me, Australian tofu is a totally different taste and texture to Japanese tofu. I kind of started to give up on finding the same taste in Australia until I found Healthy Pulse. Their tofu uses Australian grown soy beans but they make Japanese style tofu on the Gold Coast. This was it! I was so happy to eat Japanese tofu finally in Australia!
Do you love tofu? Have you ever had Japanese tofu in either Japan or Australia? Would you like to know how to use tofu when you cook at home?
Are you free on July 15th? 🙂
Check our next cooking class on July 15 in Chatswood will focus on healthy food using Japanese organic tofu.
Looking forward to seeing you all there.
Have a lovely day!
yuri
