Two Minute Tofu

Hiyayakko, Ochazuke & Bulking Up Your Weekly Shop

Listen. In life, you have to show every person you meet a sense of empathy and compassion, to try to understand why they have the views they do. We are shaped by our upbringing, our environment - the joys and traumas that are unique to us, that makes up who and what we are.

For instance, take people who purport to hate tofu. These people are not to be dismissed out of hand, for it is my long-held belief that these people are actually traumatised by their past experiences. They, my friends, have borne witness to truly depraved acts of crimes against tofu.

Tofu is fermented soybean curd, and the magic of tofu comes from its texture, which can be varied. Similar to its dairy counterpart (cheese), variations on the theme can be firm and springy, or like soft, silken custard. It is a conduit, an enhancer, and so it rarely shines on its own. As an ingredient, it is decidedly not a solo artist but a team player. It’s like the weaker member of a 90s girlband - a solo career will do nothing for it, and will be bland and shapeless. With the right management and representation, and a careful pairing with its accompanying acts… well, that’s when it reaches legend status.

This was most apparent during a recent lunch in Tokyo, when my mum arranged for us to go for a kaiseki style lunch at a ‘tofu-ya’.

Lush gardens provided a tranquil atmosphere where the tofu was pressed, cooked and created, and the eight-course experience brought the versatility of the ingredient to life. Age-dashi (fried, in broth), a silken tofu custard served in a savoury, creamy soy milk sauce, each course was so unique that despite the same star ingredient running throughout, it felt fresh, new and exciting. Full restaurant details are below the paywall.

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My Favourite Tofu Prep Methods

Marinated Tofu

A great Sunday evening task is to cube up some firmed tofu into a tupperware with some soy sauce, sesame oil, mirin, garlic and ginger. The marinated tofu is a great topping to have to replace meat in your stir-fries, with rice, or in salads - just coat it with corn and potato starch before frying in the airfryer (in a single layer) for 15 minutes, shaking occasionally - or in a pan until lightly crisped.

Tofu Burgers

Japanese-style ‘tofu’ hamburger steaks mixed finely chopped onion, salt, paper and egg inside the pork and beef mince mixture. The inclusion of firm tofu in the mixture not only makes your mince go further, it gives a fluffy, light texture. A simple ‘hamburger sauce’ is a mixture of tomato sauce, soy sauce and a dash of Worcestershire, best served with a bed of fluffy rice.

Ochazuke Tofu

A low-carb, high-protein snack I love is ochazuke tofu. I have a recipe for ochazuke (a green tea topping, often served with rice) in Japonisme, but this store cupboard staple can be bought really easily online. A portion of firm tofu with the ochazuke topping and some hot water makes a delicious savoury broth to tide you over until dinnertime.

Chilled Tofu Appetisers

Growing up with a single mother in New York City meant that fairly frequently my mum would have to cut her post-work drinks short (where, let’s be honest, most of the essential work bonding and networking takes place) to come home and take care of us. As her colleagues became some of her closest friends, ‘work drink afters’ would inevitably end up being hosted at our place, so to prepare accordingly my mum would have ‘otsumami’ (snacks to have with drinks) ready and to hand pretty much all the time.

‘Hiyayakko’, chilled tofu is a silken tofu appetiser that is prepped in advance, that goes great with a cold beer. Full recipe below, along with my own ‘Seoul remix’.