Tofu That’s Hard To Top
Upon close examination, MinnTofu’s soft product reveals hidden strengths.
BY STACY BROOKS
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Photo by Becca Dilley / heavytable.com
In college, I dated a guy who was appalled that I had never tried tofu. Determined to rectify the situation, he invited me over to his house and made me a tofu and vegetable stir fry with peanut sauced-noodles. I fell in love with both tofu and my now-husband, and nearly 15 years later, tofu remains a standby in our weekly meal plan.
Long-term relationships, whether with your spouse or with an ingredient, tend to settle into a certain pattern. You retell the same stories and you rehash the same arguments. You grab the same items from the grocery store shelves to make the same recipes. In our case, we buy the same kind of tofu: our favorite brand is locally-produced MinnTofu (profiled in the June 11, 2021 issue of the Tap), and we always get the extra-firm version since it works well in stir fries, grilled, or simmered in a curry sauce.
However, MinnTofu actually produces four different types of tofu: soft, medium, firm, and extra-firm. Having never cooked with soft tofu, I was curious to give it a try—maybe it would be the same sort of culinary revelation as my initial introduction to tofu, and I’d unlock a new level of soy-induced bliss. I called the company’s founder, Yan Small, to get some background on soft tofu and her recommendations for using it.
“Personally I really like the soft texture,” said Small. “Soft tofu—like when it’s used in mapo tofu—can absorb more flavor. With firm tofu, the flavors stay on the surface.” She explained that the only difference between soft tofu and extra-firm tofu is the density; the firmer the tofu, the more water has been pressed out.
“All tofu is ready to eat, you don’t need to cook it,” Small continued. “In Taiwan, they’d just eat soft tofu as a pudding. You can eat it as a cold dish—add oyster or soy sauce, sesame oil, and green onion. If you want something sweet, you can just add a strawberry topping.” She noted that MinnTofu’s soft tofu is especially suited to uncooked dessert preparations, since it’s made with filtered soy milk for a cleaner, slightly sweet taste.
The past few weeks have been a sort of inversion of the early days of my relationship with my husband, with me being the one to introduce him to various iterations of savory and sweet soft tofu recipes. Trying new foods, whether it’s romanesco from our CSA box or reindeer sausage on a trip to Finland, has always been part of our connection, and not every long-term relationship habit needs to be broken.
Photo by Becca Dilley / heavytable.com
Savory: Chilled Tofu Appetizer
This is based on a recipe from MinnTofu’s website, and it’s a nice way to appreciate the unique texture of soft tofu—it has an appealing silky, bouncy quality and it glides across your tongue almost like a custard. The sauce balances salty, umami, and acidic notes, plus lots of garlic; if you’re not the kind of person who doubles the garlic called for in a recipe by default, feel free to scale it back to one or two cloves.
I’ve been serving this with rice as an easy, summer-friendly dinner, and I can see myself pairing it with chili sesame green beans or stir-fried bok choy once CSA season starts up.
Photo by Becca Dilley / heavytable.com
Chilled Tofu Appetizer
Slightly adapted from MinnTofu
Serves 2-4
14-ounce package soft tofu
1 tablespoon sesame oil
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
Drain the tofu and plop it onto the dish you’re planning to serve it on.
Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add the sesame oil and garlic and cook until the garlic is golden, about 1-2 minutes. Pour the oil and cooked garlic into a small bowl and add the soy sauce and rice vinegar. Whisk together with a fork.
Pour the prepared sauce over the tofu and sprinkle the green onions and sesame seeds on top.
I think it’s best to use a spoon to serve this, so that you can scoop up some of the sauce with the tofu. If you’re serving it as a side dish, it would be enough for four people, and as a main course, combined with rice and/or vegetables, it serves two.
Photo by Becca Dilley / heavytable.com
Sweet: Chocolate Tofu Mousse
I am a longtime skeptic of tofu desserts, since most of the versions floating around on the Internet are heavily influenced by diet culture and the adjacent “clean eating” trend. You know the drill: recipes that skimp on sweetness and calories to produce a concoction that is a sad facsimile of dessert, although it photographs beautifully and performs well on SEO.
This recipe is not that. I doubled the amount of chocolate that most recipes call for and used sugar instead of maple syrup or agave (and then significantly increased the quantity of sweetener). I added cocoa powder, vanilla, and salt to boost the chocolatiness even more. The obvious audience for a chocolate tofu mousse is vegans, or people who are allergic to eggs or dairy. But I can assure you (and my husband can second) that this recipe has universal appeal. Made with a food processor, it’s relatively foolproof—just let your tofu come to room temperature and allow your chocolate to cool after melting it. This ensures that the tofu and chocolate will play together nicely and form a mousse, instead of seizing up into a cement-like substance.
For the richest, most chocolaty flavor, I recommend using a high-quality dark chocolate (I went with Divine Chocolate’s 70% bittersweet baking bar) and Dutch process cocoa powder, which might also be labeled as “processed with alkali.”
Although this is a dessert that is extremely chocolate-forward, it does have a soy undertone. I think this is a feature, not a bug—the slightly nutty notes of the soy support the bittersweet chocolate flavor. Texture-wise, it’s very similar to a traditional chocolate mousse, with a glorious fluffiness.
Photo by Becca Dilley / heavytable.com
Chocolate Tofu Mousse
Serves 4-5
7 ounces (200 grams) 70% cocoa dark chocolate
14-ounce package soft tofu
¼ cup granulated sugar [1]
2 tablespoons Dutch process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Finely chopped chocolate and fresh raspberries to garnish (optional)
Let the tofu come to room temperature by setting the package on the counter for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, break the chocolate into pieces and place in a small microwave-safe bowl. Melt the chocolate in the microwave at 50% power for 2 minutes, stirring halfway through. If it’s not completely melted yet, microwave at 50% power in 10 second increments, stirring after each stint in the microwave. Alternatively, you can melt the chocolate on the stovetop in a double boiler. Cool the chocolate to room temperature, which takes about 10 minutes.
Drain the room-temperature tofu. Crumble it into pieces and add it to a food processor with the sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, and salt. Process until it forms a very smooth mixture, with a texture similar to a thick batter. Make sure that all of the solid bits of tofu, no matter how small, have been pulverized. Periodically scrape the sides of the food processor to make sure that all of the tofu is incorporated.
Add the cooled melted chocolate to the food processor. Process until the mixture has a creamy, slightly fluffy texture similar to a thick buttercream frosting. Make sure that the chocolate is evenly mixed in; you may need to scrape the sides of the food processor to incorporate all of the chocolate.
Spoon the mousse into serving dishes and chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour before serving. If you want to be fancy, garnish the mousse with finely chopped chocolate and fresh raspberries.
This recipe yields 2½ cups of mousse, which gives you 5 satisfying portions or 4 even more satisfying portions. Covered tightly, it keeps very well in the refrigerator for a few days, and I think the chocolate flavor gets somewhat richer the longer you let it chill.
[1] WRITER'S NOTE: Some vegans avoid granulated sugar, since sugarcane-based granulated sugar is sometimes processed using charcoal derived from animal bones (known as bone char). Sugar beet-based granulated sugar isn’t processed with bone char, but labels often don’t specify whether granulated sugar is made with sugarcane or sugar beets. If this is a concern for you, use USDA certified organic sugar, which is never processed with bone char. Coconut sugar (organic or conventional) is another good option, since it’s never processed with bone char either.