Elizabeth Andoh

Tōfu

Bean Curd

Appears in
An Ocean of Flavor: The Japanese Way with Fish and Seafood
An Ocean of Flavor

By Elizabeth Andoh

Published 1988

  • About
Dried soybeans are crushed and boiled, and the snowy liquid that results is solidified into pudding-like loaves that are usually referred to in English as “bean curd” cakes or blocks. Depending upon such variables as coagulating agent, lining and type of molds, time, and pressure, a number of rather different-looking products result:

Kinugoshi (“silk-strained”) bean curd is very soft, delicate, and smooth. It is fragile like custard and when freshly made, has a delightfully nutty aftertaste.

Momen (“cotton-wrapped”) bean curd is firmer and more roughly textured throughout, with a noticeable crosshatch design on the surface; this is from the weave of the sarashi cloth that lined the molds. This kind of bean curd is meatier than the “silky” variety.