Tofu - What Brand is Your Favorite?

There are so many different brands of tofu that I was wondering what brand people prefer. Of course, tofu comes in different types - silken, soft, medium, firm, extra firm (for pad thai), tofu noodles, five-spiced flavor, etc. (And then there are all of the dried varieties and the fried tofu pouches. I could keep going.) For just the wet types of tofu, there's the Japanese Morinu in the aseptic packages made in Oregan, House that is pasteurized made in California, locally made Phoenix, many types of Korean tofu and on and on. Some of the tofus are so bland that they lack any soy flavor but then others are so overwhelmingly strong. Then some tofus can't stand up to stir-frying and break up so much the dish looks more like lumpy custard.

Share your favorites and what you like or dislike about them. I like the following:

silken - Morinu
soft - House
medium - Phoenix
firm - Phoenix
extra firm - Phoenix
five spice flavored - company from NY

I hate to say this...but it's always been what is on sale, lol.

I guess I need to start thinking about it in more detail. Your post helped me think about why I eat it and what I want to get from it.

ViewsAskew wrote:I hate to say this...but it's always been what is on sale, lol.

I guess I need to start thinking about it in more detail. Your post helped me think about why I eat it and what I want to get from it.

I'm the same way- since all I'm doing is putting something around the tofu to make it not taste like...well...tofu I just get whatever's cheap

I like the fresh tofus at H Mart. I like the regular firm: it stands up to stir-frying, I like the density with each bite, and I like the flavor, which I'll do a lousy job of describing...it just tastes fresher. I also like the fresh spinach and also the carrot (?) tofus at H Mart. It doesn't taste like the respective vegetables, just adds a nice dimension to the flavor of soy...maybe offsets some of the tangy-ness.

If I can't get to H Mart, I've used Trader Joe's brand firm tofu, which is bland but OK in consistency. There's also a brand I use that I get at smaller Korean markets. I can visualize the packaging, but I can't remember the brand name. It's usually the cheapest of the firm tofus, and it's pretty good.

I rarely cook with silken, soft or medium, so I don't have any preferences with those.

Tofu is an everyday staple for me, especially the silken variety. I have an (un?)healthy addiction to taho.

My only requirement is that it be non-GMO, since I eat enough of the stuff that even trace amounts of pesticides might cause me to grow a third arm.

That said, I usually pick Mori Nu. I've never gotten a bad batch because of the packaging, either. The more common plastic-sheet-on-a-plastic-tub varieties seem to puncture easily and can be spoiled straight out of the shelf.

happy_stomach wrote:I like the fresh tofus at H Mart. I like the regular firm: it stands up to stir-frying, I like the density with each bite, and I like the flavor, which I'll do a lousy job of describing...it just tastes fresher. I also like the fresh spinach and also the carrot (?) tofus at H Mart. It doesn't taste like the respective vegetables, just adds a nice dimension to the flavor of soy...maybe offsets some of the tangy-ness.

Those are awesome! I buy them every chance I get.

I keep Morinu around so I'll never be out of tofu.

kanin wrote:Tofu is an everyday staple for me, especially the silken variety. I have an (un?)healthy addiction to taho.

I am a huge fan of fresh tofu, especially when it is still warm and served with a ginger syrup. The taho sounds similar in concept.

Kanin - Do you make your own taho or purchase it?

Jyoti

I'll add another vote in favor of H-Mart's fresh tofu. It's just not like anything else, with a crumbly texture like ricotta.

The only downside is they have all kinds of warnings about cool storage and prompt use -- I don't know what its shelf life is, so I can't keep it around the house all the time.

The aseptic shelf-stable tofu is relatively sad stuff, but I always have a couple bars in the pantry.

#1 - Pulmuone - silken, soft, medium, firm
#2 - House - silken, soft, medium, firm
#3 - Mori-nu - the only brand I'll eat "raw"

Sun Hing (I think) - fried tofu

Since moving to Chicago, I refuse to buy any Chinese "wet" brands of tofu due to multiple batches/occasions of sour spoiled tofu - also they don't last nearly as long in the fridge as the Korean and Japanese brands above. I've always got at least 4-5 cartons in the fridge on any given occasion - another staple like soymilk or miso which I never allow to run out.

In all honesty though, oftentimes I'll also purchase sale tofu - that's how I ended up trying Jinga tofu from Super H. Although, typically House or Pulmuone's often on sale at $.99 per 18oz-19oz carton at Super H.


If you read Japanese - a taste test on Sumutoko
http://www.sumutoko.com/chicago/special ... 35tofu.htm

jygach wrote:Kanin - Do you make your own taho or purchase it?

I make my own... It's basically warm tofu, sago/sabudana pearls, and a simple brown sugar syrup. The syrup is thin and has to have a slightly burnt caramel taste. Sometimes I add pandan leaves to the syrup if I have it.

It's the same idea as the Chinese ginger syrup version, which is likely where it originally evolved from.

mu tofu. locally made, amazing.

i haven't been to their shop, but had their product a bunch around town.
mu tofu shop
1735 W Greenleaf Ave
Chicago, IL 60626

Hi,

Last year the Chinese American Museum had an exhibit on tofu. I talked to the curator who me of several tofu producers in Chicago. When they began their research, they hoped to find one. They were surprise not to find just one but several. Somewhere in my stack of stuff I have the hand-out, which likely has the contact information for these.

Regards,

Blast you Porkatarian, I was coming here just to say that! I stop by the shop on Greenleaf on a regular basis. I bought the fresh tofu from H Mart Mon night and am making my usual tofu with black mushrooms for dinner tonight, I'll see how it is.

I got some firm Mu tofu in my Fresh Picks box this week. I used it today in a red curry dish with spinach, also from Fresh Picks. I thought the tofu stood up well. It crumbled very little as I assembled and stirred the dish on the stove, but the texture was definitely more ricotta-like than the cheap tofu I often buy when I ate it, a good thing. In taste, I couldn't tell any difference from the cheap tofu brands (e.g. Trader Joe's brand, the $.99 brands I get at H Mart and on Argyle). Does anyone know how much a package of Mu tofu usually costs? If the price were pretty competitive, I could see myself choosing Mu tofu occasionally, but right now I'm not sure that any of the shops I frequent carry it...I don't think I'd go out of my way for it.