SG I didn't expect to be a tofu maker. I came here as a working holiday, but since I came to Australia, I haven't seen the tofu that I'm familiar with in terms of the textures, the flavours. So, I just started making them at home.
Archival Joyce Chen In China, the Chinese name is tofu and Japanese also called tofu. I like this bean curd, and this is made of soybean, of course, need expert to make it. You cannot make it, but you can buy it. You can buy it in Chinatown, grocery store or even Japanese grocery store.
SG Tofu making is not really cooking. It's more science to me. There is so much pulp as a by-product in the process of making tofu, which often goes to waste. And I want it to create many ways that doesn't end up in compost food. The texture is much softer and juicier, and the flavour is more like you can taste the soy, so it's sweeter and richer.
I remember in Japan, my mum saying tofu doesn't last long so you have to eat quickly. But to here, okay. When I go to Asian grocer, I see the tofu next to the till sitting on the bench, I was like, how can this be possible? I think people buy tofu, which last[s] long, because it's convenient, but also probably they don't know the greatest quality of the tofu.
Archival Joyce Chen When you buy, they soak in the water like this. So, when you bring [them] home, you should soak them in the water, carry it and leave [them] in the refrigerator.
SG I started trying to make tofu at home, but I couldn't reach the level I wanted to. So, I decided to go back to Japan. And one of my friends had told me about this tofu dish at one of the Izakaya in Osaka. And he took me there one night and that dish was simply blanched tofu with salt and toasted cumin on the side. The tofu was exceptional. I asked the owner of the Izakaya, ‘Where [are] you getting this tofu from?’ And then he told me about this tofu shop in Osaka, and he suggested to just rock up. So early next morning, I went to see the master and I told to him, ‘I would love to learn about tofu from you.’
It sounds very simple [laughs]. Soak the soybean overnight [for] about 8-12 hours and the next day grind it and cook the soybean sludge, boil and then strain it. Squeeze out the milk as much as you can and put the coagulants in [at] the right timing and then press the curd. That's the process. Coagulant reacts to the protein in the soybean. It's exactly like cheese.
Archival Joyce Chen The food is really nice. You can eat for many ways. You can cook them, you can fry them. You can make soup, and even you can make them eat them raw, but no flavour. You have to need some soy sauce in there. Salt.
SG So, from soy I make momen tofu, which is a semi-firm and kinugoshi tofu, which is a silken tofu. And I make fried tofu, which is a fried momen food. And I make agedashi, which is fried tofu bowl with the other vegetables and the okara miso, which is soybean pulp, miso and the smoked tofu, which is marinated in the soy sauce and mirin and dashi. And they smoke it for two hours and fresh soy milk. And I make roasted soy powder.
