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If anyone else's wondering whether the author followed up on importing tofu in the US, here's what his webpage says: > It’s nice to meet you. I’m working on pr

If anyone else's wondering whether the author followed up on importing tofu in the US, here's what his webpage says: > It’s nice to meet you. I’m working on promoting Chinese tofus in the States. If you’re not familiar, China has over 20 types of tofus. They taste nothing like conventional white blocks. Some are bready. Others taste like aged cheese. Some bake up like pastry crust. Others melt. > I’m writing a book to teach western cooks how use these ingredients beyond Chinese cooking. I’m also building a team to import and sell these ingredients to western supermarkets. If you’re excited about this project, let me know here. I’d love to find ways to collab. http://georgestiffman.com/ http://georgestiffman.com/

ben_w 3y ago
There's tofu that melts? Huh. That (I thought) it didn't melt was the one thing holding it back from being a true vegan cheese[0] alternative to me. [0] Process for making {cheese, tofu}: take {milk, soy milk}, add some acid to make the proteins coagulate, then draw the rest of the owl to get your sliceable high-protein block of controllable firmness and flavour.
- autarch 3y ago
  There are vegan cheese products that melt. I like Violife brand cheeses when I want something melty.
  - ben_w 3y ago
    I'm aware of Violife; the trouble is, while it melts, it has zero protein — from the ingredients it's basically solidified flavoured coconut oil: https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/302277589 https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/302277589 To me, a true vegan cheese alternative has to tick all the boxes that cheese ticks at the same time, not a separate product for each box you want to tick.
    - Sirizarry 3y ago
      Im sorry but you seriously worry about the protein content of your cheese? There are plenty other protein rich foods
      - harimau777 3y ago
        If it has calories, then someone who cares about bodybuilding or athletic performance is going to care about its macronutrients.
      - brnt 3y ago
        Vegans need to worry about this, because most don't want to eat piles of beans with every meal. I love beans, but I love other foods too!
        PretzelPirate 3y ago
        Vegans don't need to worry about the protein content of vegan cheese. Protein is widely available in vegan food and you don't need to eat a pile of beans to get it.
        ben_w 3y ago
        Some people won't accept Pepsi if they ask for a cola. I'm only going to accept vegan cheese as a full substitute for real cheese when it ticks enough boxes, and one of those boxes is the nutritional values (the others include flavour and how it behaves when cooked, including melting vs. browning). That's why I specifically noted that I'm interested by the prospect of melty tofu, as tofu is the closest substitute I have right now on the nutritional value.
        brnt 3y ago
        What vegans foods are they widely available? And at what price levels?
        ben_w 3y ago
  - shafyy 3y ago
    Violife is my least favorite brand haha. In Germany, I prefer Simply V (both for melted and not melted) and Edeka's vegan feta cheese, which is absolutely bonkers good (always need to double check if it really is vegan).
- OJFord 3y ago
  > [0] Process for making {cheese, tofu}: take {milk, soy milk}, add some acid to make the proteins coagulate, I wonder if anyone's tried adding lactose to soy milk and using cultures and rest of the process as if to target a particular traditional cheese. I'm not saying the result would be vegan, I don't know if there's a vegan source or way of manufacturing lactose, but just for interest.
  - shafyy 3y ago
    I have had a plant-based cheese company for a while. Yes, adding casein (I think you mean casein, not lactose) to soy milk woulnd't be vegan. There are companies that try to create vegan casein with precision fermentation, but to my knowledge, none of them are doing it at scale (i.e. I wouldn't know where to buy such a vegan cheese). Most cheese is not made with acid but with enzyme called rennet, which is typically found in stomachs of cow's for example. Now, there is synthetic rennet which is used in the cheese industry widely, which is vegan. However, rennet doens't work with plant-based milks. We've done a lot of experiments to find a replacement enzyme for rennet that would coagulate soy milk with a similar result as animal-based cheese, but didn't get any great results. The cheeses made with acid are usually softer (e.g. ricotta). For a while we manufactured and sold a plant-based cheese made with soy milk that was very similar to ricotta. Not bad, but a far cry from the animal-based version. I still think it's possible to find a way to make plant-based cheese without needing to synthetically create vegan casein. As other commenters have mentioned, many of the vegan cheeses currently available are based on either coconut oil, cashew, or almonds (or a mix of these). For some use cases, this works suprisingly well (e.g. if you live in Germany, get the vegan Feta from Edeka's own brand. It's the fucking best). But then again for some use cases, they don't (e.g. the melting behavior is usually not very good). I think they've gotten a lot better in the past 5 years and I don't miss animal-based cheese anymore as a vegan. I also think there's a local maximum here with these coconut oil, almond and cashew based cheeses though. Edit: Confused lactose with casein, updated to reflect that
    - qwertthrowway 3y ago
      What about microbial enzyme based cheeses? For example I’ve seen havarti labeled with microbial rennet.
- dendrite9 3y ago
  The process similarity between the two has always been interesting to me even though there are obvious differences as well. When I read this article the first time a few months ago I thought how interesting it would be to read a similar but inverted article "China doesn't know cheese" (translated of course).
- hnfong 3y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermented_bean_curd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermented_bean_curd It doesn't "melt" in the sense that it softens and becomes stringy when heated (eg. Mozzarella), but you can "dissolve" this kind of tofu in water, or at least you can make it a sauce-like consistency by adding water. It has vaguely cheese-like flavor, more akin to the softer, ripened cheeses or the blue cheeses, but not so much the harder cheeses like cheddar. Should be widely available, try it some time. Usually it's not directly eaten, but more of a condiment or for adding flavor to a dish in a similar way as soy sauce.
NooneAtAll3 3y ago
> They taste nothing like conventional white blocks tofu isn't green?? welp, my life is a lie
- zoklet-enjoyer 3y ago
  Pumpkin seed tofu is green
Kon-Peki 3y ago
> I’m also building a team to import and sell these ingredients to western supermarkets Why? American farmers are great at growing soybeans. They even grow varieties that are exported to Asia specifically for making tofu. There's an old story about when Honda first set up factories in Ohio, they still shipped the engines from Japan. After a while they got tired of returning the containers back empty, and went in search of something they could fill them with. In the end, they hired local farmers to grow specific soybeans that were desired in Japan - every engine crate from then on returned to Japan with those beans inside.
- yorwba 3y ago
  Someone still needs to turn those American soybeans into tofu. Either you import the tofu or you import the tofu maker. Just as with those Honda engines, it's easier to start by rerouting some of the output of an existing factory than having to stand up a whole new factory from scratch. It might very well turn out that for most of these regional specialty tofus, there's not enough demand in America to make local production economically viable, but there could still be a niche for a specialized tofu importer that can provide small quantities of many different varieties.
  - throwaway2037 3y ago
    Ironically, in Japan, most cheaper tofu (and natto) is made from Canadian soybeans.
solardev 3y ago
FWIW, there are a number of decent US-based tofu manufacturers too. Just the ones I'm familiar with: Asian style: - (Seattle) Northwest Tofu: https://maps.app.goo.gl/omGVAsunK79BH1SYA https://maps.app.goo.gl/omGVAsunK79BH1SYA - (Cupertino, CA) Sogo Tofu: https://sogotofu.business.site/ https://sogotofu.business.site/ American/fusion style: - (Arcata, CA) Tofu Shop: https://www.tofushop.com/ https://www.tofushop.com/ - (Chicago) Phoenix Bean: https://www.phoenixbean.com/products.html https://www.phoenixbean.com/products.html - (Nationwide) Nasoya: https://www.nasoya.com/about-us/ https://www.nasoya.com/about-us/ - (Nationwide) Wildwood: https://wildwoodfoods.com/ https://wildwoodfoods.com/ - (Nationwide) Hodo: https://www.hodofoods.com/ https://www.hodofoods.com/ Wholesale distributors of fake meats: - (San Jose, CA) Ecovegan: https://ecovegan.com/ https://ecovegan.com/ - (NYC) Lily's Vegan (former May Wah): https://www.lilysveganpantry.com https://www.lilysveganpantry.com -------- IMO Sogo Tofu and Northwest are worth going out of your way to try out if you're ever in the Bay Area or Seattle. They're just wonderful.

ben_w 3y ago

There's tofu that melts? Huh. That (I thought) it didn't melt was the one thing holding it back from being a true vegan cheese[0] alternative to me. [0] Process for making {cheese, tofu}: take {milk, soy milk}, add some acid to make the proteins coagulate, then draw the rest of the owl to get your sliceable high-protein block of controllable firmness and flavour.

autarch 3y ago
There are vegan cheese products that melt. I like Violife brand cheeses when I want something melty.
- ben_w 3y ago
  I'm aware of Violife; the trouble is, while it melts, it has zero protein — from the ingredients it's basically solidified flavoured coconut oil: https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/302277589 https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/302277589 To me, a true vegan cheese alternative has to tick all the boxes that cheese ticks at the same time, not a separate product for each box you want to tick.
  - Sirizarry 3y ago
    Im sorry but you seriously worry about the protein content of your cheese? There are plenty other protein rich foods
    - harimau777 3y ago
      If it has calories, then someone who cares about bodybuilding or athletic performance is going to care about its macronutrients.
    - brnt 3y ago
      Vegans need to worry about this, because most don't want to eat piles of beans with every meal. I love beans, but I love other foods too!
      - PretzelPirate 3y ago
        Vegans don't need to worry about the protein content of vegan cheese. Protein is widely available in vegan food and you don't need to eat a pile of beans to get it.
        ben_w 3y ago
        Some people won't accept Pepsi if they ask for a cola. I'm only going to accept vegan cheese as a full substitute for real cheese when it ticks enough boxes, and one of those boxes is the nutritional values (the others include flavour and how it behaves when cooked, including melting vs. browning). That's why I specifically noted that I'm interested by the prospect of melty tofu, as tofu is the closest substitute I have right now on the nutritional value.
        brnt 3y ago
        What vegans foods are they widely available? And at what price levels?
        ben_w 3y ago
- shafyy 3y ago
  Violife is my least favorite brand haha. In Germany, I prefer Simply V (both for melted and not melted) and Edeka's vegan feta cheese, which is absolutely bonkers good (always need to double check if it really is vegan).
OJFord 3y ago
> [0] Process for making {cheese, tofu}: take {milk, soy milk}, add some acid to make the proteins coagulate, I wonder if anyone's tried adding lactose to soy milk and using cultures and rest of the process as if to target a particular traditional cheese. I'm not saying the result would be vegan, I don't know if there's a vegan source or way of manufacturing lactose, but just for interest.
- shafyy 3y ago
  I have had a plant-based cheese company for a while. Yes, adding casein (I think you mean casein, not lactose) to soy milk woulnd't be vegan. There are companies that try to create vegan casein with precision fermentation, but to my knowledge, none of them are doing it at scale (i.e. I wouldn't know where to buy such a vegan cheese). Most cheese is not made with acid but with enzyme called rennet, which is typically found in stomachs of cow's for example. Now, there is synthetic rennet which is used in the cheese industry widely, which is vegan. However, rennet doens't work with plant-based milks. We've done a lot of experiments to find a replacement enzyme for rennet that would coagulate soy milk with a similar result as animal-based cheese, but didn't get any great results. The cheeses made with acid are usually softer (e.g. ricotta). For a while we manufactured and sold a plant-based cheese made with soy milk that was very similar to ricotta. Not bad, but a far cry from the animal-based version. I still think it's possible to find a way to make plant-based cheese without needing to synthetically create vegan casein. As other commenters have mentioned, many of the vegan cheeses currently available are based on either coconut oil, cashew, or almonds (or a mix of these). For some use cases, this works suprisingly well (e.g. if you live in Germany, get the vegan Feta from Edeka's own brand. It's the fucking best). But then again for some use cases, they don't (e.g. the melting behavior is usually not very good). I think they've gotten a lot better in the past 5 years and I don't miss animal-based cheese anymore as a vegan. I also think there's a local maximum here with these coconut oil, almond and cashew based cheeses though. Edit: Confused lactose with casein, updated to reflect that
  - qwertthrowway 3y ago
    What about microbial enzyme based cheeses? For example I’ve seen havarti labeled with microbial rennet.
dendrite9 3y ago
The process similarity between the two has always been interesting to me even though there are obvious differences as well. When I read this article the first time a few months ago I thought how interesting it would be to read a similar but inverted article "China doesn't know cheese" (translated of course).
hnfong 3y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermented_bean_curd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermented_bean_curd It doesn't "melt" in the sense that it softens and becomes stringy when heated (eg. Mozzarella), but you can "dissolve" this kind of tofu in water, or at least you can make it a sauce-like consistency by adding water. It has vaguely cheese-like flavor, more akin to the softer, ripened cheeses or the blue cheeses, but not so much the harder cheeses like cheddar. Should be widely available, try it some time. Usually it's not directly eaten, but more of a condiment or for adding flavor to a dish in a similar way as soy sauce.

NooneAtAll3 3y ago

> They taste nothing like conventional white blocks tofu isn't green?? welp, my life is a lie

zoklet-enjoyer 3y ago
Pumpkin seed tofu is green

Kon-Peki 3y ago

> I’m also building a team to import and sell these ingredients to western supermarkets Why? American farmers are great at growing soybeans. They even grow varieties that are exported to Asia specifically for making tofu. There's an old story about when Honda first set up factories in Ohio, they still shipped the engines from Japan. After a while they got tired of returning the containers back empty, and went in search of something they could fill them with. In the end, they hired local farmers to grow specific soybeans that were desired in Japan - every engine crate from then on returned to Japan with those beans inside.

yorwba 3y ago
Someone still needs to turn those American soybeans into tofu. Either you import the tofu or you import the tofu maker. Just as with those Honda engines, it's easier to start by rerouting some of the output of an existing factory than having to stand up a whole new factory from scratch. It might very well turn out that for most of these regional specialty tofus, there's not enough demand in America to make local production economically viable, but there could still be a niche for a specialized tofu importer that can provide small quantities of many different varieties.
- throwaway2037 3y ago
  Ironically, in Japan, most cheaper tofu (and natto) is made from Canadian soybeans.

solardev 3y ago

FWIW, there are a number of decent US-based tofu manufacturers too. Just the ones I'm familiar with: Asian style: - (Seattle) Northwest Tofu: https://maps.app.goo.gl/omGVAsunK79BH1SYA https://maps.app.goo.gl/omGVAsunK79BH1SYA - (Cupertino, CA) Sogo Tofu: https://sogotofu.business.site/ https://sogotofu.business.site/ American/fusion style: - (Arcata, CA) Tofu Shop: https://www.tofushop.com/ https://www.tofushop.com/ - (Chicago) Phoenix Bean: https://www.phoenixbean.com/products.html https://www.phoenixbean.com/products.html - (Nationwide) Nasoya: https://www.nasoya.com/about-us/ https://www.nasoya.com/about-us/ - (Nationwide) Wildwood: https://wildwoodfoods.com/ https://wildwoodfoods.com/ - (Nationwide) Hodo: https://www.hodofoods.com/ https://www.hodofoods.com/ Wholesale distributors of fake meats: - (San Jose, CA) Ecovegan: https://ecovegan.com/ https://ecovegan.com/ - (NYC) Lily's Vegan (former May Wah): https://www.lilysveganpantry.com https://www.lilysveganpantry.com -------- IMO Sogo Tofu and Northwest are worth going out of your way to try out if you're ever in the Bay Area or Seattle. They're just wonderful.