Lunar New Year celebrations begin around the world tomorrow, making today a great time to highlight a Lone Star version of this ancient Chinese staple. Texas has been home to folks from China since the late 1800’s, but you couldn’t buy blocks of fresh tofu in Austin until last year. Now, a Vietnamese couple runs a shop succinctly named “Fresh Tofu” in Chinatown Center on North Lamar. They sell it in 1-pound bricks, fresh or freshly fried, as well as in bite-size fried chunks flavored with lemongrass or black mushrooms. Are the soybeans that are ground and curdled for this tofu Texas-grown? Probably not. (Although some 170,000 acres are grown in the state each year, the owner here thinks hers come from Iowa.) But buying local tofu still gets you points for supporting the local economy and reducing transport costs: If you bring your own container, you can keep a disposable one out of the landfill. Not sure what to do with tofu after you’ve purchased it? Check out a couple of easy recipes here if you’re looking for a way to ease into tofu with American- and European-style flavors. But if you’re ready to celebrate the New Year Chinese-style, check out Gourmet magazine’s excellent Panfried Tofu with Chinese Black Bean Sauce, instead.
For a real treat, take a few minutes to sit in Fresh Tofu’s café and try the homemade Silken Tofu with Ginger Caramel. Its spicy-sweet ginger sauce makes tofu’s signature complete protein so very satisfying.
3 Comments
Thank you for highlighting this wonderful tofu find - right in our own backyard! I can’t wait to try it, and the recipes you provide sound amazing.
Question: Being a tofu connoisseur, can you detect a real difference between Chinatown’s “Fresh Tofu” and the type of tofu you can buy at the Wheatsville Co-op, or Whole Foods?
Thanks…I love your site!!!
Thanks, Laura!
The consistency of fresh tofu *is* special. It’s hard to describe — maybe I’d say it’s lighter? Or silkier? (Can anyone out there say this better?) The difference might not be noticeable to someone who isn’t a total tofu fiend like me, though. (We’re talking straight out of the package with a spoon while standing in the refrigerator, baby!) However, the fried fresh tofu at this shop really WAS unlike any other I’d ever had — and in a good way!
Great blog! I just wanted to let you know that White Mountain also makes a local tofu that is quite excellent. (We sell it at Wheatsville and Carol Ann sells it at Boggy Creek, too.)
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