What is tofu?
 

Tofu is a widely used food product made from soybeans. Most is produced by curdling soymilk and pressing the resultant mixture into a cake form, hence the name bean curd.

In Japan, Tofu has been essential ingredients for the everyday meals since centuries. It is a traditional source of proteins and has been adapted to our life styles over generations as main dish or side dishes, even desserts!    

Health Canada Food Guide encourages the use of more plant-based protein foods, like tofu, that can provide more fibre and less saturated fat than other types of protein foods.

 

What do I do with tofu?

 

Soyarie tofu is amazingly versatile and delicious. While plain tofu is mild-flavoured it is perfect to absorb and carry the essences of whatever the adventurous cook decides to add.

With tofu you can slice it and dice it, whip it and dip it, you can mash it or hash it and grill it not spill it.

It can be cooked and used in a variety of recipes from tasty appetizers, hearty entrees to elegant desserts.

And Soyarie also does a great ready to eat line of products.

Our high quality tofu products can take you from breakfast through to a gourmet dinner with snacks in between. Check out our recipes for inspiration.

How do I use the various kinds of tofu?

 

Soyarie makes a wide variety of high quality tofu products.
See the Our Products tab for a complete listing.

Our blok tofu ranges from medium to extra firm. While most are plain they also come in Vegetable, Sea Vege, and Herb flavours. They make great meat or cheese substitutes.
See our Sea Vege Tofu and Shrimp Curry recipe.

Soyarie produces a delicate water-packed silken tofu. It is excellent for blending in drinks, dips dressings and sauces. It is great in smoothies for quick, nutritious, snacks and breakfasts.

Soyarie also makes an extensive line of Ready to eat products from burgers to patties and from bites and cubes to slices. They are so quick, convenient and delicious hot or cold. Look forward to great lunches, dinners and snacks.

How do I store and keep tofu?

Once you bring tofu home from the store, keep the unopened tub in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it.
If you have some left in the tub after you open the package, it will keep for about 5 days. But there’s a catch, it’s best to store it in a sealed glass
or plastic container submerged in water which should be changed daily.

Ready to eat products should also be refrigerated.

How do I know when my Tofu is gone bad?


Like cheese, blok tofu can grow mould/bacteria on it especially if it’s not submerged in water. 

It tends to develop an obvious “sour” smell and taste.

Ready to eat products are harder to tell because of the flavoured ingredients.
Although there may be some odour when spoiled, they should not be used after the best before date.

How do I read the best before dates?

For all organic tofu the best before date is printed with year-month-day, for example, 2021-10-14.
For ready to eat products it’s only the month and day. So it looks like JN30.
However some customers have found the printing too small so we will be changing that soon. Stay tuned.

My recipe calls for pressing the tofu. What is that?

Pressing refers to draining excess water from the tofu to change the texture or consistency.
Also removing water before freezing tofu helps prevent ice from forming both on the outside and inside of the tofu.

Take tofu out of package and place it on 2 sheets of paper towel folded in half and placed on top of one another.
Then lay two more sheets of paper towelling folded in half on top of the tofu.

Place a heavy object, such as a book, on top, make sure it covers the full block.
The weight needs to be heavy enough to press out the moisture, but not so heavy that the tofu collapses.

Let the tofu drain for a minimum of 15 minutes. Remove the weight and discard the paper towelling.

Can I freeze tofu?

The short answer is “yes”!  And the good news is, it can improve tofu! 
You can freeze your blok tofu to give it a meatier texture.

Your can freeze Soyarie ready to eat tofu if you are worried about it spoiling.
Freezing tofu removes excess moisture, making it better able to soak up marinades or sauces.

You can put the whole unopened package of tofu in the freezer, but for best results, drain the liquid first, slice into pieces, and re bag it. (A single layer until frozen is best, but not necessary.)

When you thaw the tofu, more of the water will drain from it and it will be a bit crumblier, the texture will be chewier and “meatier”. You can also freeze slices that are already coated in a sauce. A pre-marinade of sorts! Just take it out of the freezer the day before you want it.