Tofu: nutrition and how to use it

Fun facts

• Tofu is soy milk that has been curdled and pressed into a block, a lot like making cheese from milk. Legend says it was invented in China more than two thousand years ago.
• The numbers here are for firm tofu set with calcium sulfate: each 100g has about 144 kcal, 17.3g of protein and 8.7g of fat. That is a lot of protein for the calories.
• Calcium reaches 683mg per 100g, and most of it comes from the calcium sulfate used to set the tofu. Tofu made with sour whey or nigari salts will have a different amount, so labels vary from brand to brand.
• In Vietnam, tofu shows up everywhere: in tomato sauce, stuffed with pork, fried with shrimp paste dip, or as silky tofu pudding in ginger syrup. Tofu appears in 71 kOBE recipes.

Choosing and storing

Look for a block with a smooth surface, an ivory color and a light soybean smell, with no slime and no sour note. At home, keep it covered in clean water in the fridge, change the water daily and use it within a few days. For packaged tofu, follow the date on the pack, and store an opened pack like fresh tofu. You can also freeze it: once thawed, tofu turns spongy and soaks up sauce beautifully.

Cooking it well

Before pan-frying, press the block gently to squeeze out water so it browns well and spits less oil. Steaming, soups and tomato braises are gentler than deep-frying, since fried tofu absorbs a fair amount of oil. Tofu has almost no flavor of its own, so marinating it or cooking it in a bold sauce is what makes it shine. To see why tofu sits next to dried anchovies in the calcium conversation, read No cow's milk? Where to find calcium. At kOBE, our Signature Lean Mayo, Vegan is built on a soybean tofu base, with no eggs, no dairy and no preservatives.

Frequently asked questions