Super Fresh Tofu?

[Finnegan]

anyone knowwhere to buy super fresh tofu in Toronto? the kind of place that makes it fresh daily and that you can eat raw(?) with just a little soya.mmmmm

[PrincessStress]

There's a tofu place in Scarborough on Silver Star Blvd (near Finch and Midland) where you can buy fresh tofu, tofufa, fresh soya bean drinks too. It's located in the red brick industrial looking like buildings. My mom always buys her tofu and soya bean drinks from there.

[doubledown]

i've bought tofu at the korean galleria on yonge north of steeles and in the chinese markets, they're ok but if you want tofu to eat fresh with a bit of soy sauce, i usually go to a japanese market, like sandown in pearl plaza at brimley and sheppard. they don't make it there but it's usually pretty fresh. store it in fresh water and change the water at least daily.

[ssainani]

i dunno if it's been mentioned in this post --- but there's a newish tofu place in that large chinese mall on Dundas in mississauga --- giant yellow sign saying 'TOFU'

they make a very nice Dow Foo Fa -- in both green and plain (sorry...no idea what the green is)

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_x8k4s6TT1mc...

[erly]

We tried a Chinese restaurant on Vic. Park several months ago.
The food was O.K., but not a Chowfind.
The one outstanding dish was a tofu shaped more like an egg, and the softest silkiest tofu that we had ever tasted.
Does anyone know where I could purchase this type?

[BokChoi]

Not sure if what you're talking about are sliced tubular tofus, but a silky, luxurious tofu I have made and eaten before is an egg tofu. They are slightly yellow in colour. You can find them in the tofu section of most Chinese grocery stores (I know T&T has them). 1 tube is about $2 or so. They come in a plastic wrap. Hope that helps.

[erly]

Thanks Bok Choi, much appreciated.
Yes they were yellow, and called egg tofu. but looked like they were made individually.
I will pick up a tube next time I am at T&T

[BokChoi]

There's a tofu specialty shop in Market Village next to Pacific Mall. They just do tofu. I went their once and had a fantastic dow foo fa. Another time I went, I was disappointed. Might be worth checking out if you're in the area. He has a tonne of pictures up of his place he used to have in HK specializing in tofu (and some photos with Martin Yan). It's supposedly fresh (one time I was less than impressed though)

Photo of shop: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bokchoi-snowpea/3078265909
Eat in Menu: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bokchoi-snowpea/3079098060/
Dow Foo Fa: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bokchoi-...

They have take away prices as well for dow jeung and tofu and dow foo fa, but I neglected to note down the prices.

Cheers and Happy Eating!

[kaka]

Oh yeah, I love their 'dow foo fa'. It's one of the best in the GTA. I'm sorry to hear that you've got a disappointed experience. It might be their off day.

I would believe their takeout prices should be similar to the dine-in prices. I always buy soy milk to go whenever I visit Market Village, and I pay the same price as dine-in.

[BokChoi]

kaka,
I was amazed on one of my visits - best dow foo fa in the city hands down. But then, they were pretty bad the second time. Not sure what happened. I'm hoping it was just an off day. (and of course, I brought a bunch of risk-adverse eaters the second time and convinced them this place was great....only to have them rub it in my face and complain for days afterward to me. Why does this always happen???)

[kaka]

I know eh. Similar incidents happened to me all the time. It's very embarrassing indeed.

For tofu places like this, I tend to go there during weekends when they are busier. Which means the tofu won't be sitting in the kitchen for a long time.

[EarlyDrive]

I've bought delicious fresh tofu at Sanko on Queen. You have to ask for it. It's in the back room.

[piccola]

Do they make it there? Or get it from someone else?

[EarlyDrive]

Hey Piccola -- I'm not sure.

[piccola]

Bah, it's not that important, if you say the tofu's good.

[Nyleve]

Also on the south side of Baldwin St. east of Beverley. Can't remember the name but very good tofu.

[fleisch]

The Galleria at Yonge/Steeles has a place that makes it fresh too.

[chocabot]

there's a tofu factory (that's what i call em) at the end of st andrew's st in kensington 2 doors down from essence of life. i get fresh tofu and rice noodle rolls from them. they have soy milk other soy product made fresh.

[pescatarian]

Yes, it's called "Fong On's Rice Noodle and Tofu Factory" - 46 Kensington

[ssainani]

Chodang Soon Tofu in the West End is great

daily made and super fresh

[acd123]

I 2nd Chodang Soon Tofu. They make fresh tofu daily and have soy milk available as well. It's a great place.

[Pincus]

I 3rd it.

-----
Chodang Soontofu
5130 Dundas St W, Toronto, ON M9A, CA

[LTL]

Quality used to be great about 2 years ago. Tofu is heavily watered down now.

[chocabot]

I bought a tub of "tofu custard" and it was definitely more watery than the T&T one. It wasn't bad so I figured it was just a style thing. Where/what brand do you like now?

[LTL]

Definitely not a style thing as it wasn't like this about 2 years ago. I see the same people working there too so I'm assuming this was a conscious decision.

I forget the brand I buy (will check), but I usually just go to a place like T&T to pick up a tub. Another warning - if you're buying it from a Chinese supermarket, always lift the lid up and sniff to make sure it hasn't spoiled. T&T downtown usually stocks fresh items, but other places aren't as trustworthy.

[Kagemusha]

That's precisely why I won't buy doufu in containers that aren't sealed! Fresh is another matter but those unsealed tubs--and the habit of cracking them for an unnecessary sniff-gross me out bigtime.

[LTL]

Checking to see if it emits a strong sour odour seems kind of necessary to me. I don't like throwing my money away on rotten food, and I only open containers that I'm going to buy.

[Kagemusha]

Buy another brand or shop another store than culls stale-dated stock. Not entirely certain unsealed containers are compliant with packaging regulations. Do you swig the milk to see if it's fresh, too, like Lebowski?

[mogo]

But that's just the tofu-buying protocol. You open it and smell it. If it's to your liking, then you pour off some of the water into the nearby bucket (and there's always a bucket). They expect that people are opening them. You sniff fish and produce to check for freshness, why not tofu? You can wash it when you get home anyway.

In Mississauga, there's a Vietnamese tofu place in the Chinese mall at 888 Dundas. They sell fresh tofu, fried tofu, tofu fa (pandan flavoured too!), soy milk, and various yummy snacky things involving sticky rice, coconut, cassava, plaintains, etc.

[BokChoi]

The only problem is too many times I have seen customers pick them up with their hands and squeeze the tofus. Then they put it back in the container and then take a different box because they had 'contaminated' their first box with their own germs. It's not too appetizing. I wish someone could teach these people etiquette. I usually try to tell them not to touch the tofus when I see them do it, but they always pretend to not understand any of the languages I use when I do so (Guess I need to learn Mandarin too). I dig in the back of the fridge to try and hope no one has gotten their hands on my container before me.

[LTL]

GROSS!! I've never witnessed this before thank goodness. If I have, I might have gone into an angry rant ;)

[BokChoi]

Just make sure you're careful and rinse your tofu well when you get it home. Good luck LTL.

I've seen this practice at a number of grocery stores that are not just Chinese. I've seen a gentleman pop all the sealed tops on jams before because he was trying to sniff them. He went through about 5 or 6 (that we saw) before we managed to get him to stop and tell the manager about it.

[acd123]

Where are you referring to, LTL?

[LTL]

When making the tofu, more water than needed is added to the mix, to increase profits I'm assuming. This results in a less concentrated taste and much softer texture - to the point where it barely holds together.

[voicesurfer]

The recent rise in the cost of soy beans is probably behind the decline in taste of tofu, since the retail price of tofu hasn't kept pace. The bulk of tofu is water, depending on the texture of tofu. "Tofu fa", the kind of tofu with a soft custard texture has the highest water content. The change in taste is likely due to changes in the coagulation process (like making cheese curds from milk) to boost yield.