Dried tofu - does it have another name, and where can I get it in the UK?
A local Asian supermarket used to sell this stuff that the proprietor referred to as dried tofu. In came vacuum packed, and seemed to be dehydrated tofu that had been marinated in Chinese barbecue or chili sauce. It was soft, but slightly chewy, and totally delicious.
That closed down, but by happy coincidence I switched jobs and had a colleague with a Chinese wife. They would buy this stuff on visits to China, in an even wider variety of flavours, and were happy to bring me some back when I asked.
I've now moved on. I've been searching the other local Asian markets for this snack without success - indeed most staff in the shops seem visibly confused when I ask for "dried tofu", as though they have no idea what it might be.
Searching online for "dried tofu" turns up a variety of products that are obviously meant for cooking: unflavoured blocks or strips of tofu that need seasoning or rehydrating before use. This isn't what I'm after at all.
"Flavoured dried tofu" doesn't bring up much different either.
This made me wonder if this stuff has a different name other than the "dried tofu" I was given? And whether anyone knew of anywhere I could order it online for UK delivery?
Best Answer
I found the answer eventually after a lot of diligent googling.
It is called dried tofu, but for some reason the Chinese markets that sell it refer to it as "dried bean curd" rather than tofu. I presume this is some peculiarity in translation. Hence the difficulty in locating it.
(As an aside, it's interesting that google doesn't know that tofu and bean curd are equivalent.)
Anyway, there's a selection at the top of this page:
It's much more widely available in the US.
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Can you buy dehydrated tofu?
Product Description. Eden Dried Tofu is from freshly made firm tofu using only whole, non GEO soybeans, and 'nigari', a high magnesium mineral salt used to coagulate soymilk into tofu. The tofu is made in the traditional manner used for centuries. After the tofu is made it is cut into blocks and frozen for 20 days.What is dry tofu?
Dried Tofu is a traditional food. In the process of making dried tofu, it is the tofu added with salt, fennel, pepper, aniseed, dried ginger and other seasonings, which are both tastes salty, fragrant and chewy. It is known as \u201cvegetable ham\u201d. And it can be stored for a long time.Is bean curd same as tofu?
Tofu is the name and spelling used most often for bean curd, but it is actually the Japanese word for a Chinese invention - doufu.What is tofu in Chinese?
The English word "tofu" comes from Japanese t\u014dfu (\u8c46\u8150), a borrowing of Chinese \u8c46\u8150 (Mandarin: d\xf2ufu) 'bean curd, bean ferment'.Rural China: How to Make Dried Tofu
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Answer 2
I wonder if it was bamboo tofu or "tofu skin": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tofu_skin
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