Origins of soya
The soya bean plant is native to China, where it has been cultivated for a very, very long time, well over 13,000 years. It was an essential crop for the ancient Chinese who regarded it a necessity for life (we are with you on that).
Soya beans were introduced into other regions of Asia centuries later and it wasn’t until the early 20th century that it began to be used for more than animal feed in the West.
The soya bean is now the most widely grown and utilised legume worldwide – High Five!
Tofoo’s not the soggy, tasteless stuff you might be thinking of, and we’re on a mission to show the world that tofu is really rather brilliant. Actually not all tofu, just ours. We’re not like other tofu and here’s why…
Our Tofoo is made to a traditional Japanese recipe using only 3 ingredients: water, soya beans and nigari.
We use nigari (an all-natural extract made from seawater) to bind our tofu while many others use calcium sulphate.
Our Tofoo looks a little wonky but that’s because every block of our delicious tofu is handmade int’ Yorkshire.
Our block Tofoo is so organic we caught the attention of The Soil Association who gave us a certificate and everything.
Who’s got time to press their own tofu? Not you. So our Tofoo always comes extra firm and ready for action.
We use a TRADITIONAL JAPANESE RECIPE – that’s our secret! But, essentially our 100% organic, GM Free, soya beans are cooked, whizzed up to create soya milk and then nigari is gently stirred in to help form the bean curd.
After this our Tofoo makers scoops the curd into a muslin cloth lined settling box, tops with a pressing lid and heavy weight and its left to rest for a while – there is no rushing this process – so time for a brew.
During this time the curds are firmed and we ensure it is pressed for just the right amount of time, that’s 8 mins 44 seconds to be exact, to get just the right firmness and texture to our delicious tofu.
Here at The Tofoo Co HQ we have a super sourcing policy so only the finest beans will make it through our front door.
Our soya beans have to be from a sustainable source (tick), must always be organic (tick, tick) and of course GM free too (tick, tick, tick). This is our bean guarantee.
Our beans are grown in Canada, China and Europe and shipped to us in the UK. We are always on the lookout for sources closer to home, but we will only ever buy great tasting, salute worthy, sustainable beans.
Our Tofoo only contains trace amounts of Calcium in it as it’s made using a traditional Japanese recipe that uses Nigari instead of Calcium Sulphate to set it. This is what gives Tofoo it’s better taste and texture.
Yes, be a rebel and eat it cold and straight out of the packet – yes – rebels eat their Tofoo cold.
