Japanese Food Tips

Tofu is made by boiling soybeans and then squeezing soymilk from them and then adding nigari (magnesium chloride used as a coagulant) to make it hard. Tofu has spread throughout the world as a healthy food. There are several varieties. Kinugoshi (silken tofu), momen (firm tofu) and yaki-dofu (grilled tofu) are generally sold at grocery stores in Japan. Very hard tofu called shima-dofu is sold only in Okinawa. Each of the tofu varieties has a different texture. Miso soup using tofu is very popular all year round. Yu-dofu (bubbling tofu) is popular in winter, and hiya-yakko (chilled tofu) is popular in summer. Tofu can be bought at a relatively low price. However, tofu using high‐class soy beans and nigari and which is made carefully is expensive.