Today my book releases. To mark the occasion, I’m leading this post with a photo of my mother next to a block of homemade silken tofu (the flecks are lemon zest). Why? Simply because she partly inspired the Asian Tofu cookbook. Me Gia (Old Mother in Vietnamese) prompted me to rethink dau phu/dau hu (tofu in Vietnamese), which led me to research, travel, and write this book.
I started out thinking that I knew tofu but quickly realized that I had lots to learn. Tofu’s history, meanings, and uses are vast and absolutely fascinating. I’ve tried to pack as much of all of that into the book, which is why Asian Tofu contains recipes and technical tips, as well as background information and people’s personal stories.
To give you a holistic perspective on the book, the Mighty Tofu Team at Ten Speed Press (creative director Betsy Stromberg and editor Melissa Moore) and I put together a short book trailer. We finished it last week and it’s ready for your prime time viewing:
This book differs from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen and Asian Dumplings in that it’s not about a single cuisine or is it totally technique driven. It’s a lens for experiencing Asian foodways. We have studio photos as well as travel shots that I took and others contributed.
Responses, Availability & Events
The initial reaction to and interest in Asian Tofu has been amazingly great. Along with the feature in Martha Stewart Living magazine and positive reviews by San Francisco and others, Amazon selected Asian Tofu as one of its top cookbooks of February 2012. Sunset magazine supported the topic by inviting me to curate and develop a collection of tofu recipes for their March issue.
I began working on Asian Tofu in late 2009. A good 2 ½ years later, the cookbook has officially been birthed, published, and released. Check it out in the form of a hardcover, regular ebook (same content as the hardcover but in a digital format), or enhanced ebook (with instructional videos and travelogues); for more details on the two ebook formats, see this post. [Update: From today till March 2, Bon Appetit magazine is running an Asian Tofu cookbook giveaway (click for details).]
The format you choose depends on your interest, lifestyle, and reading device (i.e., Nook, Kindle, or iPad and their varied versions). If you haven’t already, view a sample instructional video and download a recipe sampler from the “Asian Tofu Sneak Peek.”
If you’re interested in classes, demos, and book talks, I have a number scheduled for March, April, and May, mostly in the Bay Area and New York City. Check the events listing for details.
I hope you like or are curious about tofu because I’ll be doing a few more posts on the subject in the future. Actually, I been stockpiling information to share and chat about with you.
If you have tofu-related questions or topic suggestions, let me know below and I’ll add them to my to-do list.
Nancie McDermott
How wonderful. I was looking forward to the book because you wrote it and I'm a fan, but seeing this story and images, and hearing you tell about researching and writing it, I'm eager to get ahold of it, period! Congratulations; gonna be a big hit. Question: In Thailand, tofu was standard everyday every-market item, of course; in many forms. But one particular kind that I've not seen elsewhere, is yellow-tinged squares with a red Chinese character (like a chop) pressed on the flat top center. The color was outside only; ivory colored inside, and they were pressed, but not hyper pressed like the vacuum packed seasoned tofu I see here sometimes. One classic use was chopping it up into little tiny rods, which would be quickly fried to moderate crispness, and cooked into paht Thai. Did you ever come across yellow-outside, moderately pressed square tofu, with red chop-like character on top? Thinking the yellow would have been turmeric; it had no flavor to speak of, just the beautiful color. And it would be stacked up room temp, not in water, of course. Not that you have anything else to do, what with new major landmark book out, but just for the someday list...
Andrea Nguyen
Nancy, I came across that very firm yellow tofu in Taipei at a wet market! Didn't see any in Shanghai, Beijing, or Chengdu.
In "Asian Tofu", I took a photo that's included in the Mock Meats chapter of the stuff in Taiwan. The yellow color has to be turmeric, which I think helps to retard bacteria growth and facilitate browning. Additionally, because you're letting me get geeky on tofu here -- I have a recipe in the book for a Southeast Asian style seasoned pressed tofu which infuses super firm tofu with makrut lime leaf, garlic, and turmeric, along with other stuff. Ahem, the pad Thai recipe uses the little rods of tofu... as you prescribed, my friend.
Lori
A huge congratulations to you! And, I just got my weekly email from Lynne Rossetto-Kasper - looking forward to hearing you again on the show.
Andrea Nguyen
Thanks, much Lori! It's totally fun to do a Splendid Table show. Lynne and her crew are a blast to work with.
Madeline
Andrea - Congrats. I just got my copy of the book yesterday - it was a x-mas present from my older sister. I'm enjoying reading through the book before bed, and planning my weekend cooking. And I just signed up for the NYC ICE Tofu Workshop - looking forward to it.
TheTinCook
I just bought Asian Tofu for my Kindle yesterday (I bought Asian Dumplings Enhanced a few months ago, and use it a lot). It really surpassed my expectations. I'm going to try your ma po tofu tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing how blanching the tofu turns out.
In the book, you mention that when making tofu for abura age and tofu pok, the tofu makers often add leavening to their mix. Could you share which ones they use?
Amy
Just got my copy of the book today from Amazon. Question: where do you buy gypsum? I can't find it in amazon or ebay? I think I saw it at the Vietnamese or Chinese supermarket but you say it tend to have a odd perfume. Can epsom salts be use in place of gypsum in your recipes ? ( especially tofu pudding? Thanks
Teresa F.
Congrats, Andrea! I'm looking forward to the delivery of my copy of Asian Tofu. I LOVE tofu. I am very fortunate to live near a tofu maker in Sacramento. But I can see making some homemade for the experience. Also, congrats on your Splendid Table segment! Thanks for all the work on your books. It's really wonderful to learn the cultures and recipes as if I have aunts and grandmothers in each of those Asian cultures.
Andrea Nguyen
Amy, see page 19 -- the table for sources. I don't like the gypsum from Asian markets.
Andrea Nguyen
Madeline -- I'm sooo looking forward to cooking with you in April. That's going to be a fun class.
Andrea Nguyen
I've read that calcium carbonate (food-grade lime) and phosphate salts are used to expand the tofu. I wonder though, if baking soda would work? Food grade lime is the stuff that comes in the little pink plastic containers. Because abura age is so specialized, I figure that it's best left to the pros. Thanks for asking, maybe you and I can experiment with it?
Andrea Nguyen
Thanks, Teresa. I greatly appreciate your support.
Emily
Looks interesting! Might give that book a read, i've never actually tried tofu (always wanted to)