Asian Tofu: Discover the Best, Make Your Own, and Cook It at Home [A Cookbook]

I've had this book for about a week and I've already made block tofu as well as tofu pudding. Both were a success and incredibly easy to make the first time around. All the utensils/cookware/gadgets you need are probably already in your kitchen (large pot, strainer, slotted spoon, blender, etc). You don't even need a thermometer and obsess over hitting the right temperature. So there's no need to buy another thing for your kitchen just to make tofu. The only thing I didn't have was the tofu mold but I fashioned one from a half gallon carton with holes punched on the bottom. I used a jar filled with water as my "weight" for firm block tofu. So that took care of that problem (though now I might buy a proper mold since I'm never buying the supermarket stuff again!).The instructions are very easy to follow and detailed. The author provides a list of ingredients you will need along with the various options you can use for coagulants. I used food-grade gypsum, which I bought on Amazon, but you can even use Epsom salts. You will need to get dry soybeans, which I haven't seen at my local market so I ordered 4 pounds of organic soybeans online at a reasonable price. I'm sure you can find some at an asian grocery store if you have one available to you.Now, it's true that there are thousands of instructions on the web to make tofu. But I like that this book goes deeper into some history about tofu. Every chapter opens with the author recounting her travels to a certain place and how tofu is used by various peoples and what it means to them. So it's not just a how-to for tofu making, it also offers good stories and information. I found myself cuddling up to the book and reading it for the sake of just reading it. I especially liked reading about artisans making tofu and families migrating to the US who had to make their own if they wanted to have any tofu.As far as the recipes go, I have no idea how authentic they are, but the ones I cooked from are delicious! Some are vegetarian, some are not. I, myself, am vegetarian and I think the dishes with meat can easily be adapted with seitan or some other mock meat. If you eat meat, then it might shock you to find meat in a tofu book. Fear not. As the author points out, Asian cuisine doesn't delegate tofu to vegetarian fare, but rather, meat and tofu are used together and play off each other's tastes. So the recipes are great for just about anyone. The instructions for the recipes are also easy to follow and there aren't ingredients that are hard to find.Overall, a great guide for making tofu, awesome recipes to kick up tofu from bland to ka-pow!, and just plain fun.

I was disappointed when my local health food store stopped carrying my favorite brand of tofu. My remaining choices were not that tasty to me, so I decided to learn how to make my own tofu. I love learning new things, and this sounded like a lot of fun. However, the idea still intimidated me.Fortunately, this cookbook took me through every stage of making tofu. The steps were very concise and eliminated the guesswork for me. I don't own a soy milk maker, so I followed her directions for making it from scratch. It really is a lot of work, but I found the process to be rewarding and calming. I would buy a soy milk maker if I made larger quantities of tofu, but I only have to feed myself.This cookbook truly taught me how to successfully make tofu. Not only that, it introduced me to many forms of tofu that I was unfamiliar with. I have enjoyed experimenting with techniques and flavors, and have greatly expanded my knowledge of tofu. The tea smoked pressed tofu was a nice surprise and I've made it several times. The tofu skin was also new to me, and I enjoyed making it along with the companion recipes in the book.I expected the book to offer detailed directions for making tofu, and it provided so much more than I anticipated. I was surprised by the number of recipes in this cookbook. The photos in the book are gorgeous and mouth-watering. The book even includes recipes for Asian sauces such as Thai chili sauce from scratch. There are a variety of seasoned soy sauces that are perfect for dressing simple tofu, but also work well integrated into more complex recipes.I've had this cookbook for almost a year and I've referred to it many times. It quickly became one of my favorite cookbooks and is one I doubt I'll ever part with.

Andrea Nguyen is pretty much my hero, and this book does not disappoint. There's a lot in here about making your own tofu, which I haven't tried yet, but the recipes are great even aside from that. (Of course, anyone familiar with Ms. Nguyen's other books will not be surprised -- she has a definite flair for the homemade, even the labor-intensive homemade. It's part of why she's so wonderful.) The Hmong tofu-and-chicken meatballs are a particular favorite at our house, but there are lots of winners.Some of the other reviews express consternation that these aren't western vegetarian recipes that use tofu as mock meat. Well, no -- the book is called pretty clearly "Asian Tofu," the recipes are Asian recipes, and they're recipes that star tofu, often with meat as accompaniment or flavoring. (In some recipes, tofu only makes an appearance in fermented form in the marinade.) If you're looking for crunchy granola hippie tofurkey, this isn't the book for you. If you're looking for interesting new ways to use all kinds of tofu in Asian recipes, this book is *great*.

This is a wonderful book by a real expert on everything you can make with soybeans, Andrea Nguyen! I loved her enhanced ebook on making soy milk and tofu at home, which got me started on my soy journey. It was a no-brainer that I had to have this book as well. I am now making soy milk, tofu, soy yogurt, and even okara (soy pulp) recipes. My family eats a plant-based diet, so being able to make my own tofu is a huge benefit! The taste and quality are unmatched by anything you can buy in the store. Andrea recommends having certain kitchen equipment items that make the process much easier and I have taken--and run with--each of them. The two most important were a nonstick stockpot (I bought the T-fal 12 quart stockpot) and unbleached 100% cotton muslin fabric, which I cut into 24" squares and use to strain the soy milk. With the right tools, making soy milk and tofu is really not hard at all and well worth the effort!