Fermented Tofu is a kind of food as well as an ingredient. This kind of food is reputed as the Chinese cheese in the world. And among them, Guilin becomes the hometown of fermented tofu. And Guilin fermented tofu is the representative of this kind of food.
What it is
Fermented bean curd also called sufu, fermented tofu, tofu cheese, or preserved tofu is a form of processed, preserved tofu used in East Asian cuisine as a condiment made from soybeans. The ingredients typically are soybeans, salt, rice wine and sesame oil or vinegar, and are sold in jars containing blocks 2- to 4-cm square by 1 to 2 cm thick soaked in brine with select flavorings.
♦ How to eat
Usually, Guilin fermented bean curd is enjoyed as the ingredient.
► When cooking the roasted pig, braised meat, braised chicken, etc, fermented bean curd can be added to improve the taste and smell of the cuisine.
► It also can be stirred with cool dishes and porridge.
♦ Chinese cheese and Western cheese
Both tofu and cheese are made from curds obtained from the coagulation of soybean milk and dairy milk respectively. However, soybean curds are formed from the chemical (calcium sulphate, bittern, acids etc.) destabilization of the micelles allowing protein bonding while cheese curds are created from the enzymatic (rennet) hydrolysis of casein into para-casin. Tofu curds are then simply pressed and thus bland and highly perishable, while cheese is salted and ripened with microorganisms and thus flavorful and long-lasting. Consequently, fermented bean curd, which undergoes seasoning and fermentation, is the soybean equivalent to cheese.
