When was tofu made

We also know that it is widely used, and loved, and continues to grow in popularity. From the creation process to how we use it, this versatile food has evolved so much over time. Without a doubt, tofu will continue to flourish over the coming years for the world to enjoy it in a variety of wonderful ways. There's one essential piece of the tofu cooking process that many people miss - the press. Read our four best reasons to press your tofu here.

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Add your deal, information or promotional text. Previous Next. When was tofu invented? Where did tofu originate? Here are four popular theories about who invented tofu: Somebody accidentally invented it According to the history of tofu in China, tofu was an unplanned invention. A Chinese king created tofu The most common fable about who invented tofu is that it was masterminded by King of Huai-nan, Liu An. A man discovered it trying to feed his parents In another tofu origin story, a man invented it after trying all kinds of tricks with cooking soybeans.

Allegedly, his result was the infamous tofu. Tofu was created based on cheesemaking Yet another legend states that tofu was invented by copying the cheesemaking methods of Mongolian tribes who lived along China's northern border. Tofu in the Western world Despite its rise in popularity in Western countries, there's still some stigma against tofu. The evolution of tofu Making tofu is a simple process, and quite similar to making cheese. The different types of tofu currently available include: Soft tofu Silken tofu Firm tofu Extra-firm tofu Super firm tofu Smoked tofu Dried tofu Fermented tofu Tofu skins Tofu puffs Tofu pockets Soft tofu is primarily used to make soups or salads and can also be used to create a delicious vegan "egg" scramble.

Use these tips to level up your tofu experience: Don't marinate it for too long; tofu is super-absorbent! Use corn-flour to dust it before frying or baking tofu for an added crunch. For extra crunch, coat your tofu in sesame seeds. Predominatly Taoist, this work on philosophy, morals, and statecraft, is also full of omen lore, cosmological speculation, and concepts from diverse other philosophical sources Reischauer and Fairbank ; Needham ; Morgan Note that despite a statement by Adolph to the contrary, Liu An was not a "great friend of Buddhist monks," for Buddhism had not yet arrived in China.

It is very important to note that the Huai-nan Tzu contains no reference to tofu. It does mention shu beans or soybeans in several places, giving instructions for planting them by the constellations, noting their season of growth, and adding that they grow well when fertilizied by mud from the river bottoms Wu In the book there is also the phrase "a meat shop owner's bean soup," meaning that a person who sells meat, being unable to afford eating it, eats bean soup Shinoda Thus, there is only faint evidence in the Huai-nan Tzu to connect Liu An with the development of tofu.

Liu An's nature was not all good. He began to bear a grudge against Wu Ti for his father's death. In BC he journeyed to the Han capital and was praised by a friend there who said, "There is no one who has not heard of your reputation for benevolence and righteous conduct. In about BC, Liu An began to plan a revolt to place himself on the throne after the emperor's death. A first attempt failed and Liu An was punished.

When Wu Ti heard that a second revolt was being plotted, he sent men to arrest Liu An, but just before they arrived Liu An was warned and he committed suicide by cutting his own throat.

It was October, BC. At the beginning of the Later Han a legend appeared, which said that Liu An, rather than committing suicide, had been ushered up to heaven by the eight immortals of Taoist mythology. In later ages, because of his fame and his dabbling in Taoism, alchemy, and related semi-magical practices, Liu An came to be regarded as the Father of Chemistry and the Taoist arts, in much the same way that all plant domestication was attributed to Shen Nung, and all Near-Eastern plant introductions were credited incorrectly to Chang Ch'ien.

The strange, semi-mystical nature of Huai-nan culture strengthened the association. It is true that soybeans certainly existed in Liu An's time and soymilk may well have been known, so it is conceivable that he did know of or even invent tofu. Second, a series of almost magical or alchemical transformations seem to take place in the processes of converting yellow or green soybeans into white soymilk, then the milk into cloudlike curds and pale yellow whey, and finally the delicate curds into firm cakes of tofu.

And third, the Chinese have long considered tofu to be a food that promotes long life and good health--a good way to provide a rational explanation for Liu An's immortality.

In fact, Sun Ta-ya Jap. Sontaiga of the Yuan dynasty wrote that Liu An ate tofu, grew younger, eventually sprouted wings, and ascended to heaven, thus clearly linking the eating of tofu with immortality.

Finally, since tofu later became a key protein source in the meatless diets of many Chinese especially Buddhists doing meditation or other spiritual practice, it might have been assumed that Liu An and his Taoist friends practice a similar diet, with tofu as their protein source.

The legend of Liu An as the person who first developed tofu and soymilk was slow to take root. There was no mention of tofu or soymilk in any works commissioned by Liu An, nor in any works about him for more than 1, years after his death.

As we will see later, the linking of his name with the development of tofu did not start until the 12th century AD and it was not firmly established until According to Li there is an allusion to tofu and soymilk in the rhymes of the great poet Sou of the 2nd century AD. He wrote, "The tender jade gets perfumed by the kettle" the poet implies the resemblance of fresh tofu with jade and "to cook the peas in milk and the grain in butter.

The Mongolian Import Theory of tofu's origin has been proposed by Shinoda , Japan's foremost authority on Chinese foods and their history. He notes that from the 4th to the 7th centuries AD, nomadic dairying tribes from northcentral Asia migrated southward into China, bringing with them their skills and technology for making cultured milk products such as yogurt and cheeselike foods. Although the Chinese had a highly developed civilization since long before the Christian era, they never developed the art of dairy farming see Chap.

Shinoda believed that when the Chinese were introduced to the Mongol's cultured milk product resembling a yogurt or cheese , it was called rufu by the Mongols. In order to write this word in Chinese, the Chinese had to choose two characters which had the sounds of those two syllables.

Fortunately, the character meaning "milk" was pronounced ru. To convey the sound fu the Chinese selected a character that ordinarily meant "spoiled. But it may also have reflected the fact that fermentation and spoilage are closely related microbiological processes. The term rufu first appeared in written Chinese during the Sui dynasty AD Later the fu came to be used in many words relating to foods with a consistency like that of yogurt or soft cheese.

Over the next few centuries, however, the Chinese grew quite fond of this Mongolian cultured milk product, and at about this time they probably began to adapt the imported cheese-making skills and technology to the curding of tofu to make soymilk, substituting various indigenous mineral salt- or acid coagulants for the rennet and bacterial cultures.

Interestingly the character "spoiled" that they had initially used derogatorily for the Mongolian dairy cheese eventually came to be used in the name of their own soy cheese, which was called doufu; the term dou bean or soybean simply replaced the term ru milk.

Translated literally, then, tofu means "soybean spoiled. It is not known what the original tofu coagulants were, but today nigari lu , yanlu , or lushui , a by-product of the process of refining sea salt and consisting primarily of magnesium chloride , is used in the northern and coastal areas.

Calcium sulfate in the form of burned powdered gypsum shigao or shou shigao mined from the mountains, is used in the southern and inland areas. Soured whey swan giang?? Shinoda believed that after the middle of the T'ang dynasty i. Exhaustive searches of early Chinese literature by Shinoda and others have revealed that the world's earliest reference to the word doufu appears in the Ch'ing I Lu Jap. Note that this was more than 1, years after the supposed discovery of tofu by Liu An prior to BC.

The Ch'ing I Lu states: "In the daily market were several catties of doufu. Instead he bought a few pieces of tofu every day and ate them as a side dish with rice. Soon people in that area came to call tofu the "vice mayor's mutton. In fact, Shinoda believes that by the start of the Sung dynasty in AD, tofu was popular all over China.

After the publication of the Ch'ing I Lu , reference to tofu began to appear in many other works. Sung Dynasty During the Sung dynasty tofu became a common food of the lower classes. The first suggestion of some connection between Liu An and tofu appeared in the poems of Chu Hsi , the greatest scholar of the Sung.

At about the same time that Chu Hsi's poem was written, a most interesting story about tofu appeared in a book called the Tou-lu Tzu-jou Chuan Jap. Toroshi ju-den written by Yang Wan-li Jap. This account, which in part gave rise to the Indian Import Theory of tofu's origin, is allegorical, fanciful, and full of historical discrepancies, but it contains some very interesting historical implications.

Because it includes numerous names and terms with double meanings, it is almost impossible to translate and even difficult for a Chinese to understand. The story takes place in the Ch'in dynasty BC, the dynasty just before the one in which Liu An lived. The name of the hero is Tou Lu-shih Jap. Toro-shi, or "Mr. His first name is "Fu," and his nickname is Shiju.

The hero's name is a play on words, since his last name combined with his first name Toro-Fu can mean "tofu" and his last name combined with the last character in his nickname Toro-Ju can mean "soymilk. Bodhidharma was a fierce-looking South Indian monk, who is said to have arrived in Henan Honan province, where he lived for 8 years and founded the Chinese Ch'an or Zen school. It is not certain that he was an historical character. Fu went to Bodhidharma and asked to become his disciple.

Bodhidharma asked him, "Do you wish to become the heart-and-mind of the God of heaven, earth, and nature, rinse off all superficial knowledge, and follow me? However this same sentence can also be interpreted to mean: "Wash soybeans well and make them into tofu.

He was very impressed with Fu's simple, honest, straightforward, and humble nature. Bodhidharma then told Fu that his own teacher had told him that there is a subtle and wonderful essence of flavor that remains in the curds when milk is curded, and that the flavor of Fu's being is this most delicious of all flavors, called daigomi??

The term means "Five Great Flavors" in Chinese; the same term was used to describe the curds the Buddha ate just before his enlightenment. Bodhidharma recommended Fu to the Emperor Wu Ti who reigned BC , saying "Although this man Fu is from the lower classes, he is a man of integrity with a beautiful pure heart and excellent taste.

His spirit could be compared with that of a food offering. Fu was given a high position. Soon the emperor retired to live a spiritual life of meditation, avoiding onions, garlic, wine, and women. He chose Fu as his attendant. Fu hesitated modestly then recommended instead his friend whose name in Chinese means "cow". The emperor replied, "I am sure he is beautiful but in the long run I'd grow tired of him; his talk is too sweet and fancy. Finally the emperor fired Fu people whose names mean "mutton" were very happy , so he took a simple pot, went alone into the mountains, and was not heard of again.

Thus ends the story Shinoda ?? In this story, there is no mention of Liu An nor his supposed development of tofu. As phytoestrogens act as a weak oestrogen, they may help relieve symptoms by boosting levels slightly, reducing hot flushes in some women. If you are a vegetarian or vegan , soya-based foods like tofu can be an invaluable part of your diet.

Tofu can be acquired in bulk or individual packages, both of which are refrigerated. When opened, all tofus needs to be rinsed, covered with water and kept in a refrigerated container. To keep the tofu fresh for up to one week, the water should be changed often. If kept in the original package, you can freeze it for up to five months.

Given its neutral taste and range of consistency, tofu has an amazing ability to work with almost all types of flavours and foods. Extra firm tofus are best for baking, grilling and stir-fries, while soft tofu is suitable for sauces, desserts, shakes and salad dressings. Of course, it is up to you to experiment! Try slicing, marinating and grilling it, or chopping it up into smallish pieces and frying it with garlic until golden. Silken tofu is a creamy, softer product.

Tofu and all soya products contain large amounts of oxalate. Individuals with a history of kidney stones containing oxalate should avoid over consuming soya products. Before changing your diet, it is advisable that you speak to your GP or an alternative health professional. Kerry Torrens BSc. Over the last 15 years she has been a contributing author to a number of nutritional and cookery publications including BBC Good Food.

Jo Lewin is a registered nutritionist RNutr with the Association for Nutrition with a specialism in public health. All health content on bbcgoodfood. If you have any concerns about your general health, you should contact your local health care provider.