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Pickled tofu

 
Pickled Tofu

 
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Pickled tofu
 
 
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Pickled tofu also called tofu cheese, preserved tofu, or fermented tofu, is a form of processed, preserved
Food preservation

Food preservation is the process of treating and handling food to stop or greatly slow down spoilage caused or accelerated by micro-organisms....
 tofu
Tofu

Tofu , also , doufu , toufu, or bean curd , is a food of China origin, made by coagulating soy milk, and then pressing the resulting curds into blocks....
 used in Chinese
Chinese cuisine

Chinese cuisine originated from the various regions of China and has become widespread in many other parts of the world ? from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and Southern Africa....
 and Vietnamese cuisine.

rder to produce pickled tofu, cubes of dried tofu are allowed to fully air-dry under hay and slowly ferment from aerial bacteria and fungal spores. Commercially available pickled tofu is made by using dry firm tofu that has been inoculated with the fungal spores of Actinomucor elegans, Mucor racemosus
Mucor racemosus

Mucor racemosus is a fungus plant pathogen.External links References...
, or Rhizopus
Rhizopus

Rhizopus is a genus of molds that includes cosmopolitan filamentous fungus found in soil, decaying fruit and vegetables, animal feces, and old bread....
 spp..

The dry fermented tofu is then soaked in brine
Brine

File:Kissingen-Solepumpe-1848.JPGFile:Kissingen-Solepumpe-1848-2.JPGBrine is water Saturation or nearly saturated with a Salt .It is used to preserve vegetables, fish, and meat, in a process known as brining ....
, typically enhanced with Chinese rice wine, vinegar, chili peppers or sesame oil, or a paste made of rice and soybeans.






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Pickled tofu also called tofu cheese, preserved tofu, or fermented tofu, is a form of processed, preserved
Food preservation

Food preservation is the process of treating and handling food to stop or greatly slow down spoilage caused or accelerated by micro-organisms....
 tofu
Tofu

Tofu , also , doufu , toufu, or bean curd , is a food of China origin, made by coagulating soy milk, and then pressing the resulting curds into blocks....
 used in Chinese
Chinese cuisine

Chinese cuisine originated from the various regions of China and has become widespread in many other parts of the world ? from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and Southern Africa....
 and Vietnamese cuisine.

Production

In order to produce pickled tofu, cubes of dried tofu are allowed to fully air-dry under hay and slowly ferment from aerial bacteria and fungal spores. Commercially available pickled tofu is made by using dry firm tofu that has been inoculated with the fungal spores of Actinomucor elegans, Mucor racemosus
Mucor racemosus

Mucor racemosus is a fungus plant pathogen.External links References...
, or Rhizopus
Rhizopus

Rhizopus is a genus of molds that includes cosmopolitan filamentous fungus found in soil, decaying fruit and vegetables, animal feces, and old bread....
 spp..

The dry fermented tofu is then soaked in brine
Brine

File:Kissingen-Solepumpe-1848.JPGFile:Kissingen-Solepumpe-1848-2.JPGBrine is water Saturation or nearly saturated with a Salt .It is used to preserve vegetables, fish, and meat, in a process known as brining ....
, typically enhanced with Chinese rice wine, vinegar, chili peppers or sesame oil, or a paste made of rice and soybeans. In the case of red pickled tofu , red yeast rice
Red yeast rice

Red yeast rice , red fermented rice, red kojic rice, red koji rice, or ang-kak, is a bright reddish purple fermented rice, acquires its colour from being cultivated with the mold Monascus purpureus....
 (cultivated with Monascus purpureus
Monascus purpureus

Monascus purpureus is a species of mold that is purplish-red in color. It is also known by the names ang-khak rice mold, corn silage mold, maize silage mold, and rice kernel discoloration....
) is added for color. Pickled tofu is generally sold in small glass jars.

Characteristics

Pickled tofu has a special mouthfeel
Mouthfeel

Mouthfeel is a product?s physical and chemical interaction in the mouth. It is a concept used in many areas related to the testing and evaluating of foodstuffs, such as wine-tasting and rheology....
 similar to certain dairy products due to the breakdown of its proteins which takes place during the air drying and fermentation. Since it does not have a strong odor by itself, pickled tofu takes on the smells and taste of its soaking liquid. The texture and taste of pickled tofu resembles a firm, smooth paste not unlike creamy blue cheese
Blue cheese

Blue cheese is a general classification of cow's milk, sheep's milk, or goat's milk cheeses that have had Penicillium cultures added so that the final product is spotted or veined throughout with blue, blue-gray or blue-green mold, and carries a distinct smell....
. (Indeed, this kind of tofu is sometimes called "Chinese cheese" in English). When refrigerated, it can be kept for several years, during which time its flavor is believed to improve.

Use

Pickled tofu is commonly added in small amounts, together with a little bit of its soaking liquid, to flavor stir-fried or braised vegetable dishes (particularly leafy green vegetables like water spinach
Ipomoea aquatica

Ipomoea aquatica is a semi-aquatic plant tropical plant grown as a leaf vegetable. Its precise natural distribution is unknown due to extensive cultivation, with the species found throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world....
). Often, it is eaten directly as a condiment with rice or congee.

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