Green Chili-Tofu Tacos

One of the characteristics I admire the most about our farmers' market customers is their innovativeness with our tofu products. Every market, I hear about new culinary feats they're performing at home. This quality shouldn't surprise me. After all, they eagerly experiment with yuba, an unfamiliar product to most Americans. And our regular customers are usually up for buying whatever product is new. Our Curry Tofu Nuggets were a best-seller during their debut month. And I don't think that's because the curry beat the Five Spice Jerky in flavor or texture, which is impossible.

Just as admirable as our customers' adventurousness in the kitchen is their willingness to share their masterpieces with us and the public. Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market customer Katie recently sent her Green Chili-Tofu Taco recipe to me, via her new blog Veggie Vanagon. I tested the recipe, and give it the Hodo stamp of approval. Here's Katie's blog:

I love green chili. Not soup, but more like a sauce. Actually, I’m obsessed with it. It is my preferred accompaniment to eggs, burritos, tacos, potatoes, whatever! It is rich (without being creamy) and savory. It is spicy. I love it!

I have only really encountered green chili in the mountain west and the southwest. It is made with fire-roasted green chiles, broth, onions, garlic and a tiny bit of cornstarch to thicken it up. I love to make a batch to have on hand for tacos or breakfast.

For the tofu, I always use extra firm as it has less water content and browns quickly without falling apart. I am lucky enough to have a local, excellent beanery from which to source my extra firm. Check it out here: Hodo Soy Beanery. If you don’t have that fine option, look for tofu that is packaged with just a plastic wrapper and not in the tub. Sometimes it is called “nigiri tofu” after the coagulant that is used to make it. You can find this kind of tofu at most major grocery stores, in the same place as the water-packed tub tofu.

Green Chili-Tofu Tacos

Ingredients:

Green Chili

• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 7 oz. cans of Ortega Green Chiles
• 2 cups of veggie broth (I use Better Than Bouillon)
• 1 tablespoon of cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon of water
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Heat oil in a medium-sized saucepan on medium-high.
2. Saute onions until translucent, about 7 minutes.
3. Add garlic and cook and stir until fragrant, about 3 minutes.
4. Add green chiles and stir. Cook 3 minutes more.
5. Add broth and cornstarch slurry.
6. Stir until thickened and then turn down the heat to low.
7. Cook for 10 minutes more, stirring occasionally to prevent the sauce from sticking to the pan.

Tofu

• 16 oz. extra firm tofu
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Instructions:

1. Slice tofu into 1 cm square cubes.
2. Heat oil in large saucepan on high.
3. When shimmering, add tofu.
4. Stir until tofu has developed a golden brown crust.
5. Remove from heat.

Garnishes

• Mashed yukon gold potatoes
• Refried beans
• Saute summer squash
• Cilantro
• Avocado
• Crumbled queso fresco
• Crema (or sour cream)

Construction:

1. Heat tortillas in cast iron (no oil) until they soften.
2. Smear with potatoes and/or beans.
3. Top with tofu and/or squash.
4. Garnish with cheese, crema, avocado and cilantro.
5. Fill side of plate with green chili sauce.
6. Enjoy!

To read more recipes from Hodofan Katie, check out her blog Veggie Vanagon!

Learn to Make Fresh Tofu at Home!

Hodo Soy Beanery is partnering with Urban Kitchen SF (http://www.urbankitchensf.org/) to create our first ever Tofu Making Class!

The class will be taught at the Hodo production facility on Thursday, September 16th from 6-8pm. You will receive a tofu-making kit along with all the necessary ingredients to make your own soymilk and tofu. The class includes a tour of our facility along with instruction by Hodo Soy Beanery Founder and Tofu Master, Minh Tsai along with this able staff.

Find out about the art and science of creating, fresh, delicious tofu from organic, non-GMO soybeans and calcium sulfate, a naturally occuring mineral. Learn to make soymilk from scratch and discover the joys of producing your own block of fresh tofu.

For more details and to buy tickets: http://tofu.eventbrite.com/

Hodo and Recchiuti Chocolates team up for Project Taste

Michael Recchiuti recently toured our facility and invited Hodo to collaborate on a soy and chocolate tasting in August. For more details and information on how to sign up, please visit:

http://www.recchiuti.com/demo.html?mv_arg=1019

Full Description
Michael Recchiuti teams up with Minh Tsai, founder and tofu master of Hodo Soy Beanery, for a soy and chocolate tasting event. Join them as they lead you through an exploration of the creation of artisan tofu and chocolate, and the many intriguing and surprising flavor pairings these two versatile ingredients bring to the table. You'll observe "how tofu is made" through a series of deconstructed tastings, tour Recchiuti's production kitchen in a private tour, and taste some unique sweet and savory creations concocted just for the event

Location
Recchuiti kitchens, San Francisco

Time
Sunday August 29, 2-4:30lm

Producer Dinner at 18 reasons

The dining room and prep kitchen of 18 Reasons is tiny (about half the size of my living room), but we managed to seat 24 people and serve 6 courses and 4 wines. We started the meal with a presentation and tableside tofu and ended with a chocolate tofu pot de creme by Bi-Rite Creamery.

Here's the full menu:

Amuse Bouche
Cantaloupe and Mint Shake with Silken Tofu

"The Foundation"
Tableside Tofu made by Hodo Founder and Tofu Master, Minh Tsai

"The Simple"
Jicama Salad with Hodo's 5-Spice Tofu Nuggets

"The Sophisticated"
Nama Yuba "Sashimi" with Uni

"The Familiar"
King, Shiitake, and Enoki Mushroom and Spinach Lasagna with Nama Yuba

"The Luxurious"
Seared Sea Scallops with Yuba Truffle Puree

Dessert
Chocolate Tofu Pot de Creme

You're Invited to a 5 Course Dinner by Hodo Founder, Minh Tsai!

18 Reasons, the non-profit community space funded by Bi-Rite Market and Bi-Rite Creamery is featuring Minh Tsai and Hodo Soy Beanery at its "Producer dinner" on Friday, July 9th at 7pm.

Here's your chance to experience a 5 course meal prepared by Minh featuring his freshly made tofu and yuba. Here's one dish to expect:

Nama Yuba "Sashimi" with Uni
Silky folds of fresh, handmade yuba topped with sea urchin and toasted nori

Hodo Soy Beanery's Nama Yuba is made from fresh, organic, non-gmo soy milk. The delicate folds of yuba resemble in appearance and texture, the thinnest sheets of freshly-made pappardelle pasta with a silky, tender quality unlike anything else you've ever tasted. It's the perfect accompaniment to the rich, creamy ocean-fresh uni.

For more information: http://www.18reasons.org/

To purchase tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/116900

John Scharffenberger joins Hodo!

We are really excited to have John Scharffenberger join Hodo Soy Beanery as our CEO!

Like just about every other employee, he first discovered Hodo at his local farmer's market. While he admittedly was not a huge fan of tofu, he was wowed by his first taste of Hodo's Tofu and it made a lasting impression. Hodo's freshly made tofu, soy milk, and yuba was completely different from what he associated with store bought, shelf stable soy products.

As John got to know more about Hodo Soy Beanery, including Minh Tsai, founder and tofu master, and John Notz, CFO, he took a more active interest and became an investor and director in 2008. John Scharffenberger's role will be to help grow Hodo's sales and distribution network while at the same time, maintaining its commitment to quality and stellar customer service.

Summer, Summer escorts Hodo into the Thai Scene

We all love Thai food here on Team Hodo. And until recently, the only time we got to enjoy our tofu in professionally prepared Thai dishes was when our chefs made it for team lunch.

That changed when Emeryville's Summer, Summer refreshed their local, organic menu and began providing the option for every dish to be made with Hodo tofu! Restauranteur Oranuch Chatsrinopakun says that almost 40% of her customers are vegetarian. "They can taste a difference with your tofu."

Summer, Summer is a boutique Thai restaurant holding up the Hollis and 59th corner of one of Emeryville's larger office buildings. Decorated with reclaimed wooden shutters ($50 from Urban Ore!) reminiscent of traditional Thai houses, and gold leaf designs resembling the decor of Thai temples, Chatsrinopakun created an elegant Thai atmosphere.

Unlike most Bay Area Thai Restaurants, which serve only central Thai dishes, Summer Summer serves food from many parts of the country, including Kao Soi (Northern), Nam Tok Nuer (Northeastern), and Padpet seafood (Southern). Executive Chef Eric Sansangasakun expertly prepares humanely-raised meats, fresh fish and Hodo tofu in a variety of soup, wrap, noodle, wok, curry, and grill dishes. He and Chatsrinopakun frequently collaborate to create new options inspired by their clientele's interests. For example, Curry a Trois was designed to introduce customers new to Thai curries to 3 of Thailand's finest: Kang Gari Kai with organic chicken, Kang Kiew Wan Neur with short ribs, and Panang with Hodo tofu.

Every day, a work crowd gathers for lunch and Happy Hour, and every night, the condo neighbors congregate for dinner. I visited for the first time last Saturday and was surprised that even during Memorial Day weekend, Summer, Summer had a good-sized dinner crowd. Chatsrinopakun explained to me why she chose this neighborhood: "I live in Berkeley and there are tons of Thai restaurants there, no one place is my favorite. Emeryville has no Thai restaurants [except the Thai stall at Public Market]. This is a city of young families, very hip, trendy and growing."

Named after Thailand's two seasons, Summer, Summer is known for making simple, yet fantastically flavorful dishes. One of their signature dishes is Miang-kam, an appetizer with fresh spinach, Thai chili, fresh ginger, shallots, cashew nuts and tamarind sauce. I tried the Kang Daeng Tofu, and found this red curry perfectly

spicy and light. The expertly fried tofu had a wonderful texture and worked well with the bamboo shoots and ginger. It was served with Summer, Summer's signature purple-colored rice, a scrumptious combination of Thai Jasmine brown rice and Thai black sticky rice.

I can't wait to return soon with some Hodoheads or Hodo fans. They will be thrilled by the wide variety of dishes served with our tofu!

Ozumo Brings the Art of Tofu Making to the Table

The chefs who order our soy products continue to inspire us with their innovation in not only recipe development, but cuisine experiences. While visiting San Francisco's Ozumo last Friday, we observed the magic of tofu formation brought to our table!

Upon request, servers entertain guests with a tofu-making demonstration. "I've always wanted to do table-side tofu," Chef Alex Morgan says. After touring our beanery last month, he asked for a lesson in silken tofu making. He brought his knowledge back to Ozumo and taught all his servers his newfound skill. The freshly made tofu is served with pickled watermelon radish, pickled ginger, wasabi, and dashi.

Located in San Francisco's SOMA neighborhood at 161 Steuart Street, Ozumo is a stylish restaurant know for its innovative contemporary Japanese cuisine. The beautifully presented small plates, sushi rolls, robata grill and North America's most extensive sake menu bring in a crowd every night for happy hour and dinner. While Ozumo's signature dishes are hanabi, dohyo, futago, and gindara, the chefs are the most proud of serving tontoro. Tontoro is a pork jowel slowly braised in sweet tentsuyu for four hours. So tender, tontoro falls to pieces on your tongue.

We were delighted to discover Hodo's silken tofu, yuba and nama yuba incorporated into equally delicate dishes. Yuba is a subtle, protein-packed delicacy made by skimming off the elegant layer of skin that forms on the surface of heated soy milk. Nama yuba is the youngest yuba, a creamier soft-cheese-textured soy milk skin, with a sweet and nutty flavor. We recommend pairing nama yuba dishes with nama sake, which is raw and unpasteurized and exhibits more rice flavor.

Our first course was the Yuba Maki, an upscale shinjo version of the Philly Roll. Salmon, spinach and gindara were wrapped in yuba, fried, and served on top of a lobster aka miso sauce. "I don't think cheese and seafood should be served together," Alex remarked, pointing out the nama yuba taking the place of cream cheese. It did the trick, providing the creaminess and richness that compliments salmon so well.

We next enjoyed blanched artichoke hearts from the Yasai menu. They were served on top of a rich nama yuba sauce, mixed with sour cream and garlic. The white sauce swirled into a soy sauce, making a beautiful ying and yang design below the criss-crossed hearts, and complimenting each other's flavors beautifully.

Alex's most stand-out dish was the Chowan Dofu soup. Chowan Dofu is a vegan take on chowan muchi, an egg custard soup made with dashi and eggs. This housemade black trumpet mushroom broth with heart of palm and rice flour was adorned with a beautiful tower of fresh vegetables, floating on an island of silken tofu. Minh smiled approvingly at the first bite: "This is a vegan delight. The meaty mushrooms are a perfect smokey balance to the creamy silk." Its heartiness was the perfect remedy after a week of unexpected late-spring rain. The richness rivaled a French Onion soup, and we felt warmed and full before finishing our bowls.

For those Hodo fans who haven't had the chance to tour our beanery and taste our tofu seconds after its born, Ozumo now provides another location for this experience! Just order table-side tofu as a course from Omakase, the chef tasting menu. And, unlike at our beanery, at Ozumo, you can pair your tofu with sakes and wines!

Hodo Enters Your Neighborhood Store

Thank you for telling us where you shop!  In January and February we joined many of your neighborhood grocery stores!  If you've been mum on this subject and we're still not in your favorite market, please let us know.  Here are Hodo product's newest homes:

New San Francisco Locations

Buffalo Whole Foods, 598 Castro Street, The Castro

Cal-Mart Supermarket, 3585 California Street, Laurel Heights

Daily Health Food and Deli, 1235 9th Avenue, Inner Sunset

Potrero Hill Whole Foods, 450 Rhode Island Street

The Nature Stop, 1336 Grant Avenue, North Beach

Real Food, 2140 Polk Street, Russian Hill

New East Bay Locations

Alameda Natural Grocery, 1650 Park Street, Alameda

Berkeley Natural Grocery, 1336 Gilman Street, Berkeley

Berkeley Whole Foods, 3000 Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley

Country Cheese, 2101 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley

El Cerrito Natural Grocery, 10367 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito

The Food Mill, 3033 MacArthur Boulevard, Oakland

Piedmont Grocery, 4038 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland

Star Grocery, 3068 Claremont Avenue, Berkeley

Tokyo Fish Market, 1220 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley

Yaoya-San, 10566 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito

New Outer East Bay Locations

Lunardi's Danville, 345 Railroad Avenue, Danville

Lunardis Walnut Creek, 1600 Palo Verdes Mall, Walnut Creek

New North Bay Location

San Rafael Whole Foods, 340 Third Street, San Rafael

If you cannot find your favorite Hodo products at these stores, please let the store manager know and hopefully they will expand their Hodo selection soon!  Thanks again for pointing us in the direction of these friendly markets!

Look Who's Visiting Hodo... Part III

For us at Hodo Soy Beanery, it has been very rewarding to see the genuine enthusiasm and curiosity that people have had about artisan tofu making. Our tours have been booked solid since last year and apparently our facility and how we make tofu makes for pretty good TV. We've had several TV crews come through including CBS 5- Eye on the Bay.














The above is a picture of Hodo Founder, Minh Tsai and Liam Mayclem, host of "Eye on the Bay," CBS 5. Liam was a lot of fun and super easy going. We wanted to hire him to make tofu.















In this photo, the fellas are planning out the next shot...




















Ready, set, action!

If you're interested in checking out the Hodo Soy Beanery segment on "Eye on the Bay," go to http://cbs5.com/video/?cid=6 and search for the "Bay Area Tours" episode, February 9, 2010. Happy Viewing!

Look Who's Visiting Hodo.... Part II

While our visitors tend to leave the Hodo Soy Beanery Tour pretty impressed, we also find our visitors to be really interesting people doing some cool things. We feel equally lucky to have met them and to have learned about a world beyond tofu.















In the above picture. Minh, our founder is giving a tour to Andrea Nguyen (an author, cooking teacher, and contributing editor to Saveur magazine. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and San Jose Mercury. She is also the author of several books. http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/about_andrea_nguyen.html), Rory O'Brien, professor of philosophy at Cabrillo College, Bryant Terry (Oakland based chef, food justice advocate, and author of several books including Vegan Soul Kitchen. Additionally he was the host on The Endless Feast, a 13 episode public TV series "that explores the connection between the earth and the food on our plates." ), and Megan Kelty from CBS News (doing a story on Hodo for a future date, stay tuned).















Everyone is engrossed in the exquisite texture of the fresh yuba, still tender and moist from being pulled from the tray just seconds ago. Yum!

Hodo's Chocolate Mousse Recipe Revealed

As many of you discovered at the farmers' markets this weekend, we have decided to discontinue our chocolate mousse.   We want our chefs to have more time to devote to developing new recipes.  

But don't worry: we would not leave you high and dry right before Valentine's Day!  You'll find this recipe easy (and your loved ones will be all the more impressed that you made it yourself!).  The hardest part is picking out your favorite dark chocolate to use...

Active prep time: 1 hour

Passive prep time: 4 hours

Ingredients:

1 Hodo silken tofu, 16 oz

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

1 T maple syrup

1/4 t salt

1. Heat all ingredients over double boiler, stirring occasionally, just until the chocolate melts.  Be careful not to overcook.

2. Pour into a large bowl.  Whip with immersion blender until evenly mixed and completely smooth.  Continue stirring along the surface to incorporate air for approximately 10 minutes.

3. Pour into single serving dishes and refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.  Garnish with whipped cream or a cookie.  

Your Wish Came True: Hodo Moves into a Store Near You

"When will I be able to buy your tofu at my grocery store?" our farmers' market customers have asked us for years.  Up until this Fall, our production capacity limited us to a handful of stores.  But no longer.  

 

Our beanery is built!  Our custom-made equipment effortlessly grinds beans and coagulates milk!  And Team Tofu has mastered the craft of wiggling fresh curds into cheese cloth-lined molds at ten times their original rate! 

 

In December we joined other local artisan foods on the specialty shelves of 4 markets.  

 

Berkeley's bustling Monterey Market on Hopkins enthusiastically cleared a section for our whole product family of fresh blocks, silk, yuba, milk, and tofu salads.  

 

San Francisco's friendly Blue Fog market-cafes (located in the Western Addition at California and Divisidero, and the Pacific Heights at Broadway and Gough) carry our ready-to-eat salads in their deli and grab-and-go cases.  

 

And in the Outer Richmond, Thom's Fresh Organics launched our soy milk, silken tofu, yuba, and tofu salads.  I recommend filling up on Chinese pastries from across the street to avoid going crazy and over-shopping at Fresh Organics!

 

Is your favorite grocery store not on this list?  Stay tuned: we are expanding into more this month (to be revealed in a future blog soon!).  In the meantime, feel free to email us the name of your neighborhood store, or your weekend destination store for exotic ingredients required by new recipes!  We'd love to make eating fresh tofu daily easier for everyone!

Look Who's Visiting Hodo.... Part I

Hodo Soy Beanery Public Tours have been available for about 2 months now and we've had a lot of visitors including authors, chefs, activists, and folks from the media.

People have been super curious about how our fresh tofu is made and we've been hosting a slew of really interesting and fun people.

Here's a partial rundown of some of some of the folks that have visited along with some pictures with Minh Tsai, the founder and Tofu Master at Hodo.















Picture above: Minh with Nicolette Hahn Niman, environmental activist, cattle rancher, and author of "Righteous Porkchop: Finding Life and Good Food Beyond Factory Farms" (www.righteousporkchop.com), her mom and son. Nicolette "has been published in the New York Times and is a regular speaker at national and regional environmental conferences and food events. A former attorney, she is now married to the founder of the Niman Ranch, a collective of traditional farms and ranches."















Picture above: Minh with Joel Riddell, executive producer of KGO AM "Dining Around with Gene Burns" (www.diningaround.com), and Novella Carpenter, author of "Farm City: an Education of an Urban Farmer" (www.novellacarpenter.com). Novella raises chickens, goats, bees and essentially has a full blown farm near downtown Oakland.

To listen to the Gene Burns interview with Hodo Soy Beanery's Minh Tsai and Dean Ku, click on "Listen" or "Download" below...

Dining Around Jan 2, 2010 11AM

Hour 2: Andrea Nguyen on her latest book, Asian Dumplings; "design caterer" Jennifer Spiegel of Fork & Spoon Productions; Minh Tsai and Dean Ku of Oakland's Hodo Soy Beanery.

Listen or Download

Hodo Near You

We are excited to report that more and more Bay Area grocery stores have started to carry Hodo products! Take a look at the updated Stores page on our website.

You will still have to hit the farmers' market to find our whole line of products, but most stores carry a selection of our ready-to-cook products (such as tofu blocks or yuba) and ready-to-eat products (such as our Edamame Tofu Salad and Spicy Yuba Strips).

More info to come on the stores themselves - these are some great places to shop!

Who's Your Tofu Master?

Hodo's 2010 t-shirt is now available! Show your love for your favorite tofu company. "Who's Your Tofu Master?" on the front, our logo on the back. Printed on American Apparel unisex tees.

$18 at all of Hodo farmers' market stands or when you come for a tour of The Beanery!