Tofu is one of the most versatile foods in the vegan kitchen, but it also has a surprisingly rich (and occasionally weird) backstory. Here are 10 fun facts about tofu, from its ancient beginnings in China to a cameo in a letter from Benjamin Franklin.
If you would rather skip the history lesson and get straight to cooking, scroll down to the tofu recipes at the end.
1. Tofu Is About 2,000 Years Old
Tofu got its start in China, most likely during the Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD). The best physical evidence is a stone mural, unearthed in 1960 from an Eastern Han tomb, that appears to show the steps of making tofu. Some scholars argue that tofu in that era was still fairly rudimentary and didn't look much like the firm, sliceable block we buy today, but either way, people have been curdling soy milk for a very long time.
2. Making Tofu Is a Lot Like Making Cheese
The process starts with soy milk, made from soaked, ground, and cooked soybeans. A coagulant is stirred in, which makes the solids separate from the liquid into soft curds (this is where the name "bean curd" comes from). The curds are then pressed into a block, and the more water that gets pressed out, the firmer the tofu.
Two coagulants are traditional. Gypsum (calcium sulfate) is the classic choice for Chinese-style tofu, while nigari, a mineral salt made mostly of magnesium chloride and left behind when salt is harvested from seawater, is the traditional Japanese one. If you're curious enough to try making your own, you can find nigari tofu coagulant online. And if you love the cheese comparison, tofu also makes a great base for dairy-free cheese-y dishes like this vegan tofu feta.
3. Nobody Knows for Sure Who Invented It
There are three popular theories about how tofu came to be, and none of them can be proven. The best-known legend credits Prince Liu An (179–122 BC) of the Han dynasty, though reliable sources from that period are thin on the ground. A second idea is that the technique was borrowed from the milk-curdling methods of neighboring cheesemaking cultures, although there's no real evidence to back that up. The third is my favorite: someone seasoned a pot of pureed soybean soup with impure sea salt and accidentally discovered that it curdled. The minerals that set soy milk are all found in seawater, so it's not as far-fetched as it sounds.
4. Buddhist Monks Helped Tofu Travel
Tofu arrived in Japan during the Nara period (710–794), and its spread probably went hand in hand with the spread of Buddhism across East Asia. Many Buddhists follow a vegetarian diet out of respect for animal life, and tofu is an excellent source of protein that doesn't involve harming animals. The earliest Japanese document to mention tofu, dating to the early 1180s, describes it as an offering at a shrine in Nara. Over the centuries, tofu also made its way through Korea and Southeast Asia.
5. The Word "Tofu" Means Something Like "Bean Curd"
English borrowed "tofu" from the Japanese tōfu, which in turn comes from the Chinese dòufǔ (豆腐), meaning "bean curd." The word first shows up in English in a 1704 translation of a travel book by the Spanish friar Domingo Fernández Navarrete, and, as you'll see in a moment, it turns up again in a famous letter from the 1770s.
6. Tofu Is Good for You
Tofu is a complete protein, meaning it contains all nine essential amino acids, and it's naturally low in carbs. According to USDA data, 100 grams (about 3.5 ounces) of raw firm tofu made with calcium sulfate has around 17 grams of protein, and it's also a good source of calcium and iron. Softer tofu has less protein because it holds more water, and calcium content varies by brand and by coagulant, so check the label on the package you buy. Want an easy way to put all that protein to work? Try this mushroom and bell pepper scrambled tofu for breakfast.
7. Ben Franklin Wrote About Tofu in 1770
In January 1770, Benjamin Franklin, then living in London, wrote to his friend John Bartram in Philadelphia and enclosed some soybeans, which he called "Chinese Garavances." He also passed along a description of the cheese the Chinese made from them, gathered from a man named James Flint who had lived in China for years. It's the earliest known mention of tofu by an American. Franklin is sometimes credited with introducing tofu to the United States, but that's a stretch. He was curious about it and wrote it down, but it would be a couple of centuries before tofu really caught on here.
8. Samurai and Zen Monks Loved It
During Japan's Kamakura period (1185–1333), Zen temples served vegetarian meals built around tofu, and the new samurai ruling class embraced a simple, frugal way of life that suited it well. One shogun was said to be especially fond of tofu and fried tofu pouches in his breakfast miso soup. By the end of the period, tofu had moved out of the temples and onto the tables of ordinary households across Japan. It even got its own cookbook in 1782: Tofu Hyakuchin ("100 Tofu Delicacies") collected 100 different ways to prepare it. If you'd like a modern take on tofu in soup, try this easy tofu ramen soup.
9. Freezing Tofu Changes It Completely
When tofu is frozen, the water inside it turns to ice crystals that push apart the structure of the tofu. After thawing, you're left with a spongy, chewy, slightly yellowish block full of tiny pockets that soak up marinades and sauces far better than fresh tofu does. This trick is old: the Chinese have made frozen tofu (dòngdòufǔ) for centuries, and in Japan there's a freeze-dried version called kōya-dōfu that originated at Mount Kōya, a center of Japanese Buddhism famous for its vegetarian temple cooking. To try it at home, freeze a block, thaw it, press out the extra water, and then use it in place of regular tofu in a recipe like this perfect marinated tofu or our baked BBQ tofu.
10. Two Books Helped Put Tofu on American Tables
Tofu was a niche food in the U.S. until the 1970s. In 1971, Frances Moore Lappé published Diet for a Small Planet, which sold more than three million copies and made the case for getting protein from plants instead of meat. (In later editions, Lappé backed away from her original idea that you have to combine plant proteins at the same meal, which is good news for anyone who just wants to eat dinner.) Then in 1975, William Shurtleff and Akiko Aoyagi published The Book of Tofu, a mix of history and recipes that even encouraged readers to start their own tofu shops. By 1978, there were roughly 100 tofu companies in the country.
More Tofu Recipes to Try
Now that you know where tofu came from, here are some of our favorite ways to cook with it. You can also browse every recipe in our tofu and tempeh recipes collection.
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