tofu
Soy milk curdled and pressed into blocks, mild in flavour and, depending on the type, silky soft to firm enough to slice.
Firm tofu is now in almost every supermarket and health food shop, while the soft silken tofu many Japanese dishes call for is usually found only in Asian grocers. Where a recipe names a type, it is worth buying exactly that one, because the texture carries the dish.
Substitute:
The types can only partly stand in for each other: firm tofu in place of silken turns grainy in soups and cold dishes and loses its delicacy, while silken tofu falls apart when fried. There is no substitute outside tofu itself.
Used in
Miso RamenNoodle soup in miso broth with shiitake, pak choi and jammy eggs40 minNegima-NabeTuna, thick Japanese leeks and tofu simmered in seasoned dashi30 minShiraaeBlanched spinach and carrot folded into a creamy sesame-tofu dressing30 minYakisobaStir-fried wheat noodles with chicken, plenty of vegetables and soy-mirin seasoning30 min