Homemade tofu

Nothing beats the clean taste of tofu fresh from a tofu shop, especially from those little neighborhood shops in Japan. The tofu sold from tubs in the Korean green grocers may be a distant runner-up but are still miles ahead of the mass-produced tofu that one can get sealed in plastic containers. Unfortunately, in my neighborhood chain store markets that are displacing the little Korean-owned shops.

All those people who say making tofu is easy must be from from a different planet but they are right in saying that the taste is so much better than commercial tofu. Nostalgia may be clouding my taste buds but it'll still take me some more practice before I can come close to quality of the little Japanese neighborhood tofu-ten shops.

It is a time-consuming process even if you don't count the time it takes to soak the soy beans and the time to press the tofu. It took me about three hours my first time. I think I should be able to do it a little faster with practice but the many steps just take time.

After soaking, the beans are ground. I used a food processor. A blender will also work.

Then boil in water (use a big pot so it doesn't boil over).

The straining took a while but yielded lots of okara (don't throw this away; I'll post some recipes for using this).

Then add nigari, the coagulate magnesium chloride, naturally extracted from seawater.

Now you don't need a fancy wooden frame but what fun is a new hobby if you don't get to buy cool equipment. One could use a sieve or punch holes in a plastic container instead. But, I got my box which is from www.soymilkmaker.com via Amazon.

Line the frame with muslim cloth and pour the mixture in. Put on the cover and add a weight on top to press the tofu.

Then, enjoy!!!

Japanese Heritage Night, August 28, 2013

OK, it’s no secret that I’m a die-hard Yankees fan…even when we are languishing behind the Red Sox (and Tampa!). In all my years here in New York I had never been to a Mets game at Citifield or even at Shea Stadium. Actually, I had been a little proud of that (it was proof that I really am a loyal Yankees fan).

So, the world seems to skip a beat when I boarded the #7 train to Citifield on August 28th.

Photo by George Hirose

I made the trip for the Fourth Annual Japanese Heritage Night at Mets’ Citifield. The Mets has special nights to appeal to various audiences: Irish, Filipino, Taiwanese, Greek, Latino, etc. These are nice ways to reach out to the community and build small bridges.

There was a pre-game show which consisted of some dancing (Japanese Folk Dance Institute), presentations and singing (Men's Glee Club of New York). And, the crowd was excited that Daisuke Matsuzaka was pitching.

Photos by Francois Bonneau

George, Marianne and Donna did an amazing job in organizing volunteers for the evening.

Photo by Francois Bonneau

This year a portion of the game's proceeds went to the Japanese American Association (JAA) Committee on Aging Issues. The Mets Spirit Award honoree was the Japanese Clinic at Hamilton Madison House which provides bi-lingual outpatient mental health services for people of Japanese descent for over 30 years.

I spread the word looking for volunteers and on short notice gathered Mike, Tracy, and Kazue to join me out at the ballpark. We helped to staff the information tables, answered questions and demonstrated origami.

I have to admit that I didn’t catch much of the game (surprise: Mets lost to Philadelphia) but it was a fun evening. Next time, though, I will need to practice more origami and my katagana (パトリッシャー , that would be my name).


Photo by Francois Bonneau

A historical note: Japanese American baseball teams have existed throughout the US since the 1920s even in the WWII concentration camps where 120,000 Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans were incarcerated. The first Japanese professional league was formed in 1936.

New Yorkers always have an opinion and aren’t generally shy about expressing it (but, of course, lots of non-New Yorkers also attend the games). Some people just thought we were trying to sell them something [hmmm, how much could one charge for a shuriken (ninja-star) or tsuru (crane)?] so we had to invite them to come to the table.

I tend to recoil at stereotypes. So, when well-meaning people came up to say how clever, nimble and resourceful Japanese are at paper folding, etc., I wanted to say that not all of us are. We at the table might be able to do origami deftly but then maybe we self-selected. But, as I reflected on my heritage, Japan is very clever, nimble and resourceful. Whenever I am able to travel there or even when I go to Daiso (Japanese $1.50 shops in California and Seattle like the 100-yen stores in Japan), I’m in awe of the amazing variety of useful gadgets that can be had for $1.50. Some Japanese people have developed solutions for problems I didn’t even know I had before I went into the store.

So, I guess if Japanese can collectively take credit for this ingenuity and other positive traits, it’s only fair that we bear the burden of the negative stereotypes. Therefore, the real value of Heritage Nights is to provide some balance so that there will be a broader understanding of a country and a people not just prevailing stereotypes.

Photo by Francois Bonneau