Not Just Any Old Beans

Supermarket tofu in London tends to be expensive and mediocre, and the big chains like Tesco and Sainsbury's usually only carry one brand and one consistency of tofu, if any, in their larger shops. Funnily enough, their tiny tofu sections are often almost empty when I try to buy any, so there must be demand for it, but until the big supermarkets catch up in the tofu department, I'll be getting my tofu at Asian markets, like I did yesterday at Japan Centre:

The "silken" tofu above is a brand that I sometimes bought in Vancouver, although it was never my first choice--the box is extremely annoying to open and some of the tofu always gets stuck inside. I much preferred this Vancouver company, and (predictably) I didn't realise how much I depended on their products until I couldn't buy them anymore. I also miss the incredible, made-on-site tofu we used to buy in Toronto at the always-welcoming Sanko, where you just told the person on staff (often the man who made the tofu!) how many blocks you wanted and you would get a plastic container full of your yummy cubes--I can't remember exactly how much they were, but it was something ridiculous like 25 cents (12 pence) each. And they were great. Anyway, the other block in the photo was a first-time purchase for me, and after using it in tonight's dinner, I'm very impressed. At about a third of the price of Sainsbury's tofu, with a much nicer texture and quality, and made locally in New Malden, it's now my tofu of choice . . . and their website even shows you how their GM-free tofu is made. As an exciting bonus to my purchase, I found out that the company who makes the tofu runs four Korean supermarkets in London, with one located in north London which is now on my list of places to visit.