The trip to Japantown in San Jose was originally prompted by this Mercury News article that San Jose Tofu Company, a 71-year-old 3rd generation tofu shop and one of the very few places that still make tofu by hand, was closing at the end of this month.
Like many food, machine-made have gradually replaced hand-made. For food, we benefit from those who provide their manual labor to give us items that taste better than machine-made. The Nozaki family is just physically exhausted having to haul tens of pounds of pails full of soy beans. And carrying those heavy pails of tofu with water to and from the fridge is not easy. I am grateful for what they provided all the years.
Perhaps because of the article, there were quite a few people lining up to get their tofu. I grabbed mine and the last tub of soy milk. They said they were out of the silken tofu dessert. I never tried their dessert before. But I can imagine handmade making a big difference in the silken tofu texture so I was a bit bummed.
The soy milk was unsweetened and tasted rich and soy-y. $1.50 for a large container around a quart. A steal. $2.25 for a big piece of tofu.
Come early and see what they have. They just happened to be filling the soy milk into the containers right when I started lining up. So the people who showed up 5 minutes before and immediately after me didnât get any. So some of it is luck what they may have and when.
Any one tried their silken tofu dessert?
Their tofus are also carried in a few selected Japanese markets. I believe Suruki in San Mateo, and Nijiya carries them.
Does Japanese silken tofu dessert come with ginger syrup? Iâm only familiar with the Vietnamese version.
If you are interested in Vietnamese tofu, there are several shops that make it in house. In addition to plain, chili & lemongrass and black mushroom & onion are common with the ingredients embedded inside while the curds are being pressed. These golden fried cubes go for 4-6 for a dollar. A yummy treat.
I understand that stores open and stores close. I get that. Successful businesses should thrive and inefficient businesses are to be disappeared. However, it is unfortunate to have one of these historical and (appeared to be) high quality stores disappear. Maybe I am getting old, but I donât understand this world anymore. I donât understand why good quality traditional stores losing businesses (like this tofu shop and many others). Meanwhile, mindless bubble tea shops everywhere.
I know, but it is not like it is great. My guess is that it is just cruising along ok. If it is great, then they can sell the store to a buyer to take over. Many new businesses fail. If an existing successful business is in place, then it is very attractive to purchase it (including the name) and continue to operate â unless of course it isnât lucrative enough. After this tofu shop closes down, it is unlikely another tofu shop replaces. It will be one of the bubble tea shops or stir fried ice cream or something of that nature.
It kind of has the motion of stir fry, but it is a misleading term because it is using âcold surfaceâ and not âhot surfaceâ to create ice cream. There are just so many of them in New York City.
It doesnât really taste better than regular ice cream (in my opinion). It is fun to watch, but I really donât get the long wait line. 10 Below in Manhattan Chinatown can get a really long line at times.
It kind of has the motion of stir fry, but it is a misleading term because it is using âcold surfaceâ and not âhot surfaceâ to create ice cream. There are just so many of them in New York City.
