Photo source: Hodo Soy Beanery

The employees at Hodo Soy Beanery in Oakland, Calif. want to make tofu cool.

I’m happy to help them get the word out, especially since they make one bean curd item that I particularly enjoy – yuba, or tofu skin.

As part of that goal, they are opening up the organic tofu company for public tours and a tasting beginning on Dec. 16.

Keep in mind that the tours, scheduled for Wednesdays at 12:30 p.m., will be held once every two weeks. The cost is $10 per person.

The company will give tours to small groups and reservations are required. But you’ll be able to taste freshly-made tofu and learn about soybean selection.

If you’re interested, here’s my original post about Hodo Soy Beanery. If you take a tour, please let me know.

Hodo Soy Beanery, which makes organic tofu, this week opened its headquarters in Oakland, Calif. Photo source: Hodo Soy Beanery, hodosoy.com

There is no place like home – especially when fresh, organic, artisan-quality bean curd awaits.

My parents grew up in Oakland, Calif. - and the city on Tuesday welcomed Hodo Soy Beanery to its new headquarters at 2923 Adeline St.

The company has been making tofu in the San Francisco Bay Area since 2004. Hodo is using the Cantonese pronunciation for good – or “ho” – and bean – or “do.”

The soy beanery dishes up the food to the public with two pithy pitches: “We want you to experience tofu in a new way” and “We want to make tofu cool.”

Amen.

I like what I see: They stress freshness and quality. Their soybeans have not been genetically modified.

They treat making tofu in the same way that other people make fine cheese and chocolate.

Which, of course, is a great mindset to have.

Why?

That outlook, that care, that attention to detail will translate into what is created – in this case, soy milk, tofu, noodles and yuba, also known as tofu skin.

I haven’t had a chance to visit. But I hope to do so in the near future.

My family and I visit my parents in Northern California as often as we can.

The founder, Minh Tsai, actually left the often lucrative world of finance to delve into making food that the Chinese say started around 164 BC.

That was when the grandson of a Chinese emperor, who believed in Daoism (Taoism), instructed his assistants to find a medicine to help him prolong his life.

And they came up with tofu. 

One of Tsai’s inspirations for making the jump?

As his online biography notes: Morning walks with his grandfather in Vietnam to the neighborhood tofu shack.

It was made fresh. It was a communal event.

And I like his philosophy:

We want people to think of tofu in a different way….there’s a real artistry to creating great-tasting tofu and yuba, and this artistry starts with the ingredients….Tofu is not a bland, rubbery food that is only eaten because it is good for you. It is most delicious when it is made with care and eaten fresh.

Again, amen to that.

Shedding light on tofu is one reason why I launched TofuWatch.

You know, it’s good to be biased.

These days, Tsai holds the title of Tofu Master and recently gave an interview to the blog, OakBook.

The crew from Oakland-based Hodo Soy Beanery, taking a break from the tofu-making action. Photo source: Hodo Soy Beanery, hodosoy.com

Another nice touch: Starting in December, the Hodo crew will give tours, including tastings, to the public.

They also write regularly in the company’s The Good Beans Blog.

On the blog, the Hodo staff offer their favorite recipes, including spicy tofu with lemongrass stir fry and a fresh tofu appetizer.

In one entry, co-founder Dean Ku jotted down thoughts comparing tofu making to a spiritual experience:

It’s so rare to make anything from scratch these days and it’s very labor intensive, but I always feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment after a production day.

They also participate in community events, including sponsoring the Tofu Dessert Competition and Festival in San Francisco’s Japantown.

If you want to buy soy items from Hodo, I’d contact them at (510) 464-2977.

It looks like they sell at farmers’ markets and wholesale in the San Francisco Bay Area.

They also ship their tofu – but that can be expensive.

If you are looking for some delicious ways in which to use tofu, I’ve posted a list of recipes.

Or take a look at the categories for interesting notes about soybean cake and other essential topics. 

I’ve heard a few people say that the recent rage of an international world is losing steam – that localism is the new theme these days.

Well, here is a company that is doing something global.

It is continuing the legacy of making tofu, which started in the mountains around Huainan in Anhui’s province thousands of years ago.

And it is doing so – across the Pacific Ocean – in a building in Oakland for people in the San Francisco Bay Area to enjoy.

Tofu blocks. Photo source: Hodo Soy Beanery, hodosoy.com

Tofu skin, or yuba. Photo source: Hodo Soy Beanery, hodosoy.com

Soy milk. Photo source: Hodo Soy Beanery, hodosoy.com

More photographs from Hodo Soy Beanery can be found on the company’s photobucket site.

You can read the San Francisco Business Times article about the company here.