a blog about soybean cake and other essential topics
If eating is the common thought when it comes to bean curd, then supplying the coveted soybean also must come to mind.
U.S. soybean farmers probably have Indonesia on their list of buyers and places to visit. If not, they should. Soybean production in Indonesia is dropping, according to a recent Jakarta Post article.
Buried in the story is some noteworthy market intelligence about, well, tofu and tempeh consumption.
A combination of vanilla, tofu and pumpkin create this cool way to end a hot night. Photo source: Japan Tofu Association
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I’ll get to the ice cream in a moment. Really.
But I want to point out that even when it comes to history, even bean curd can be a tricky topic. Who did what and when can be subject to interpretation and debate, based on what was recorded and what was found.
Well, the Japan Tofu Association is questioning whether Liu An, the grandson of a Chinese emperor, should be given credit as the general inventor of the food.
I’ll post another tofu recipe this week. I’ve been juggling a few things. Before I forget, I wanted to note a recent soybean purchase that will benefit U.S. soybean farmers and South Korean tofu makers.
I know trade relations can be complex and, at times, controversial. But this was nice to see, especially given the recession. Here goes:
Four Midwestern companies from North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin are expected to haul in $5 million after they agreed last week to export about 275,000 bushels of soybeans to South Korea, The Associated Press reported.
The Korean Federation of Soybean-Curd Industry Cooperatives is buying the beans from SB&B Foods of Casselton, N.D., Brushvale Seed of Breckenridge, Minn., SunOpta of Moorhead, Minn. and The DeLong Co. Inc. of Clinton, Wis.
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Given the number of tofu makers worldwide, I’m sure challenges remain in terms of recycling more water from bean curd factories and reducing pollution.
But I certainly perked up when I saw this Reuters report from August 2008. I’m glad this tofu maker is turning the water into “bio” gas and supplying energy to two bean curd factories and 20 households.
I’m also pleased that Reuters visited this factory and distributed the video online.
In the United States, it’s easy for some in media companies to dismiss this type of story. The presumption is that people in the United States would not be interested in the story.
But I was. And I think others would learn from it, too.
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It’s clear that the Internet is a stellar platform for going “vertical” to dig out and present information. In this case, I actually was looking for tofu-related clothing.
Somehow, I came across Henry Ford’s experimental ”Soybean Car.” And I thought: Look at this.
His vehicle from the early 1940s was not some squishy soybean cake mobile with a bean curd bumper and tofu top.
No, he used the roly-poly bean in an innovative formula to eventually make a 2,000-pound vehicle that featured a tubular steel frame and plastic panels, according to the Benson Ford Research Center.
So, why did he do it?
The U.S. newspaper industry has taken a beating recently. The reasons are many, as we know, including the Internet and changing readership behavior.
Dozens of my colleagues and I lost our jobs in March after our former employer, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, ended its print edition. Certainly, I hope the industry can find some stability.
Among the hardest-hit media companies is the Tribune Co., which owns the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times. But this week, reporters at the Los Angeles Times managed to fit into pixels, and I presume print, some nice articles about soybean cake.
They searched the Los Angeles area for tofu makers and filed a dispatch called The joy of soy (accompanied by a great photograph) and instructions on how to make bean curd at home.
There were recipes, too, including one for fried tofu with a vinegar-chili-soy sauce dipping sauce. I know: Yummy.
If GORE-TEX never looked right on you and you’ve always hankered for more bean curd in your life, the free market has an option.
Knitwit, a California-based women’s clothing company, announced Friday that its new “Tofu Cashmere Fall 2009 Collection” will be ready in late July.
The clothing line - which includes a printed zip hoodie, crew-necks and wraps – is made up of 15 percent cashmere and 85 percent soybean, the company said. Clothing pieces start at about $110.
The company touts that the clothing line comes from the unused protein of tofu, soybean milk and soybean oil.
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When I was searching for information about the diets of centenarians on Okinawa, I came across this CNN video.
Michael Booth’s recent article in The Sunday Times about people living so long in this part of Japan sparked my interest. Of course, tofu was involved.
It looks like there is a combination of factors – including eating bean curd – that is contributing to long and active lives for many Okinawans. Apparently, there is a high percentage of residents who live past the age of 100.
One observation: Okinawans are living their lives with the thought that something – longevity in this case – is possible.
And they don’t have the diseases that have surfaced in North America, according to CNN.
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Eating soybean cake on a regular basis as part of a balanced meal might actually help extend a person’s age, experts believe.
In a June 7 article in The Sunday Times, author Michael Booth wrote about traveling to Okinawa to investigate why so many residents of this group of Japanese islands are living to at least 100 years old.
That number is estimated to be more than 800 people, he said.
On Okinawa, Booth quoted Craig Willcox, a Canadian gerontologist and medical anthropologist who has studied the residents and their health.
Among many factors, Willcox gives the nod to soybean cake as contributing to better health for Okinawans. “They have lower cholesterol and suffer less from heart disease, arteriosclerosis and many cancers,” he told Booth.
Tofu is loaded with protein. It’s low in saturated fat. It lacks cholesterol. If the tofu you’re eating has calcium, that’s another plus, too.
These are some of the conclusions of dietitian and author Jo-Ann Heslin, who recently posted a piece - “Tofu – Think Outside the White Block” – on HealthNewsDigest.com.
Using tofu can help reduce the risk of heart disease, she writes in her post. “No one is suggesting that tofu alone is a magic food but as a substitute for higher fat, higher cholesterol, lower calcium choices it is a healthy addition to your diet,” she says later.
She touches upon one controversy swirling around soy – specifically isoflavones used in supplement form. That is, if eaten as a supplement in large amounts, the risk of breast cancer might increase.
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