msgisvegan

Oh man... so many! Guizhou 爆浆小豆腐 (and the similar Yunnan 包浆豆腐) both melt a little. They would be delicious in, say, ravioli filling. Guizhou 荞灰豆腐 is another. It has a super dense but tender texture, delicious braised. I wrote a list of some these awhile back: https://brokencuisine.com/a\_list\_of\_almost\_every\_single\_chinese\_tofu/

Even more basic, firm tofu curdled with pickled vegetable juice tastes more salty and flavorful, so avoids some of the bland traps of the American stuff.

I wanted to eat less meat but found it really tough. Most food was around me was either subtractive (meatless) or substitutive (mock meats) and I didn't love either. I got lucky one summer to attend a language exchange in Tianjin, China, and the breakfast food of that city happened to be like 50% vegan, by accident... so I decided to learn more about it

A couple of my favorite easy options:

• Cube firm tofu, blanch in salty water (pasta water saltyness), drain, then mix with fresh herbs (scallions, cilantro, basil, etc.) + salt + sesame oil + minced garlic. (In China, silken tofu is often mixed raw with scallions and a little salt, though I personally prefer adding some other seasonings.)
• Cube firm tofu, add to a bowl, top with salty sauce (like doubanjiang chili bean paste or duojiao 剁椒 chopped chili) + little soy sauce, cover with a plate, microwave for 5 minutes. The tofu will release a lot of it's water, which will form a sauce.

Probably that tofu is just a white jiggly block. There are 25+ varieties! And they're all super different.

Other candidates...

• Tofu is bland. Conventional tofu is usually bland, but there are TONS of flavorful varieties, like 腐乳 fermented, 豆干 pressed, 千页 spongy, etc
• Firm tofu should be pressed and marinated. It doesn't absorb much seasoning unless it's cooked in a sauce.

Hi there. Good question. I spent some time researching GM vs conventional soybeans, and my honest take is that there isn't a huge health different. In fact, according to most studies, the pesticides used on GM soy are less toxic than the non-GM alternatives. https://tofutuesday.substack.com/p/diving-into-the-soy-controversies

That said, tofu made in China is not allowed to use GM soybeans. So any imported products will be GMO free. I really love these brands: https://brokencuisine.com/tofu-buying-guide/

The estrogen question is interesting. Soybeans are unique for their high amount of plant (phyto) estrogens. But many studies have looked at how these impact humans, and the data is clear. Even eating 2 blocks of firm tofu daily will not meaningfully shift hormone levels, fertility, or anything like that. It seems that the plant hormones just don't do much to humans. (This piece from Harvard has a great summary of tofu health questions: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/soy/)

Thanks for your kind words! :)