A Information To Furu (Fermented Bean Curd)

The primary time I attempted furu in earnest, I used to be working as a volunteer at a hostel in a distant village within the japanese Chinese language province of Anhui. The proprietor pulled out a jar of home-cured fermented bean curd throughout workers breakfast and dared me to attempt some. He plopped a mushy, thimble-sized dice of tofu on my plate and instructed me to smear it on prime of a plain steamed bun. “Simply take a bit bit,” he mentioned. “It’s actually robust.” 

Pungent, creamy and salty, like a really mushy brie, the furu was a sudden punch of taste that took me without warning, nearly like biting right into a spoonful of miso straight from the jar. However quickly, the candy and nearly milky notes started to kick in and I discovered myself taking a bit bit extra. Fairly quickly, I used to be consuming furu for breakfast on daily basis and it continues to be my go-to morning staple in Taiwan the place I now dwell—one thing that I liberally smear on steamed bread like butter on toast. 

What Is Furu?

In Mandarin Chinese language, the phrase furu 腐乳 is the mixture of two characters：fu 腐, which is shorthand for tofu, and ru 乳, which implies cream. “Furu is like cream cheese,” says Pao-Yu Liu, a London-based, Taiwan-born fermenter who runs workshops on tips on how to make furu. “Cream cheese is fermented dairy. Furu is fermented tofu.” 

The method begins by inoculating small bite-sized cubes of tofu with mildew, which triggers an enzymatic course of that breaks down the tofu till it’s mushy, seasoned, and creamy. “The enzymes within the mildew assist break down the tofu into all these completely different flavors and alter the feel quite a bit. Tofu has a bouncy, juicy texture after which after fermentation it turns into tremendous creamy,”  says Mara Jane King, co-founder of Ozuké, a fermented meals enterprise that distributes all through the USA, and writer of a forthcoming ebook on Chinese language fermentation. 

A shelf steady pantry merchandise discovered all through East and Southeast Asia, furu could be made in various other ways. In China, wild mildew spores within the air latch onto the small, agency cubes of tofu because it sits out. They’re then left in a heat and darkish place—at round 85°F (30°C)—for a couple of days, at which level white fuzzy hairs start to envelop them. The hairs are wiped off and the tofu is submerged in a salted and seasoned brine for months, which is when the second fermentation takes place. “The enzymes will break down the protein into amino acids, starch into sugar, and fats into fatty acids,” says Liu.

This primary course of is kind of the identical throughout areas, although there are some variations. In Japan, the place furu known as tofuyo, koji, the identical mildew used to make soy sauce, is used as an alternative of the airborne mildew relied on in a lot of China. And in Taiwan, the primary fermentation is commonly bypassed altogether and as an alternative salted and sun-dried cubes of tofu are submerged in rice wine with pink yeast or rice koji, which breaks down all the things in a single go. 

When it comes to the seasoning added to the brine, there are numerous variants on the market. I’m keen on chile powder–flavored furu, which is kind of frequent in Southwestern China and has a spicy kick. Taiwanese furu tends to lean a bit sweeter, and the brine is commonly flavored with chunks of pineapple or different fruits for a refined hit of acidity. In Japan and components of southeastern China, furu is spiced with a beneficiant quantity of pink yeast rice (the identical sort usually utilized in Taiwan’s model), which supplies it a singular tanginess and a vivid brilliant pink hue. 

How To Purchase Fermented Tofu

Except you might be an skilled fermenter like Liu and King, making furu at dwelling isn’t essentially the most sensible factor to do, since sourcing koji could be troublesome and dealing with wild spores needs to be finished with warning and below the cautious steering of consultants. Fortunately, furu is accessible at nearly all Chinese language and Taiwanese grocery shops world wide, usually offered in tiny jars within the pickle part. It’s additionally simply discovered on-line below the label “fermented bean curd ” or “Chinese language cheese.”

Furu is available in all types of flavors so learn the labels fastidiously. If it’s seasoned with chile powder, it will likely be on the spicy facet. If it’s brilliant racecar pink, it’s been fermented with pink yeast rice and shall be sweeter. All of them have the identical base taste, although, and can be utilized interchangeably in recipes. 

An essential disclaimer: Furu will not be the identical factor as smelly tofu. Pungent tofu is made by submerging recent tofu in an aged brine for a few days; the tofu itself will not be really fermented. Furu, then again, is definitely fermented tofu and doesn’t have the identical odor as smelly tofu. 

How To Retailer It

Furu is offered in jars and is a shelf-stable merchandise often present in a market’s unrefrigerated part, however as with many shelf-stable packaged merchandise, it’s weak to cross contamination as soon as it’s opened for the primary time. For that motive, despite the fact that furu doesn’t spoil simply and might technically be good for years, the very best factor to do is to refrigerate it after opening and eat it inside three months.  

How To Use It 

In contrast to cream cheese, which could be slathered generously on bagels and bread, furu is kind of salty, with an depth extra akin to anchovies or fish sauce, and must be used sparingly. Its taste is scrumptious, however extraordinarily potent and so should be used with stability and moderation.

The most straightforward method to make use of furu is to smear a tiny little bit of it on plain, steamed bread, or add it to rice congee for taste. In Southern China, a small hit of furu is commonly utilized in a fast vegetable stir-fry—often blended with rice wine and garlic so as to add taste to crunchy sprigs of water spinach. 

The probabilities, although, are countless. After I was in China filming a video about Shanghainese delicacies, one in all my sources added it to a marinade for drunken shrimp, and it was an epiphany. He took uncooked, recent shrimp and dunked it in a concoction of aged Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, sugar, and pink yeast–flavored furu. Candy, salty, and extremely umami, the dish was like a Chinese language-style ceviche and to this present day—a few years later— I nonetheless give it some thought and salivate. 

Based on King, it is a versatile taste enhancer in marinades and braises. That is one thing I’ve seen In Taiwan, the place furu is usually used as a marinade for bite-sized chunks of fried hen that is then tossed in a tasty concoction of white pepper and five-spice powder. This mix is kind of fashionable at lots of the late night time beer eating places and pairs marvelously with an ice-cold lager.

It additionally makes for a implausible dressing. “I​​ love making salad with it,” says Liu. “I add a little bit of vinegar, garlic, chile, and sesame oil.” 

Despite the fact that furu could be obtained fairly simply world wide, what’s accessible for buy within the Western world solely skims the floor. Most furu in East Asia is do-it-yourself and makes use of the pure microorganisms within the air to inoculate the tofu. Like with artisanal cheese, each furu tastes a bit completely different relying on the terroir and who’s making it. Some variations have a deep, funky taste, others are fairly delicate and barely acidic. “Everybody makes it otherwise,” says Liu. 

There are countless prospects within the realm of furu and for those who get your arms on a jar, begin with the recommendation my hostel host in China gave me: Simply take a bit and smear it on steamed bread. For furu, a bit goes a great distance.