You buy Tofu Pudding to eat when you want to have a clean, simple, quick and happy snack. It’s usually served slightly sweet with the syrup it comes with and you taste the soybean flavor of the tofu in every silky, smooth bite; and enjoyed warm or cold. Everyone has a different way they enjoy eating this. I was always used to this being eaten via bite size pieces with a tad of syrup drizzled on. My husband loves to mash it all to a million pieces and eat it more like something you can just slurp, like a soup. We buy it at a local store that sells this on a daily basis, along with grass jelly and fresh rice flat noodles. Perhaps, I’ll attempt my own own day.
I’ve been having this Tofu Pudding since I was a kid. But, for some reason, I can’t say I love it. I suppose it’s the familiar feeling I get when I eat it. The taste is not my favorite, yet I even crave it from time to time. My parents usually brought this sporadically from time to time when they were out and yell “Dofufua” every time they entered the house and plopped it on the table. I’m not sure if it’s the comfort I feel when I feel so giddy seeing both my mom and dad, both home when I am eating it or if it’s the familiar flavor I get and feeling of safety and family togetherness I get when I taste it. Regardless, I love this Tofu Pudding, even though the taste is not my favorite. It’s a little difficult to understand even myself.
I’m not sure everyone who would try this would immediately love this, unless you love tofu. The flavor is abundantly tofu. I read on Wikipedia that the syrup is often flavored with ginger or pandan, which I love, but for some reason, I find it hard find any of those infused flavors when I eat it. I think if either ginger or pandan syrup was more dominant in its studio, I would enjoy the tofu pudding much more. This has officially made it onto my Must Try to Make List. I’m sure the syrup would be awesome with the tofu pudding next time I buy it or be amazing as a sweetener for drinks, dessert or tea.
While I do love tofu, I guess you can say I am definitely more of a savory tofu fan. I can probably eat tofu everyday if I could, Mapo Tofu, Steamed Tofu with Ground meat, Tofu drizzled with sesame oil and soy sauce (the best with congee), Tofu Korean Stew, Curry tofu, Fried tofu, etc.
This was also a favorite childhood snack of my husband. In Chinese it’s known as Dofofua and in Tagalog, it’s cakes Taho. Food is so beautiful in the way it can connect others. Isn’t it fascinating this dish is created almost identically and enjoyed by different countries and cultures? If you’ve had this all your childhood, and you meet someone else that had it too; there’s just an instant feeling if mutual peacefulness and a connection heart to heart; I guess you can call that empathy in some way. Hmmm…I wonder if empathy can be applied to the feelings that food can elicit in a person, as well?
With all that said, I don’t love this dish for the flavor in itself; just the familiarity and feeling I get when I eat it and I crave it. Since I married my husband, I found myself loving it more and more and try to find ways to eat it more because I know the happiness it brings him when he eats it and I try to understand him more by exploring this that he loves and try to see if I can see or feel it too.
Writing this post got me so curious. I’ve never reflected before on why I like this Tofu Pudding before or contemplated if I loved it or not. Do you ever have a food item you love, for different reasons other than the flavor and taste in itself?
P. S. Next time you’re at dim sum, ask if they serve it! Many times, they do;)