Standards of Quality for Tofu

Discuss about the Food Theory for Engineered Pores of Hydrophilic Nanoporous.

According to your course book (Gisslen), what are the standards of quality that are applied to your chosen ingredient? (What determines whether or not the product is of superior quality?)  Please include the page(s) number.  Include information about quality grades if such a system exists.   If you have chosen tofu, you may be required to use other sources.  Be sure to list them.

Answer: Tofu is considered to be one of the popular health all over the world (Gupta & Bhatia, 2016). The texture quality of the tofu is the most vital factors in the trade and quality evaluation of the tofu.

What makes the culture or production of your chosen ingredient controversial?  How does it potentially harm our food system?  Explain in one paragraph, 4-5 sentences. 

Answer: Tofu, also known as bean curd is been produced by the soy based proteins and that could have a great impact on the environment (Ji et al., 2017). As tofu is made from the condensed soy milk, therefore, many of the researchers have found it to be harmful for the human health. It has been said by many of the researchers that tofu could increase the risk of breast cancer in women because higher amount of soy intake could result in higher rates of breast cancer in an individual. With the same, it could also influence fertility (pp. 638).

What LEGITIMATE resources have you used to arrive at your conclusion in question 3?  List your top 4.   Give a full reference (title, author, publisher or website – original source, year, page)

Answer: I have used some of the resources like newspaper- The Guardian and the MedicalNewsToday. 

Food Theory 1 – Term Assignment:  Ingredient Analysis

What are the conventionally accepted standards of quality for this ingredient in its raw form?  Citations from the Gisslen book are required to answer, as your class book covers industry standards and quality grades thoroughly.  You may also use information on industry standards from respective marketing boards. 

Answer: The conventionally accepted standards of quality for tofu in its raw form is divided into four different consistencies and they are soft, firm, extra firm and regular (Zhang et al., 2018). All these consistencies are been classified by the content of protein of the tofu as soon it has been pressed. It has been suggested that the AOAC method of determining the content of protein should be used until and unless the other method for the same is required by the state in which it is made or is sold in the market. The soft tofu basically contains about 5 to 6.4$ protein (Wu, 2014). The regular one contains between 6.5 and 9.4$ protein, the firm tofu contains about 13.9$ of protein, while the extra firm one contains 14$ of it. However, the manufacturing process of the tofu as well as the texture of it generally determines its acceptability.  

Controversies in Tofu Production

What are the professional standards of quality for the item in its cooked form?  This is NOT meant to be an opinion piece.   It is based on the techniques that are taught in class and your Gisslen book.   

The standard quality for tofu in its cooked form is that it must be flexible and firm and should be well textured as well. If it gets broken after taking out in a plate, then it is considered to be wasted and should not be consumed. They must be soft and firm after they are cooked.

What are some examples of improper technique or common mistakes when preparing this ingredient?  List at least three.   Explain why they occur.  Use the following to guide your answer: 

• Composition (water, carbohydrate, fat, protein, other): Tofu is made up of condensed soy milk and that too in a process which is more or less same as cheese making. Sometimes, people use much amount of milk while preparing tofu. Like, any other food product, tofu too needs to be consciously made and the composition of it must be kept similar always (Pattison et al., 2015). Or else, anything less or anything more could become dangerous for the human health and sometimes, they tend to get bad and uneatable very quickly. More amount of fat in its composition could ultimately effect human health. Hence, all the ingredients should be used in proper manner. Also, sometimes people make use of oils while marinating tofu for cooking. It is to note that if one use oil based marinade, the water and the oil would ultimately form a barrier and would keep resisting the marinade from penetrating.
• Transformation that takes place during cooking, new aromas, flavours, textures: One of the most common mistakes that people make while preparing tofu is that they do not press the tofu in order to remove the excess water from it and this result in soggy texture. People often cut tofu in too large. It should be noted that tofu cooks better if it is smaller in sizes (Oktaviani & Sugirin, 2015). A big block of tofu is like a big block of cheese and one could not get that pleasing texture and flavour while consuming it. Also, it is to mention that tofu has a tendency to get stuck to the pan. Therefore, one should always make use of non-stick pan while cooking tofu.
• Visual or presentation errors: Tofu should never be presented in a bowl. It should be presented in a flat plate or pan like utensil (non-steal).
• Flavour matching errors- There are variety of flavours one could use while making tofu. However, people often tend to mix the orange flavour tofu with added chillies and ginger. A fried tofu should never be made with added fried pieces of products like ginger or garlic. 

Describe step by step the best way to ensure success when sautéing or pan-frying the item.  What precautions must you take and why? What transformations are taking place? Use correct terminology. 

when sautéing or pan-frying tofu, one must make sure that the pan is hot enough. One must make sure that he or she is sautéing it for 8 to 10 long minutes. He or she must give the oil and pan time to heat up to the desired temperature. Also, for a much stronger texture, it is suggested to freeze the tofu overnight and that too unopened. One can then notice some good pairs of firm and well-textured tofu. 

Describe how you would go about pairing this ingredients with other flavours?  Based on which of your ingredient’s characteristics? Explain the method, rather than listing good pairings.  Begin with a sensory description of your ingredient.  Next, consider how sweet/sour/salty/bitter/umami work together and how they complement or contrast your ingredient’s flavor profile.   Two excellent resources are The Flavour Bible by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page, 2008, as well as Culinary Artistry, 1996, by the same authors.  

For a British cuisine, the first thing that can come in to the mind of everyone is the combination of the chips and fishes. One could make a vegan version of chips and fish with tofu.

Also, Tofu is also considered to be best for many of the Chinese dishes. It could soak up all the savoury, spicy and salty flavours of garlic, chiles, hoisin sauce, ginger and tamari. One must press and drain a piece of extra firm tofu and then cut it into different pieces or cubes. In a bowl, consider preparing a marinade of one tablespoon olive oil, 3 sliced scallions and garlic cloves and 1 inch of fresh grated ginger. Also, ¼ cup of orange juice along with 2 tablesppon of lemon juice, 3 tablespoon of brown rice vinegar, 1/3 cup of brown sugar and red pepper flakes. After mixing all, add 1 table spoon of arrowroot and 2 tablespoon of water into it until and unless it makes a smooth paste. Add this slurry into the marinade and then mix well. Add the tofu cubes into it and wait for at least twenty minutes. Remove the cubes and make them dry. Arrange the cubes in the skillet in a single layer and cook until browned and crisp on all sides, about 8 minutes total. Serve the orange tofu over brown rice.

Proper Techniques for Preparing Tofu

Also, Tofu, along with eggplant in coconut sauce is one of the most delicious dishes and is also very easy to make. The method that it include is cutting a block of tofu into cubes and tossing it with a combination of garam masala. Heat 2 Tbs. of oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook the tofu cubes until browned and crisp on all sides, about 7 minutes and set aside. Add another 2 Tbs. oil to the saucepan and saute 1 large chopped onion for 5 minutes or until softened. Add 1 Tbs. minced ginger, 4 cloves minced garlic, 1 Tbs. mustard seeds, 2 Tbs. curry powder, 1 tsp. chile powder 1 tsp. ground turmeric to the pan. Stir well so that the onion is fully coated in the spices. Let cook 2 minutes until fragrant. Add 2 large chopped carrots and 1 small eggplant cut into cubes and toss to coat in the spices. Cook for 4 minutes until the eggplant softens. Add 2 large chopped tomatoes, 1 cup canned coconut milk, and ¼ cup water. Stir to combine. Add the tofu back to the pan and toss so everything is covered in sauce. Add salt to taste. Cover the pan and let cook on medium heat for 10 – 15 minutes or until the carrots are tender. If the sauce cooks down too much, add more water. After the carrots are tender, add 3 cups fresh spinach to the pan. Cover and let cook until the spinach is wilted. Add 2 Tbs. fresh chopped cilantro the pan and stir to combine.

The next is Tofu Piccata, which has a crispy pan-fried slices of tofu topped with a sauce of white wine, lemon, garlic and capers. To make it: cut a block of extra-firm tofu that has been pressed and drained into 8 slices. I do this by cutting the block in half width-wise, then cutting each half-block into 4 thin rectangular slices. Put ¼ cup of flour on a plate. Season it with salt and pepper. Coat both sides of the tofu slices with the flour. Heat 1 Tbs. vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Pan-fry the tofu slices until they are browned and a bit crisp on both sides, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer the tofu to a warm platter and set aside. Add ¼ cup white wine to the pan (it is safer to take the pan off the heat when you do this) and then add 3 cloves minced garlic. Cook until the garlic is slightly browned and the wine is mostly evaporated, about 2 minutes. Add 1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth, 2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice and 1 Tbs. capers to the pan. Return the tofu to the pan and let the slices cook in the liquid for about a minute on each side. This will allow them to soak in the flavor of the liquid. Then transfer the tofu back to the warm platter. Add 2 Tbs. vegan butter and 6 or 7 lemon slices to the pan to complete the sauce. When the butter melts, pour the sauce over the tofu. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and more lemon slices. Serve over pasta or with any side dish.

Flavor Pairings for Tofu Dishes

One other combination to consider in this context is Jamaican tofu. To make it, make the marinade by combining ¼ cup tamari, ¼ cup apple cider vinegar, ¼ cup lime juice, 2 Tbs. vegan Worcestershire sauce, 2 tsp. hot sauce, 2 cloves minced garlic, 1 minced chile pepper, 1-inch grated ginger, 3 Tbs. brown sugar, 2 tsp. ground allspice, 2 tsp. dried thyme, 1 tsp. kosher salt, 1 tsp. onion powder, 1 tsp. ground cinnamon, ½ tsp. ground nutmeg, ½ tsp. cayenne pepper and ¼ tsp. ground cloves. Mix it all well and add 1 block of extra-firm tofu that has been pressed, drained and cut into cubes. Let marinate for at least 15-20 minutes. Heat 2 Tbs. coconut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Remove the tofu cubes from the marinade and pat dry. Add the tofu to the skillet and toss to coat in the oil. Cook the tofu and flip the cubes every few minutes. You want the cubes are slightly crisp and heated through, about 20 minutes. Add 2 Tbs. fresh chopped parsley and serve while hot.

Tofu could also take on the flavours of the Japanese style cooking that include soy sauce, rice vinegar, sake, miso, mirin and sweet rice wine, ginger, wasabi, sesame seeds and sesame seed oil. 

Using what you’ve learned in Question 5, list your top five most complimentary flavor matches, and your top five least appealing flavor matches.   For each one, explain in your own words why they work or don’t work. 

Answer: The 5 top most appealing flavour matches are the ones of

Tofu with soy sauce, rice vinegar, sake, miso, mirin and sweet rice wine, ginger, wasabi, sesame seeds and sesame seed oil.

Jamaican tofu

The Chinese one, with all the salty, savoury and spicy flavours. 

Tofu Piccata

Tofu, along with eggplant in coconut sauce 

The 5 top least appealing flavour matches are the ones of

Tofu with chips and fishes

Tofu with the flavour of Cumin

Tofu with the combination of warm and spicy with ginger, sweet paprika, hot paprika, cumin, cinnamon, saffron, turmeric, cayenne, mint and harissa.

Stir fried Basil with Eggplant and Tofu

Tofu with the combination of Eggs and onion. 

Use what you have learned in your research to apply these principles and cook up your own! 

• You are to cook the item very simply without any flavourings, only salt and pepper. First however, you need to properly trim, peel, pare, cut, etc to the highest professional standard.
• You must cook the item in a frying pan, but you may pre-cook or blanch the item first. 

Explain why and how it enhances the final product- Blanching or pre-cooking scalded the raw tofu in boiling water. It was then removed after a specific duration of time. After blanching the tofu in a frying pan, reduced the quality of it over time. The colour of the tofu got darkened a bit and it did hold a good texture in it. It also decreased the load of microbial and other pesticide residues. 

• Describe and justify your choice of cooking fat.– My choice of cooking fats are the ones with less proportion of the saturated fat as these are more healthy than the ones with high proportion of saturated fats. The polysaturated fats could help in lowering the cholesterol along with the omega-3 polyunsaturates, which in turn would help in protecting against the heart related diseases. Also, the omega 6 fatty acids would help in the growth and development of the brain and the brain function. I suggest to use corn or maize oil as because of the fact that it is relatively less in proportion of saturated fats as compared to the butter or coconut oils and is also a very good source of omega 3, 9 and 6 fatty acids. Corn oil is also very popular among many for the purpose of cooking. It tends to be less costly and because of its high smoke point or burning point, it is been commonly used for the fried food particularly, for deep fat frying. I also prefer to use Hemp oil. It too is very less in saturated fat and has high levels of omega 6 fatty acids. It is also very healthy. Because of its less amount of smoke point, the hemp oil is not that usually suited for the frying purpose. I also prefer to use Olive oil. As it is rich in Vitamin E and is popularly known to be a very healthier alternative for many other types of cooking fats and oils. 

• Include a photo-journal of your activity, with selfies (for evidence that YOU have done this work). 

• What have you learned from cooking it yourself? – Tofu is one of my favourite ingredient. I like it because of its nutritious, versatile and easy to prepare feature. Cooking tofu has made me learn many more things about it. It has a very mild flavour and I think this is something that makes it such a versatile ingredient. Although I have cooked it very simply, I learned that it can be cooked by using different methods, flavourings and spices and therefore, the dishes that could be made by it are just limitless. I have also learned that tofu can be grilled, baked, and at the same time be sautéed. It is also very cost effective. Just I good block of tofu could be used to serve around four servings. I have also learned that in order to get a good taste of tofu, it must be cut into small pieces instead of big ones. 

• What mistakes were made? How could you correct them next time?- Initially, for about two to three times, I dismissed all the tofu altogether in the frying pan until and unless I understood that I am doing it in a wrong way. All the tofu were sticking to each other. Therefore, I started dismissing them one by one in the pan so as to stop the thing from happening again. I am sure to keep it in mind in the next time I prepare it. Also, I often cut tofu in too large pieces while preparing. Later I understood that it cooks better if it is smaller in sizes. A big block of tofu is like a big block of cheese and one could not get that pleasing texture and flavour while consuming it. Also, it is to mention that tofu has a tendency to get stuck to the pan. Therefore, one should always make use of non-stick pan while cooking tofu.

There is controversy surrounding the production of your ingredient.  Describe how your ingredient is raised.  Where is the controversy?  Consider the following: 

• Agricultural methods (use of fertilizers, pesticides, herbicide for plants or feed, use of antibiotics, growth hormones for animals, etc.)- It has been said by many of the researchers the manufacturing process of soybeans makes use of high amount of synthetic fertilisers in it. Although tofu is not directly alike as soybeans but soybeans do makes the whole of Tofu. Therefore, tofu is often considered to be made from soybeans and that with amount of synthetic fertilisers that are been used by the farmers occasionally. However, as because the soybean agriculture sweeps across the South America and elsewhere, fragile ecosystems like the rainforests and the savannahs are feeling the strain, as are iconic species like the jaguar and giant anteater. Also, the expansion of the plantations of soybean into the forests is also a contributing factor in the issue of climate change. Also, the environmental impacts and the soil erosion from the ever increasing usage of the pesticides are also developing and growing significantly.
• Ethical treatment of workers- There is no such controversies in relation to this as tofu is been made in vegan industries. However, in some of the many companies, the workers do unethical conduct in the process of manufacturing vegan products. Like for example, it was a case in an Australian industry of Vegan products that one of the worker there pilled two to three pack of eggs in the making of vegan goods because he was then paid less than his usual salary.
• Animal welfare- There is no case of animal harassment or anything associated with the making of tofu.
• Impact on the environment (water, air, soil, etc.)- It is to note that the soybeans are very highly effective source of proteins.
• Impact on communities- the communities and the workers of the Tofu are at risk. The lucrative production of soybean could have a negative social influence in the countries like Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil (Turzi, 2016). It is to note in this context, that the concentration of the farmlands in the hands of only a few people has pushed the small local farmers and the communities off the land and encouraged exploitation of workers.
• Carbon footprint- As per the very recent study, the soybeans takes around 0.2 calories of the fossil fuels in order prepare one calorie of soybean protein, which is equal to a little or more than one-thirteenth of a total chicken. It is also to state that in the production of it, one kilogram of raw beans prepare around 200 grams of carbon dioxide, which is equal to the quantity of edible chicken meat. 

Your ingredient is available in both conventional and organic form.   The organic form is more expensive.   What are you really getting for that higher price?  Is it worth it and why?  List the positives and the negatives

The organic form is more expensive than the conventional form as because of the fact that the conventional farmers makes use of all the synthetic pesticides and chemical as they end up decreasing the production cost by getting the job get done quicker and that too more efficiently (Lim et al., 2015). Without the use of them, the organic farmers have to hire more number of workers for these tasks such as the hand-weeding, the clean-up of the polluted resources such as water, the process of remediation of the contamination of pesticides. These all takes a huge time and support. Also, the other factor include the demand. The demand of a product usually overwhelms the supply of it. The organic farmlands of the soybean accounts for only 0.9% of the whole worldwide farmlands and many of the organic farms produce very less products than that of the conventional farms. It is to note that the conventional farms occur the farmlands and they supply in order to keep the costs or the prices down as the manufacturers of the products are able to decrease the costs while producing products in more quantities. It is also to consider that the cost of fertilisers in order to make the organic crops are also very huge and is higher than the conventional cost. It is fact that none of use chemical fertilisers and sewage sludge in our food but the conventional farmers make use of them as they do not cost much and are very cheap as well to transport. The organic farmers eschew all these inexpensive solutions for keeping their crops very natural and pollution free and that too instead of using the animal manure and the other compost that is more costly for shipping. Also, in place of using the chemical weed killers, the organic farmers generally conduct very sophisticated crop rotations in order to keep their soils healthy as well as to prevent the weeds from growing. After the process of harvesting the crops, the organic farmers might make use that area again to grow the cover crops that would add more nitrogen in order to the soil to benefit the succeeding crops.

The more cost of the organic form of tofu is although natural and understood but it is quite a disadvantage for many of the consumers as well. As because of monetary problems, not all the consumers could afford to buy these organic products therefore, they have to rely on the conventional products only which is not that healthy for their consumptions. 

References:

Gupta, S., & Bhatia, S. (2016). A Study on “Veganism”-A Challenge in Indian Hospitality Industry. International Journal of Research in Economics and Social Sciences, 6(9), 206-217.

Ji, D., Song, H., Chen, B., Zhang, F., Cheney, A. R., Zhang, N., … & Gan, Q. (2017). Frozen “Tofu” Effect: Engineered Pores of Hydrophilic Nanoporous Materials. ACS Omega, 2(8), 4838-4844.

Lim, S. L., Wu, T. Y., Lim, P. N., & Shak, K. P. Y. (2015). The use of vermicompost in organic farming: overview, effects on soil and economics. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 95(6), 1143-1156.

Oktaviani, O., & Sugirin, S. (2015). AN ERROR ANALYSIS OF THE NARRATIVE WRITTEN TEXTS OF THE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS OF SMAN 1 YOGYAKARTA IN THE ACADEMIC YEAR OF 2012/2013. BASTER (Bahasa, Sastra, dan Terjemahan), 1(1), 63-69.

Pattison, A. J., McGarry, M., Weaver, J. B., & Paulsen, K. D. (2015). A dynamic mechanical analysis technique for porous media. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 62(2), 443-449.

Turzi, M. (2016). The Agropolis: South America, China, and the Soybean Connection. In The Political Economy of China–Latin America Relations in the New Millennium (pp. 178-196).

Wu, M. (2014). Use of Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) Presscake and Flours as Food Ingredients: Effect on Nutritional, Physical, Textural, Sensory Properties, Starch Digestibility and Glycemic Index.

Zhang, Q., Wang, C., Li, B., Li, L., Lin, D., Chen, H., … & Liu, W. (2018). Research progress in tofu processing: From raw materials to processing conditions. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, 58(9), 1448-1467.