Tamago Dofu: Why not try the Egg Tofu if you dislike Tofu?

“Tofu (豆腐)”, also known as soybean curd, is one of the Japanese food delicacies pretty well-known in the world.

Since it has a distinctive taste coming from its main ingredient, soybeans, some people, including me, don’t like this soy food very much.

Have you ever eaten tofu? If your answer is yes, what do you think about the flavor? Some of those who have first tried it will probably think, “It doesn’t suit my taste”.

So for those who dislike or hate the soybean curd, today, let me introduce my favorite, another tofu.

Tamago Dofu (玉子豆腐: Egg Tofu)

To get to the point, it is Tamago Dofu or Egg Tofu that is my favorite tofu. Although its name includes the word tofu, strictly speaking, this Japanese food is neither a bean curd nor processed tofu.

The reason, Tamago Dofu is not made from soybeans but consists primarily of hen’s eggs and soup stock made from kombu, or kelp seaweed, and katsuobushi or dried bonito flakes.

Hence correctly, Tamago Dofu is a food completely different from tofu, but it is very close in appearance and texture to the soybean curd. 

As for the taste, unlike regular tofu, the Egg Tofu uses umami ingredients from kombu and katsuobushi, making it much tastier and easier to eat than the bean curd.

As you can see in the video above, Tamago Dofu is soft and smooth like silken tofu, so you can easily cut and scoop it with a spoon or using chopsticks.

Ingredients

As I mentioned above, the main ingredients of Tamago Dofu are hen’s eggs and soup stock made from kombu seaweed and katsuobushi bonito flakes.

In addition to these, based on the label pictured above, what I have now contains soy sauce, salt, starch syrup, mirin, sugar, concentrated lemon juice, and shiitake mushroom extract.

Where to Buy

We Japanese commonly eat Tamago Dofu at home, so the Egg Tofu could be bought in Japanese grocery stores near you, even if you are not in Japan.