Shortcut Silken Tofu with Ginger Syrup

A tub of silken tofu is handy for much more than a healthy smoothie. I use it as a lazy day cheat for cozy tofu pudding topped with a gingery sweet syrup. That dish is called dòuhuā in Mandarin (or dau fu faa in Cantonese). It's a healthy-ish sweet that's a popular street food in China and Southeast Asia. Tofu pudding is also a mainstay at dim sum restaurants. Traditional dòuhuā is fashioned from freshly made silken tofu that's been coagulated in a big pot. The vendor uses a wide spoon to scoop up thin pieces with slightly jagged surfaces which allows for greater tofu exposure to the syrup.

There is sweet as well as savory dòuhuā but most people know about the sweet version. It's easy to love. I've made sweet dòuhuā (called tàu hũ nước đường, tàu hủ hoa or tào phớ in Vietnam) from scratch soy milk and it's absolutely delicious. (There's a recipe in my book Asian Tofu.) But it's much easier to use silken tofu to achieve tofu satisfaction fast. Taking the silken tofu route is also extra doable at home. There's no need to soak, grind, filter, and cook soy milk before coagulating it. You'll be eating tofu pudding with ginger syrup in very little time.

Recipe pointers

Here are some extra tips for your success:

• What kind of silken tofu to buy? For wonderful, custardy results, select silken tofu that's been molded in its tub (block tofu sitting in a moat of water tends to be too firm). See the photo below on the left is a sample of silken tofu that I would use. Other brands I recommend include Nasoya and House Foods.
• What to scoop the tofu with? Select a broad, shallow serving spoon to scoop out the tofu creates thin, wide shards. That yields pieces of tofu with maximum surface area exposure to the zippy ginger syrup. For your reference, in the photo below, the very broad spoon on the far right is what is professionally used.
• Why warm the tofu? Warming the tofu in the microwave reveal sits tender richness to mimic the texture of freshly made dòuhuā. Eat it cold and the tofu just won't express itself enough.
• Why combine two kinds of sweeteners? Traditionally, Chinese rock sugar is used to produce a svelte syrup (think the texture of maple syrup). My workaround is to combine an invert sugar with brown or palm sugar.

Riffs and make-ahead tips

Some ideas for you to play around with this recipe to make it your own:

• Syrup flavor: When making the syrup, use peeled ginger for a cleaner, softer flavor. If you want more earthy flavor, leave the peel on. For a spice back note, include one star anise (8 robust pointy seed pods total) with the ginger. In northern Vietnam, you sometimes find jasmine flower infused sweet syrup.
• Advance prep: No matter how how you make the sweet syrup, it can be refrigerated for a week. Just store it in a jar and remember to use it at room temperature.
• Optional toppings: Old-school renditions of tofu with sweet syrup feature just tofu and the ginger syrup. Some modern cooks include add-ins like what you'd find in shaved-ice or boba treats. I often add canned mandarin orange segments to each serving for texture, flavor, and color contrasts.

Print Recipe

Shortcut Silken Tofu with Ginger Syrup

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Asian

Keyword: dau hu nuoc duong, douhua, silken tofu

Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 45 g | Chubby 1 ½-inch section ginger
• 60 ml | ¼ cup agave syrup or mild-tasting honey
• 65 g | ⅓ cup firmly packed light brown sugar or palm sugar
• 120 ml | ½ cup water
• Two 450g | 16 oz packages silken tofu

Instructions

• Prep the ginger: Use a swivel peeler to peel (or a sharp-edged spoon to scrape) the skin off the ginger. Thinly Very thinly slice the ginger crosswise then smash the pieces with the broad side of your knife blade (or use a small heavy saucepan or meat mallet).
• Make the ginger syrup: In a small (2-quart | 2L) saucepan, combine the ginger, agave, sugar (coarse chop if using palm sugar), and water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then lower the heat to around medium-low to briskly simmer until fragrant and slightly thickened, about 6 minutes. To test: coat the back of a metal spoon and drag your fingertip across and a faint line should hold. Turn off the heat and let sit for about 15 minutes, uncovered, to intensify flavor and thicken to a maple syrup-like consistency. Set a mesh strainer over a small bowl, pour through the syrup, press on the solids, then discard the ginger. You should have a generous ½ cup (120ml). Use soon or transfer to a jar and refrigerate for up to 1 week; return to room temperature to use.
• Scoop the tofu: Gather six small bowls (what you'd serve rice or ice cream in). Pour out any excess water from the tofu tub. Wield a broad, shallow metal serving spoon in a horizontal motion to scoop up large, thin pieces of the tofu, dividing them among the bowls. (It's normal for the pieces to be irregular in shape and size.)
• Warm the tofu, assemble, and serve: To warm the tofu, put as many bowls of tofu in the microwave. Using high power, microwave the tofu for 20-second blasts until the tofu has slightly warmed through. Expect watery whey to release; you can pour it out to avoid diluting the syrup but it's normal to let the whey's delicate tang to add to the overall flavor. Pour about 1 ½ tablespoons of syrup over the top of each bowl. Enjoy with a spoon to get tofu and syrup in each mouthful.