China was making tofu from soybeans more than two thousand years ago.
Shape.com says, ““Generally, less processed soy products, like tofu, are safe and healthy for most people. On the other hand, heavily processed soy-based products should be consumed in moderation, if at all,” advises Ochner, who says edamame, fermented soy, and tofu are considered among the healthiest in the soy family.
When in China, I get up early to go to the nearest market that makes fresh soy juice and I buy it without sugar or sweetener added. There is no comparison. It’s warm. It’s fresh. It’s China. It’s different from the genetically altered, American, factory-farmed soy juice sold in American markets. That stuff is “yuk” and I don’t touch it.
The Chinese invented tofu, but some Americans are reinventing it. For instance, I was introduced to Chocolate Tofu Pie at Mother’s Market in Costa Mesa, California, and I was hooked,.
Back home, I figured out how to make it by experimenting. The following recipe was the result.
Ingredients:
- Two 10-ounce containers of soft or silken organic tofu
- Two four-ounce packages of baker’s, unsweetened chocolate—but use only six of the ounces. This chocolate has no milk or sweeteners added. Use six ounces of the eight.
- One bag of malt-sweetened chocolate bits. There are no dairy or refined sugars in this chocolate. Use half of this bag. If you skip this ingredient, add more of the baker’s, unsweetened chocolate.
- Agave nectar. This low absorbing sweetener is absorbed into the body slowly. You can use any sweeter you want.
- One package of ready-made whole-wheat pie crust (recommended for fiber). You could also make a pie crust out of dates and nuts (see next video)
- Use one tablespoon of arrowroot for a thickener
Directions:
- Mix the tofu in a blender with the arrowroot or another natural thickener.
- Heat the chocolate in a pan (double boiler hopefully) until melted and pour into blended tofu and mix.
- Add the Agave nectar.
- Taste to make sure it is sweet enough and that the bitterness from the baker’s chocolate is gone. Add more Agave if desired. Our daughter enjoys this step the most, since she is the taster.
- Blend until it is all one smooth color.
- Pour equally into the pie pans.
- Put pies in oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
- Let pies cool after cooking; put in refrigerator after they are cool.
The pies will be ready the next day.
Note: I usually shop at Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s for the ingredients used in the tofu chocolate pie.
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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine, Crazy is Normal, Running with the Enemy, and The Redemption of Don Juan Casanova.
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