- There are obvious differences between soft tofu and firm tofu in terms of production process, appearance and texture, taste and flavor, nutritional content and cooking methods, as follows:
Craftsmanship
Tender tofu: Generally uses glucono-delta-lactone（GDL) as a coagulant. After adding the coagulant, the soy milk coagulates and forms a shape. It does not require pressing after forming and has strong water retention, resulting in a higher yield than firm tofu.
Firm tofu: Uses gypsum, brine, or sour whey as a coagulant. The soy milk is mixed with the coagulant and coagulates into tofu pudding. After forming, it needs to be pressed to further drain the water.
Appearance texture
Tender tofu: white in color, very tender and soft in texture, smooth surface, high water content, close to the state of tofu pudding, easy to break with a light touch.
Firm tofu: The color is generally slightly yellow, the texture is firm, the tissue is solid, there is a certain hardness and elasticity, and it is not easy to break.
Taste flavor
Tender tofu: The taste is delicate and tender, with a melt-in-your-mouth tenderness and lack of chewiness.
Firm tofu: Tight texture, solid texture, hard taste, with a certain chewiness, more solid to eat.
Nutritional Gallery of Healing Foods
Tender tofu: higher water content and relatively low protein content, generally more than 5%, but the coagulant is mostly gypsum, and the calcium content is richer than that of old tofu.
Old tofu: After pressing during the production process, the moisture content is less, the protein content is higher, which is more than 7.4%, and the zinc and selenium content in old tofu is about 2 times that of soft tofu.
Matching method to product
Tender tofu: It is suitable for making some dishes that pursue a tender taste, such as mapo tofu, tofu soup, cold tofu, tofu soup, crab roe tofu, etc., and is not suitable for long-term high-temperature frying and frying.
Firm tofu: suitable for frying, frying, stewing, stewing and other cooking methods, such as pan-fried tofu, scallion stewed tofu, etc., which can better maintain the shape during the cooking process, and can fully absorb the flavor of the soup, so that the tofu is more flavorful.
