Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Thanks so much for the good advice and for popping in to comment! For the smoke flavored, I was going to mix liquid smoke in with the miso marinade. Do you think that will be ok? Or would I be better off using a smoked paprika. That sounds good too, but I'd rather go with pure smoke first.

Hi everyone, I am Dang from Rau Om. We're happy to help people make DIY tofu misozuke. Between Recipe Renovator and us we ought to be able to get everyone eating this ancient delicacy.

RR did an awesome job nailing tofu misozuke on the first try. Mostly we've fielded questions in the comments on our tofu misozuke recipe post from some people who encountered mold problems (or wanted to substitute ingredients). A good fridge is great, changing the paper towels when they get soaked helps a lot for lesser fridges. Salts and the microorganism that ferments soybeans into miso then keep the environment hostile to everything else. Airtightness is not a problem. Unless something was absolutely sterile as in canning, I'd rather prefer to have air circulation anyway.

That wrapping nori around the tofu worked for RR surprised us - but we worked with kombu which are intact, broad leaves of seaweed. The kombu when wrapped around the tofu pretty much prevented the miso from permeating the tofu, and things went bad pretty quickly. So it all depends on the permeability of the particular sea vegetable product being used, I guess.

There are indeed longer aged versions of tofu misozuke. The 2 months we found was the minimum for the tofu to become creamy all the way through. We've eaten our 6 months version - the texture doesn't change much, but the flavor was sweeter and changed dramatically with what you ate before and after the tofu misozuke. Mysterious stuff. I've read about 2 years old tofu misozuke too - that'll take a lot of planning and restraint (must..not..eat) on our parts to pull off.

I'd love to hear about the liquid smoke experiment. We tried directly smoking (i.e. with hotplate & tea leaves) the tofu ourselves once. It got too smoky and we haven't had time to go back to it since.

Take care, everyone. I'll try to check back regularly to see if any new questions or concerns pop up.

Welcome Dang! It's great to have you here. I just changed the paper towels on my first two blocks. Exciting!

Thanks so much for stopping in Dang! Life got in my way, but I'm determined to get the batch with liquid smoke started this weekend. I will keep you updated and let you know how it turns out for sure.

My tofu misozuke have been in the fridge for a month now, and when i changed the towels today some of the blocks had grown mold and they smell more like alcohol than miso. I just scraped the mold off and hope for the best. But should I just throw it all away and start over? Or maybe try them now, before they grow even more mold?

The mold problem is tough. The most direct way to address it is to increase the marinade amount and thereby the salt concentration. But molds are more resistant to salt stress than bacteria, so keeping things relatively dry is also essential. That said, some fridges are more troublesome than others w/ regards to molds and I have no idea why.
From the diy miso community I've read that white & red spots are relatively innocuous - just pick them off and finish eating your batch of miso more quickly. If the mold spot is black then discard. But when in doubt at all, it's probably best to toss.

I can't edit? ah anyway, PS: thanks for the welcome, vegimator and Rhizopus Oligosporus!

I decided to try them now instead. The tofu had gotten an whole other texture and had a really salty but kind of a cheese taste to. I cut one block into cubes and marinated them and it reminds of feta cheese :)

I just opened up my plain and seaweed blocks today! It's amazing magic! They are both a much darker in color and softer and creamier in texture than the super firm tofu I started with. The texture is very similar to a slightly crumbly but very creamy and spreadable cheese. The seaweed is stronger, earthier, almost tastes like the fragrance of digging in the dirt at times. The plain is sweeter and mellower, although I use the word mellow with a grain of salt as they are both tangy, salty, and intense in a lovely way. They turned out better than I dared to hope they would, and totally fulfill my stinky cheese cravings. I feel like a mad scientist. I can't wait for next week when my next two batches are ready!

I wrapped each unwrapped block in parchment and put it in it's own zip lock sandwich bag. Is that a good way to store them at this point?

I had the same problem. Had to toss both of my batches. Glad to see someone had success though!

I was an obsessive paper towel changer. Like at least once a week. When in doubt, change 'em!

Excited to see you had success. I must have just been lucky, but I did indeed change the towels once a week.

I came across the method from the second link - slather tofu with miso, wait - in a Christina Pirello cookbook and tried it a few years ago. Not much had changed with my tofu after a couple days, but I didn't catch the botulism and die either, so I guess it worked out. Maybe I'll give the first link a try sometime.

I am gonna try this with frozen defrosted tofu and make fish sticks using the Vegan Lunchbox recipe, I love that recipe but the tofu itself could use a little more oomph. I'll report back.

ack, I'm a wiener baby then! I had no idea my temeph (bought my 1st package a couple of weeks ago, still afraid to use it!) is covered in mold! I did notice a few black spots, the package says that is "normal"! I suppose it is okay, real blue cheese afterall has mold all over it.

I've only got a couple more weeks until mine is ready. Very excited!

actually the whole thing is held together by mold. Its just a bunch of soybeans held together by a mold shell...and its good!

My smoke and red pepper batches both turned out with excellent flavor, but their texture is a little firmer than my first two batches. A little more like a slicing cheese than a spreading cheese, although I can still spread it with a bit of force. I used yellow miso this time and white last time. Perhaps that accounts for the difference in texture.
Today I started two new ones: onion, flavored with a tablespoon of granulated onion; and mushroom, flavored with a tablespoon of powdered dried shitakes (not the filter!).

My misozuke finished fermenting yesterday! I tried all four flavor and liked all of them. Half of my kids liked them too. It was easy so do it!

I just unwrapped my Onion and Mushroom batches today. They are both very soft and creamy, I think because I did not press the tofu for too long before coating in the miso mix. They both have great flavor. The onion has a sort of French Onion flavor to me. The mushroom doesn't specifically taste of mushroom, but does have a sort of dark, complex, slightly smokey flavor. I'm so happy to have tofu misozuke again! I've missed this stuff!

Bexsa, what flavors did you make?

I did one with just the original ingredients and then nori, red pepper and rooibos. Nori was my favorite. I love all things onion so I'm trying your onion idea next. It's a great (well, horrible really) exercise in patience!

Mmff, this is making me want to go out and spend all my moneys on miso and try the nori version. I made the cheesecloth version a few months ago and it was great, but if nori makes it taste like blue cheese...swoon!

This thread is fascinating!!

I want to make it, but I don't want to buy sake just for 2 tbsp! Anyone make it without?