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I love tofu, it’s probably one of the most versatile “processed food” that is nutritious and healthy. It can be enjoyed either cold or hot, sweet or savory. It has long history and have come a long way since… read
iTofu (愛豆花 in Chinese) has been selling dessert tofu for at least 2 years now, they are located in the Richmond Night Market by the River Rock casino. It is a family owned business for the night market only.
Compare to other food stalls in the night market, iTofu is minimalistic. They have no cooking equipment on site, the serving counter is merely made up of 2 Ikea Kallax cubes; there is a photo menu, a few bottles of sweeteners and a digital photo frame showing the tofu making process, all done by hand. The tofu are made off-site, and they scoop them and add toppings when ordered.
I guess the great thing about tofu is versatility, almost everything goes well with it. iTofu offers fresh mango, tapioca bubbles, grass jelly, etc.. It feels like bubble tea at ChaTime, except I get dessert tofu! Savory options include dried shredded pork and preserved vegetables ????. For the ladies, they have dessert tofu served with bird nest and gold flakes – for $28 ????.
I am greedy and want everything, so I order the tofu parfait with grass jelly, red beans and mango; wife gets the regular dessert tofu with grass jelly, taro balls and squash/pumpkin balls.
These aren’t cheap, but considering there aren’t a lot of tofu shops in town that serves hot, fresh dessert tofu. I don’t mind paying the extra, especially supporting local businesses. The tofu parfait is particularly tricky to prepare, I am paying close attention of the preparation. The guy in the back needs to carefully slice the tofu from the big wooden bucket, and move the tofu into the cup, layers after layers. I guess for the presentation purpose, he doesn’t want to break up the tofu and I can see it is a delicate process. It takes a few minutes to fill up the cup with toppings but the end result is quite unique. To eat that, I could either use the thick straw or a spoon. I find that using the spoon to start is easier and finish with a straw. ????
The tofu is great, it’s silky and soft. I only added a little ginger sugar syrup and that is all to bring out the flavors of this simple yet delicious dessert.
Overall, I am quite satisfy with the dessert from iTofu. It is rare to see someone still make them by hand. I think it could be a lost art that they can be only be mass produced inside factories (and lose the “artisan-ship”). iTofu will be in the night market until early October, it is definitely worth a try.