Background
This experiment explores the potential of transforming tofu into a cheese-like product using koji. The process involves salting the tofu, inoculating it, and allowing the mold to grow, followed by drying. The goal is to replicate the texture and umami profile of cheese, specifically looking at variables like smoking, drying conditions, and aging environments.
Recipe
Ingredients
Tofu
Salt (2% by weight)
Koji Spores
Equipment
Jar
Fermentation Chamber
Instructions
-
Salting
Combine the tofu with 2% salt by weight in a jar and allow it to sit overnight. -
Inoculation
Inoculate the salted tofu with the koji spores. -
Incubation
Place the tofu in a fermentation chamber and allow the koji to grow. -
Drying
Once inoculated, dry the tofu to the desired consistency.
Notes and Observations
- The resulting flavor is cheese-like, similar to a mild brie, but lacks a unique or hard-to-identify funk.
- The texture of the interior is quite dense. The breakdown of proteins into amino acids provides a “tacky” mouthfeel similar to real cheese.
- Excess moisture in the chamber prevented a perfect inoculation.
- Future iterations should explore using a lighter variety of tofu to address the density issues.
- We intend to test a longer run with several variations:
- Smoking the tofu either before inoculation or immediately before drying.
- Utilizing a softer, more gradual drying process.
- Cold dry aging, similar to methods used for meat or traditional cheese (colder than room temperature).
- Grinding the tofu before inoculation to alter the texture.
- Aging the finished product in a flavored oil and herb mixture.