The cry of vendors selling toha at the corner of a street in Saigon in the afternoon, as Saigonese take their nap, is a cry that leaves your palate craving.
Toha or silken tofu in caramel syrup is peddled by vendors on the streets of Saigon and is an excellent health food and also helps to cool you on a hot day.
Watching a toha vendor skillfully skim thin pieces of silky bean curd into bowls and then pour caramel syrup and boiled coconut milk over it would make any mouth water. White velvety tofu covered with delicious golden dark caramel syrup and opaque coconut milk is scrumptiously delicious.
With every spoon of tofu you taste the pure flavor of soya bean starch, thick coconut milk and sweet syrup flavored with ginger. As you savor this unique flavor you learn to appreciate the effort that a vendor puts into preparing this dish so skillfully and dexterously so as not to break the tofu while skimming.
Silken tofu in caramel syrup is made from soya bean but is prepared in different ways in different parts of the country.
People in the south call toha “tàu hủ” whereas in the north it is known as “tàu phớ”. Toha is served in the south with syrup and coconut milk but in the north people eat this dish without the coconut milk. Gourmets often call tofu in syrup as “đậu hoa” (blossom tofu) in some regions.
Recipe for Toha or silken tofu in caramel syrup:
Ingredients
• A bowl of dried soybean soaked in water for 6 hours
• 2 coffee spoons of ground plaster.
• 50g of rice flour
• Pandan
• A ceramic cauldron
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup water
Directions
To make silken tofu
Soak a bowl of soya beans in water for 6 hours. Then grind them with 7 bowls of water in a blender. Strain the mixture and boil this strained milk mixture with pandan. Mix rice flour with water and then pour it over the boiled soya bean milk. Mix 2 coffee spoons of plaster with 3 coffee spoons of water and pour the mixture into a ceramic cauldron.
After pouring the boiled milk into the cauldron cover it for at least 1 hour.
To make caramel syrup:
Put sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and cook until it turns brown. Add water and thin pieces of ginger. Be careful when you do this as the sugar is very hot and it will steam up when mixed with water. Bring to a boil then simmer for about 2 minutes before leaving it to cool before using.
To make coconut milk:
Mix 1 coffee spoon of tapioca starch with water. Boil coconut milk in a pan and then pour the tapioca starch mixture into the pan. Add a dash of salt to the boiled coconut milk.
Now with all ingredients ready you can just scoop chilled silken tofu into small broad bowls, pour some caramel syrup and coconut milk over it and enjoy the silky and sumptuous taste of Toha!
