A tofu tour of New York
I took a vacation to explore the tofu tofu capital of the east coast. Five days and 32 restaurants later… I’ve got some recs.
Dear Soycerers,
Sorry for last week’s absence. I took a vacation to explore the tofu capital of the east coast. Five days and 32 restaurants later… I’ve got some recs.
I mainly focused on three neighborhoods: Chinatown, the first mecca of Chinese immigration to New York; Flushing, the current epicenter; and the neighborhood around NYU, which has a huge international student community that demands quality food. Needless to say, there was A LOT.
The best tofu near Flushing, Queens
Flushing is the heart of New York tofu. Half a dozen well equipped supermarkets crowd the mile around Main Street, as do restaurants from most major regions. Sichuan, Lu/Beijing, Su/Shanghai, northeast/Dongbei, Hunan, Henan… The density of options feels like you’re walking through urban China.
Amidst the scene, these four restaurants truly stood apart:
Shanghai You Garden 上海豫园 shanghai yuyuan
Regarded by locals as the best Shanghai restaurant in the city, You Garden also serves some of the best tofu.
Their Sweet Soy Pudding 甜豆花 tiandouhua was better than any of New York’s standalone tofu shops. Delicately tender yet slurpable, the curds cleaved apart only on contact with the inside of the mouth, where they instantly dissolved. This. Is. So. Damn. Impressive. To get this texture, you need to master a tough coagulant: GDL, a salt that’s used to make feta cheese. Use slightly too much, and GDL becomes bitter and leeches water from the curds. Rested too long, and the curds break down. Added at a too-low-or-too-high temperature, and the curds won’t conjoin, or they will coalesce but become tough. It’s much easier to use gypsum, but the curds crumble, not cleave, maybe like a mushy yogurt. Still delicious, but not the same.
Do also try their Indian Aster 马兰头 malantou, a cold salad made from peppery Chinese greens, minced pressed tofu, sesame oil, and white pepper; Soy Peas, Pickled Cabbage & Shredded Bean Curd 雪菜毛豆豆干 xuecai maodou dougan, a salad made from lacto-fermented potherb mustard, who’s refreshing sweet, salty, bitters are a role model for the rest of the brassica family; and Fried Bean Gluten 烤麸 kaofu, which is a leavened seitan braised in sweet daylily-infused soy sauce. Their Braised Bean Curd 素鸡 suji is maybe the only Shanghai tofu served in NYC, though it’s probably not worth your time. They buy their Shanghai tofu pre-fried, leaving it dense and dry, rather than rich and custardy.
You Garden also offers several preparations for stinky tofu, as well as Chinese seitan puffs, which are gelatinous, not chewy. I didn’t have room to try. Cash, Zelle, or Venmo only.
Flushing: 13533 40th Rd, Flushing, NY 11354
Bayside: 41-07 Bell Blvd, Bayside, NY 11361
Sheng Jin 盛津美食 shengjin meishi
Chef Liang of Shengjin recreates the breakfast foods of Tianjin, a true rarity. While his fresh tofu pudding 豆腐脑 doufunao has egg, the Gabacai Food 嘎巴菜 gabacai is fully vegan. Enjoy a hearty mung bean and wheat-based crepe, softened until slippery and gelatinous, served in a thick five-spiced gravy. The bowl is topped with a red fermented tofu, what Tianjin locals call 酱豆腐 jiangdoufu.
The entrance to Shengjin has no English, besides an awning with an address and the name of the management group, Tian Mei Inc. Walk in under the yellow sign, past the first shop selling noodles, to the end of the hallway. Their menu is a poster on the wall, without much English. See our photos for instructions. Order before noon or they will sell out. Cash only.
41-40 Main St, Flushing, NY 11355
Xin Huo Ban 新伙伴 xinhuoban
Need to identify an authentic northeastern restaurant? Look for middle-aged uncles sipping Chinese beers at 11 am. In the daytime, cold salads are laid out at the counter like Panda Express, ready for pickup, or you can order from a full menu. In the evenings, the offerings shift to Chinese BBQ. While we only tasted a few of their items, the restaurant bustle suggested there was plenty more to savor.
I wholeheartedly recommend their Stewed Tofu Sticks 卤味腐竹 luwei fuzhu, layered yuba stewed in a broth of cinnamon, nutmeg (?), chili, Sichuan peppercorn, and a host of other warm spices. Their Pressed Tofu with Potherb Mustard and Edamame 雪菜毛豆豆干 xuecai maodou dougan was also fantastic. Lacto-fermented mustard greens lent a fresh but salty base that whetted the palette, and creamy edamame, sweet carrot, and neutral tofu held everything together.
I would have loved to order their…
Dry Bean Curd Salad 炝拌豆腐干 qiangban doufugan
Dried Tofu w. Pepper 尖椒干豆腐 jianjiao gandoufu
Kebabs…
Fresh Tofu Skin 鲜腐皮 xianfupi – yuba
Vegetable Roll 菜卷 caijuan – usually tofu sheets rolled around cilantro, scallion, or enoki.
Dry tofu 干豆腐 gandoufu – tofu sheets
Gluten 面筋 mianjin – Chinese seitan
Old Luo Yang 老洛阳 laoluoyang
Okay, I’m cheating on this one. Old Luo Yang doesn’t serve tofu, per se. BUT they have a mean kaofu, or raised seitan, that’s served atop New York’s best northwestern style liangpi noodles. Liangpi are made by washing the starch out of wheat dough, then steaming that starch into noodles. The leftover wheat protein, or gluten, is steamed into a spongy, porous seitan. If you’re eating just one dish, order the Three Color Cold Noodle 三拼凉皮 sanpin liangpi, which incorporates sweet potato, spinach, and carrot vegetable juice into the noodles. Their liangpi are uniquely delicate, thinner than most, and are served in a supremely refreshing dressing of smoky chili oil, roasted sesame butter, black vinegar, and northwestern spices. These are so, so, so much better than Xi’An Famous Foods… don’t get me started.
135-42 39th Ave, Flushing, NY 11354
Honorable Mentions
Kulu Desserts 咕噜甜品 gulu tianpin
This small chain is a near replica of Meet Fresh, a popular brand serving Chinese dessert soups. One of their offerings is a homemade Tofu Pudding, 招牌豆花 zhaopai douhua, topped with taro mochi, peanuts or barley, and red bean or peach jelly. Unlike tender GDL-based douhua, theirs doesn’t have pillowy length, the type that can be slurped without falling apart. Rather, it’s soft, crumbling away, maybe more like yogurt. Cold, refreshing, with a not-too-sweet brown sugar syrup. Perfect for a hot day.
Flushing: 37-06 Prince St, Flushing, NY 11354, USA
See here for a full list of locations.
Cheli 浙里 zheli
This is a Zhejiang/Shanghai restaurant from the same group as Szechuan Mountain House. Their decor and service are perfect, the plating is exquisite, and plant-based options are pretty good. Get the Sixi Wheat Gluten 四喜烤麸 sixikaofu, which is saltier, stickier, and more peanut-y than some, as well as the Fried Tofu Bites 一品豆腐 yipindoufu, which are tiny cubes of soft tofu coated in cornstarch, white pepper, chili powder, and sesame seeds, then fried. Their shell is just a little crisp, only a little rough, and the morsel dissolves as it hits your tongue: 入口即化 rukoujihua. The Tofu Skin Rolls w. Mixed Vegetables 隐素烧鹅 yinsushao’e was interesting, had a tartness like cream cheese, but was not popular with our group.
Flushing: 133-42 39th Ave, Flushing, NY 11354
East Village: 19 St Marks Pl, New York, NY 10003
Spicy Palace 马路边边 malubianbian
Hot pot is pretty much standardized. Soup bases are almost all premade, so the main differentiators are ingredient freshness, variety, cost, service, and ambiance. Spicy Village, one of the most popular hotpot shops in Flushing, does well on all of these. When I visited, they offered five different types of tofus, arranged on skewers that you picked from self-service coolers. Rather than settling for a generic “tofu sampler plate,” you can see what’s fresh, then grab exactly what you want and how much you want. My server was wonderful. Their mushroom soup base is vegan. Be sure to sample the red fermented tofu at the toppings bar.
3717 Prince St, Flushing, NY 11354
Private Kitchen 小东北 xiaodongbei
Northeastern Dongbei food gravitates towards salt, umami, garlic, and fat. But Private Kitchen, serving similar dishes in Flushing, mellows things out. Their Grandma’s Mixed Cold Dish 外婆大拌菜 waipo dabancai is a perfect summertime salad: ribbons of tofu sheets, cucumber, carrot, purple cabbage, and cilantro, juicily dressed in sweetened vinegar, chili oil, and sesame seeds. Stir Fried Dry Tofu with Chili Pepper 尖椒干豆腐 jianjiao gandoufu is also nice: wide-cut tofu sheets, blanched in alkali water until tender, enveloped in a comfortable, starch-thickened soy sauce. The chili is not smoky like most, rather nearly raw. The dish is mainly for texture. NOTE: for vegan request no meat 免肉 mianrou, 纯素 chunsu.
3635 Main St., Flushing, NY 11354
Sweet Yummy House 三好小馆 sanhao xiaoguan
This eatery would be higher on the list if it weren’t in Elmhurst, a nearby neighborhood that is similarly rich in Chinese food and culture. I would have wrote more recommendations, but merely stumbled through on a hectic grocery run.
Sweet Yummy House’s Shredded Dry Bean Curd w. Chives 韭菜炒香干 jiucai chao xianggan was ultra savory. Their pressed tofu had the perfect q-tan elasticity and was silky and perfectly seasoned. They wouldn’t tell me the brand of tofu that they used, but I suspect it’s Lam Sheng Kee 林生记 linshengji “dried beancurd”. The garlic chives were clearly salted independently of the tofu, accentuating their pungent allium essence. NOTE: this dish is listed on the menu under VEGETABLES, not BEAN CURD.
83-13 Broadway, Elmhurst, NY 11373
The Best Tofu in the East Village
The small neighborhood around New York University is home to nearly 6000 students from China, and they demand great food. Between standalone eateries and Flushing transplants, there’s quite a lot to enjoy.
On average, our nine-person tofu tour rated these eateries an 8/10 or higher.
Chef Tan’s 蜀湘门第 shuxiang mendi
This eatery may serve New York’s best spongy tofu dry pot, which at Chef Tan’s is called Griddle Home Style Chiba Tofu 干锅千页豆腐 ganguo qianyedoufu. The bean curd is par-fried to puff and tenderize, then stir fried in a garlicky fermented bean sauce. The chilies impart flavor but don’t overwhelm. Their Mapo Tofu 麻婆豆腐 mapodoufu was also the best I had tasted in a long time. Hot, numbing, silky, spicy… Their version is meat-free (which is common in China!), and had the perfect harmony between savory fermented broad beans 豆瓣酱 doubanjiang, accents of fermented soybeans 豆豉 douchi, and sweet scalded leeks. Their use of Sichuan peppercorn oil, rather than powder, lends numbing and flavor without the grittiness. They offer an extensive array of other Hunan and Sichuan delicacies.
37 St Marks Pl, NY 10003
Cheli 浙里 zheli
This is a Zhejiang/Shanghai restaurant from the same group as Szechuan Mountain House. Their decor and service are perfect, the plating is exquisite, and plant-based options are pretty good. Get the Sixi Wheat Gluten 四喜烤麸 sixikaofu, which is saltier, stickier, and more peanut-y than some, as well as the Fried Tofu Bites 一品豆腐 yipindoufu, which are tiny cubes of soft tofu coated in cornstarch, white pepper, chili powder, and sesame seeds, then fried. Their shell is just a little crisp, only a little rough, and the morsel dissolves as it hits your tongue: 入口即化 rukoujihua. The Tofu Skin Rolls w. Mixed Vegetables 隐素烧鹅 yinsushao’e was interesting, had a tartness like cream cheese, but was not popular with our group.
Flushing: 133-42 39th Ave, Flushing, NY 11354
East Village: 19 St Marks Pl, New York, NY 10003
Recommendations from Others:
While I didn’t have time to visit myself, several friends recommended Spicy Moon, which serves plant-based Sichuan and American Chinese food in the East and West Villages. They are always busy.
East Village: 328 E 6th St, New York, NY 10003
West Village: 68 W 3rd St, New York, NY 10012
The Tastiest Tofu in Chinatown (Manhattan)
When New Yorkers think of Chinese food, the first place they generally think of is Manhattan’s Chinatown. This is for good reason: the region is home to hundreds (?) of family run restaurants. While most represent Fujianese and Cantonese cuisines, which generally have fewer plant-based tofu options, the number of eateries ensures there is still a lot.
46 Bakery
This nondescript Chinese cafe makes the best fresh tofu pudding 豆花 douhua in Chinatown. Plump, firm, slurpable, and served with a brown sugar ginger syrup. They also have fresh soymilk, mochi, and assorted baked goods. Cash only.
46 Mott St, New York, NY 10013
Fong On 宏安 hong’an
Founded during the Great Depression in 1933, Fong On is one of the longest-serving tofu shops in the United States. Now run by grandson Paul Eng, the shop serves sweet and savory tofu pudding. The sweet comes with either brown sugar, almond, or ginger syrup, and you can choose from numerous add-ins. (They only offer one savory version, which comes with dried shrimp, Taiwanese-style.) Their tofu is plump and refreshing, crumbling rather than cleaving, which I prefer slightly less. Still worth a trip.
81 Division St, New York, NY 10002
Bodhi Kosher Vegetarian 佛菩提 foputi
One of the most popular vegan Chinese restaurants in the city, Bodhi Kosher crafts Cantonese treats, ranging from dim sum to stir fries. When I visited, I didn’t try any of their tofu!! I’m including them because the other items were solid, and this place is very popular.
77 Mulberry St, New York, NY 10013
Buddha Bodai Kosher
Another popular vegan Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, Buddha Bodai serves an extensive menu of dim sum and stir fries. Their food is more subtle that the eateries in Flushing, but also very delicious. This restaurant made me want to live in New York back in 2015. On this trip I only tried their 冬菇素鸭 donggu suya, which I think had an English name like mock duck with shiitake. It was a roll of slightly puffy fried yuba, filled with mild, comforting mushrooms.
5 Mott St. New York NY, 10013
A Note on Food Recommendations
These restaurants are my personal favorites, but (and this is a big but!) taste is EXTREMELY subjective. Sure, chefs can refine a specific food philosophy (i.e., slurpable tofu curds), but I don’t think that one philosophy is absolutely better than another!
This is all to say, you may have places you prefer over these ones, and that’s great. The more we appreciate the food around us, the better :)