Burmese tofu facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Burmese tofu

To hpu (Burmese tofu), in two forms: fresh and fritters
Place of origin	Burma
Associated national cuisine	Burmese cuisine
Main ingredients	water chickpea flour (besan flour) turmeric

Burmese tofu (Burmese: တိုဖူး or Burmese: တိုဟူး) is a special food from Burma. It comes from the Shan people, who live in the eastern part of the country. Even though it's called "tofu," it's actually quite different from the tofu you might know, which is made from soybeans.

Burmese tofu is made from yellow split peas or chickpea flour. It's prepared in a way that's a bit like making polenta. The flour is mixed with water, a yellow spice called turmeric, and a little salt. This mixture is heated and stirred until it becomes thick and creamy. Then, it's poured into a tray and left to cool down and become firm.

The finished Burmese tofu is a matte yellow color. It feels like a firm jelly and doesn't crumble easily when you cut it. You can enjoy it in many ways. It's often eaten fresh in a salad or deep-fried to make crispy Burmese fritters. Sometimes, it's even sliced thin and dried to make crackers that can be deep-fried later.

What is Burmese Tofu Made Of?

Burmese tofu is unique because it uses different ingredients than regular tofu.

Yellow Split Peas or Chickpea Flour

The most common way to make Burmese tofu is with flour from yellow split peas or chickpeas. This flour is also known as besan flour. It gives the tofu its distinctive yellow color and slightly firmer texture.

Making it from Dried Chickpeas

You can also make Burmese tofu from dried chickpeas. First, the chickpeas are soaked in water overnight. This makes them soft and plump. Then, they are ground into a smooth paste with some of the soaking water. After a few hours, the clear liquid on top is removed. The thick paste is then cooked with turmeric and salt, just like the flour version, and left to set.

Different Kinds of Burmese Tofu

There are a few different types of "tofu" you might find in Myanmar.

• Pè bya (ပဲပြား): This is what they call Chinese tofu in Myanmar. It means "flat beans."
• Won ta hpo (Chinese: 溫豆腐; literally "warm tofu"): This is the yellow tofu made from yellow split peas. It's popular in the Shan State.
• To hpu gyauk (တိုဖူးခြောက်း, lit. dried tofu): This is yellow tofu that has been sliced into long, thin rectangles and dried in the sun. They look a bit like fish or prawn crackers and are often sold in bundles.
• To hpu (တိုဖူး or တို့ဖူး): This is the most common type of Burmese tofu. It's made from chickpea flour and has the same yellow color and taste as the Shan version, but it's usually a bit firmer.
• Hsan ta hpo (ဆန်တဖိုး): This type of tofu is made from rice flour. It's white and has a slightly different taste. It's also very popular as a salad, especially in the Shan regions.

How to Enjoy Burmese Tofu

Burmese tofu is a versatile food that can be prepared in many delicious ways.

Fried Tofu Dishes

To hpu gyaw (Burmese tofu fritters) are popular as snacks or in salads.

• To hpu gyaw (တိုဖူးကြော်): These are yellow tofu pieces cut into rectangles, scored in the middle, and deep-fried until crispy on the outside and soft inside. They are often eaten with a spicy, sour dipping sauce or cut up and added to a salad.
• Hnapyan gyaw (နှစ်ပြန်ကြော်): This means "twice fried." The tofu is cut into triangles and fried twice. It's a traditional way to prepare fried tofu in the Shan States.
• To hpu gyauk kyaw (တိုဖူးခြောက်ကြော်): These are the deep-fried dried tofu crackers. They are often served with htamin gyin, which is a popular Shan dish of rice mixed with tomato and fish or potato.

Fried tofu is a great breakfast item with glutinous rice (kauk hnyin baung). It also goes well with other popular Burmese noodle dishes like mohinga (rice noodles in fish soup), nan gyi thouk (rice noodle salad), and Shan khauk swè (Shan-style rice noodles). People in Burma often drink Green tea with these meals.

Tofu Salads

Hnapyan gyaw or "twice fried " Shan tofu fritters served with a side salad at Inle Lake

• To hpu thouk (တိုဖူးသုပ်): This is a very popular tofu salad. Fresh tofu is cut into small rectangular slices and mixed with peanut oil, dark soy sauce, rice vinegar, crushed dried chili, garlic, roasted peanuts, crispy fried onions, and coriander. It can be a snack or a light meal.
• To hpu gyaw thouk (တိုဖူးကြော်သုပ်): This is a salad made by cutting up fried tofu fritters and mixing them with the same delicious dressings and garnishes as to hpu thouk.
• To hpu nway (တိုဖူးနွေး, lit. warm tofu) or to hpu byaw (တိုဖူးပျော့, lit. soft tofu): This is a warm, creamy version of tofu that is served before it fully sets. It's usually served as a salad with the same toppings. You can even combine it with tofu fritters or rice noodles in the same dish.

Curried Tofu

• To hpu gyet (တိုဟူးချက်): Sliced yellow tofu can also be cooked in a Burmese curry. It's made with fresh tomatoes, onions, and garlic, cooked in peanut oil and fish sauce, and topped with coriander and green chili. This dish is a good option for people who eat fish but not meat, and it's a popular and affordable meal to eat with rice.

Gallery

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  To hpu thouk - yellow tofu salad is a national favourite.

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  Hsan ta hpo (rice tofu) salad from the Shan States is as popular as the yellow Burmese tofu salad.

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  Shan hkauk swè (Shan rice noodles) with to hpu gyaw (tofu fritters) served with monnyingyin (pickled mustard greens) on the side

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  To hpu nway (warm Shan tofu) and to hpu gyaw (Shan tofu fritters) salad combines the creamy and crispy forms into a satisfying meal.

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  hnapyan gyaw - twice fried tofu at Shan Market in Mandalay

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  Fried to hpu gyauk make great crackers - a welcome treat.

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  To hpu thouk (Shan tofu salad) hawker at Kaingdan Market in Mandalay

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  To hpu thouk (Burmese tofu salad) hawker at Kuthodaw Pagoda, Mandalay