Kyotofu Original Tofu
by Celia Sin-Tien Cheng
March 16, 2007
KYOTOFU
705 9th Ave
(48th & 49th Sts)
New York, NY 10019
212-974-6012
Kyotofu is a darling little hide-away in Hell’s Kitchen. This very modern restaurant is predominantly white, inside and out, and doesn’t have any loud signage, which actually makes it stand out amongst its neighbors — it’s noticeable precisely because it is trying to be quiet.
The restaurant is small and seats around thirty, but the space is beautifully designed. The kitchen and bar space are open in plain view upon entering Kyotofu. The counter space at the bar and by the window are good hang outs, but the main seating area is through the corridor formed by the bar and kitchen: two rows of seats on each side of the wall in the back room.
Kyotofu is a dessert bar, but they also have savory bites on the menu and a fun drink list with sake, shochu and cocktails. Being the savory girl that I am, I’ve tried everything on the list other than the cheese plate: daily selection of otsumami appetizer plate, Kyotofu original tofu, black edamame, tofu chicken tsukune _meatballs, mini _onigiri rice balls. These are all small plates so even with two people you could sample all of the savory dishes on the list.
The tofu chicken tsukune is nice because the addition of tofu mixed with minced chicken meatballs made the texture softer and tender. But the real knockout of the lot is the Kyotofu original tofu.
This original tofu is served with two dipping sauces, one sweet and one savory. The sweet one is kuromitsu, a Japanese black sugar syrup, and the savory a white soy sauce. The natural association is that the darker sauce should be the savory soy, and the white a sugar syrup, but here it’s actually the reverse. The tofu is like Chinese dou hua, extremely fine silken tofu that is served as dessert but can also be served as a savory depending on the sauce. But I’ve actually never had dou hua with a texture as fine as Kyotofu’s original tofu. It’s fresh and warm and as good as tofu gets. Some people have the misconception that tofu is disgusting, either too mushy or too stiff, but soy products are actually one of the most versatile, ranging from yuba, tofu skin, silken tofu, to medium firmness that can be deep-fried, or harder ones used for stinky-tofu; there’s just endless possibilities for taste and texture! This rendition is just exquisite! It’s a fine piece of art both to look at and to taste!
As part of the otsumami plate was a tsukune gratin. Tsukune, as mentioned before is chicken meatballs, but this version is in a little dish that is baked and topped with a slice of renkon, lotus root, and it’s an interesting way to serve tsukune, which is usually served on skewers, and rather successful.
I am a big onigiri, rice ball, fanatic, and while the aojiso, pickled shiso, mini onigiris looked tasty, the rice was too firm and the accompanying tsukemono, pickled vegetables, a bit generic and lackluster.
For dessert, the black sesame sweet tofu is lovely, with the pairing of hojicha tea syrup. Hojicha is a stronger barky tasting tea that is often served after a meal. Creating syrup from this rooty tasting tea is a fun idea that works and pairs well with the gritty sweetness of black sesame. The sansho pepper tofu cheese cake is rather interesting and not at all what I expected. The sansho flavor is more for accent and subtle, which is probably good since a larger dose may numb your mouth, but the tofu cheese cake’s sourness threw me off a bit. The texture was more refined and less dense than that of traditional cheesecakes. I’m still not sure how I feel about this one.
I love shochu, Japanese distilled liquor, kind of like Japanese vodka. I usually drink it Japanese old man style with hot water and a pickled plum, though that kills the essence of the liquor. Shochu can be made from rice, wheat, potato, or other grains or starches. Kyotofu serves a shochu from the producer Beniotme in Fukuoka that’s made from white sesame. Drinking this on the rocks is really fabulous as you get the aftertaste and sweet aroma of the white sesame. I don’t mean to say that the drink is sweet, as it is a rather stiff hard liquor, but the lingering essence of the white sesame gives it a rich flavorful sweetness.
For an education on how good tofu can be, I would definitely rush to Kyotofu to try their original tofu. It’s a fun and comfortable place to hang out, although given its limited seating, it gets rather crowded so go early or late.
