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Soy and legumes from Lashio Township, Myanmar

Lashio fermented tofu cubes ("fermented soybean fleshy cakes")

In Lashio, home producers make a sufu-type fermented tofu. Tofu set with baked gypsum is cut into 1-inch cubes and stored on wooden or bamboo trays for 2 to 7 days, depending on the temperature. The cubes are then inoculated with fungus and fermented in a mix of 12 % salt and 10 % ethanol with ginger, chilli and spices. They are packed for sale and keeping for a long time.

Fully documentedSoy and legumes2.3 days – 7.3 days

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe study records a home-industry method with the brine strengths but not the batch size.
Soybeans[swemartin2008]
Baked calcium sulphate, as a filtrate, to set the soy milk[swemartin2008]
Salt (NaCl) in the fermenting liquid12 %[swemartin2008]
Ethanol in the fermenting liquid10 %[swemartin2008]
Ginger, chillies and spicesto taste[swemartin2008]
Starterthe cubes are inoculated with a fungus

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.3 days – 7.3 days

Start
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What changes: Soaked soybeans are ground and filtered into soy milk

Step 1 of 4
Soak, grind and filter the soybeans
Time
8 h
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Mucor
Rhizopus

Output: soy milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

In Lashio, home producers make a sufu-type fermented tofu. Tofu set with baked gypsum is cut into 1-inch cubes and stored on wooden or bamboo trays for 2 to 7 days, depending on the temperature. The cubes are then inoculated with fungus and fermented in a mix of 12 % salt and 10 % ethanol with ginger, chilli and spices. They are packed for sale and keeping for a long time. Made in 4 steps over 2.3 days – 7.3 days. The longest step, cut into cubes, store on trays, then inoculate with fungus, takes 2–7 days (Swe Mar Tin 2008). Salt is 12 % (Swe Mar Tin 2008). Fungus inoculated onto the tofu cubes (species not named for the Lashio product); in Chinese sufu, Actinomucor, Mucor and Rhizopus species does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step2–7 daysReported[swemartin2008]Cut into cubes, store on trays, then inoculate with fungus
Salt12 %Reported[swemartin2008]Ferment in salt and ethanol with ginger, chilli and spices

What makes this one different

Made like Chinese sufu, by moulding tofu and ripening it in salt and alcohol [han2001], but seasoned with ginger, chilli and spices. It is not the same as Shan tofu, an unfermented gel of chickpea flour.

Related ferments

Safety

The study gives the ripening liquid as 12 % salt and 10 % ethanol [swemartin2008]. A 2013 report in CDC's MMWR covers a 2012 New York City cluster from a different, home-made fermented tofu. It tied one confirmed botulism case to that tofu, said a second, probable case might also come from it, and reports type B toxin in one batch. It said long storage at room temperature in a low-acid, low-salt state may have let the toxin form. A 2026 test of 90 commercial Chinese sufu found Bacillus cereus group bacteria in 97.8 % of them, 6.7 % above 5 log CFU/g. No study we read measures these hazards in the Lashio cubes.

Hazards the sources name: Clostridium botulinum type B toxin, found in one batch of home-fermented tofu in a 2012 New York City botulism cluster (related product, not measured in the Lashio cubes); Bacillus cereus group, found in 97.8 % of 90 commercial sufu samples (related Chinese fermented tofu; not measured in the Lashio cubes).

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

History
The sources we found do not record its history.
  1. [swemartin2008] Swe Mar Tin, Thida Aung, Kay Thi Aung et al. 2008, Study of Glycine max Merr. on its productions and uses in Lashio Township, Universities Research Journal 1(1)paper
  2. [han2001] Han B.Z., Rombouts F.M., Nout M.J.R. 2001, A Chinese fermented soybean food, Int J Food Microbiol 65(1–2):1–10, doi:10.1016/S0168-1605(00)00523-7 (abstract)paper
  3. [han2004] Han B.Z., Kuijpers A.F., Thanh N.V., Nout M.J.R. 2004, Mucoraceous moulds involved in the commercial fermentation of Sufu Pehtze, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 85(3):253–257, doi:10.1023/B:ANTO.0000020157.72415.b9 (abstract)paper
  4. [mmwr2013] CDC 2013, Botulism associated with home-fermented tofu in two Chinese immigrants, New York City, March-April 2012, MMWR 62(26)gov
  5. [jin2026] Jin Z. et al. 2026, Why is Bacillus cereus group enriched in sufu? A study on prevalence, characterization and traceability, Food Microbiology (abstract)paper