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Fermentation Atlas

Soy and legumes from Thailand

Tao-huu-yee (Thai fermented tofu)เต้าหู้ยี้

Tao-huu-yee is the Thai form of Chinese fermented tofu. At a Songkhla factory, firm tofu is soaked in brine, cut into small cubes and layered in lidded jars with mouldy rice koji, then left for about nine months, opened to the sun on fine days, until it turns yellow and mellow. It is then bottled and boiled. Made in 6 steps over 9.2 months – 9.5 months. The longest step, layer rice koji and tofu in lidded jars and ferment, takes 9 months (Chalad C. 2001) and runs at 29–31 °C (Chalad C. 2001). Salt is 10.1–11.3 % (Chalad C. 2001). Aspergillus, Syncephalastrum and Bacillus, dominant in the rice koji and Bacillus, Pediococcus and Saccharomyces, found throughout the fermentation; Aspergillus and Bacillus make proteases and amylases do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step9 monthsReported[chalad2001]Layer rice koji and tofu in lidded jars and ferment
Temperature29–31 °CMeasured[chalad2001]Layer rice koji and tofu in lidded jars and ferment
Salt10.1–11.3 %Measured[chalad2001]Layer rice koji and tofu in lidded jars and ferment
AciditypH 5–5.8Measured[chalad2001]Layer rice koji and tofu in lidded jars and ferment
Fully documentedSoy and legumes9.2 months – 9.5 monthsMore soy and legumesMore from Thailand

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedFactory process described in a 2001 Prince of Songkla University thesis; no amounts are given.
Soybeans · Soaked, ground and boiled into soy milk, then set with gypsum[chalad2001]
Gypsum (calcium sulfate) · To set the tofu[chalad2001]
Salt brine · The tofu strips are soaked in it before cubing[chalad2001]
Cooked rice, left to grow mould into koji · Layered with the tofu cubes as the starter[chalad2001]
Starter: rice koji grown spontaneously on cooked rice

Total time across the recorded steps: 9.2 months – 9.5 months

Start
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Close-up: water moving into a bean

What changes: Starting material: soybeans soaked in water

Step 1 of 6
Soak the soybeans
Time
6 h
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Aspergillus
Bacillus
Pediococcus
Saccharomyces
Moulds

Output: soaked soybeans.

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

What makes this one different

Unlike Chinese sufu, which is usually started with Actinomucor mould grown on the tofu itself, this Thai factory ferments salted tofu cubes against a layer of mouldy rice koji for nine months. The red version gets its colour from red yeast rice.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Red tao-huu-yeeFermented with red yeast rice, which colours it red; sold as 'red tofu'.
  • Taokoan (Indonesia) and tau ju (Malaysia)Local names for Chinese-style fermented tofu.

Safety

Aflatoxin B1 (10.8–22.8 ppb) was found in the fermenting tofu, and Aspergillus strains from it made the toxin in culture, so the rice koji must be clean and free of toxin-forming moulds. The finished jars are boiled after bottling.

Hazards the sources name: Staphylococcus; Aflatoxin B1 at 10.8–22.8 ppb in the fermenting tofu; Aspergillus isolates made it in culture.

History and sources

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

The method studied in 2001 came from a tao-huu-yee factory in Songkhla, southern Thailand; the thesis describes it as the fourth of several production methods.

  1. [chalad2001] Chalad C. 2001, Microbiology of fermented soya bean curd (sufu), MSc thesis in microbiology, Prince of Songkla University (read from the scanned PDF)paper
  2. [templeofthai] Temple of Thai, Fermented bean curd (product page; red tofu made with red rice)web
  3. [wp-furu] Wikipedia, Fermented bean curd (names only)wiki