Tofu gets a lot of grief because it was touted in America by a bunch of stinky hippies who said you could use it as a meat replacement.
Tofu isn't a meat replacement. It's not anything like meat. Tofu is its own thing, and if you eat it as its own thing, it can be good. It can also be flavorless. I personally like it, but I totally get why Americans have an instant revulsion to it. If someone said it tasted like cherry pie and you tried it and it tasted like tofu, I'd be angry too.
I think that westerners are just so prion-poisoned that a majority believe that meat is an absolute must in every meal, and that this gave rise to the idea of tofu being a "meat replacement" because the idea of a meal not having anything taking the role of "meat" was completely unthinkable.
It's because westerners came from a culture where if you were a vegetarian you were a low-status peasant who ate porridge for every meal. As soon as they could afford it they started eating meat. Pretty soon if you didn't have meat with every meal, that meant you were a low-status peasant who ate porridge for every meal.
I wish other Japanese soups beyond ramen caught on in the west. Chankonabe, what sumo wrestlers bulk up with, is so good. Crackers would be exposed to culinary mushrooms, tofu, and bitter vegetables.
Tofu gets a lot of grief because it was touted in America by a bunch of stinky hippies who said you could use it as a meat replacement.
Tofu isn't a meat replacement. It's not anything like meat. Tofu is its own thing, and if you eat it as its own thing, it can be good. It can also be flavorless. I personally like it, but I totally get why Americans have an instant revulsion to it. If someone said it tasted like cherry pie and you tried it and it tasted like tofu, I'd be angry too.
I think that westerners are just so prion-poisoned that a majority believe that meat is an absolute must in every meal, and that this gave rise to the idea of tofu being a "meat replacement" because the idea of a meal not having anything taking the role of "meat" was completely unthinkable.
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It's because westerners came from a culture where if you were a vegetarian you were a low-status peasant who ate porridge for every meal. As soon as they could afford it they started eating meat. Pretty soon if you didn't have meat with every meal, that meant you were a low-status peasant who ate porridge for every meal.
People who don't like tofu...
I wish other Japanese soups beyond ramen caught on in the west. Chankonabe, what sumo wrestlers bulk up with, is so good. Crackers would be exposed to culinary mushrooms, tofu, and bitter vegetables.