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Tofu is so often featured online in videos of people tasting it for the first time, as if it were some exotic, weird food, but in Hawaii where tofu is a staple, we know better.
About the business: Since 1950, Aloha Tofu Factory Inc. has made tofu and related food products that are widely available at grocery stores, and in 2015 the company opened a lunchtime storefront at Dole Cannery.
Now it has launched a Wednesday pop-up, offering to-go items at Shingon Shu Hawaii, a temple on Sheridan Street near Keeaumoku Street.
“We’ve been just kind of playing with the idea of what we can make with tofu, just to support the rest of the factory, and we’ve been able to generate some interest,” said Paul Uyehara, company president.
Some of that interest came from Shingon Shu, which offered the company space in its parking lot to sell vegetarian tofu katsu donburi ($7), a not-necessarily-vegetarian bento special ($9) and other popular items, such as oboro-dofu ($2) and okara cookies ($3.50).
ALOHA TOFU TOWN TO GO
Shingon Shu Hawaii, 915 Sheridan St.
>> Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays
>> Prices: $2 to $9
>> Parking: Small lot
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MORE TOFU TO GO
>> Aloha Tofu Factory: 961 Akepo Lane, 845-2669. Opens at 7:30 a.m. daily, closing at 11 a.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays and at 4:30 p.m. other days. Call ahead to ensure that an item such as okara or fresh soy milk hasn’t sold out for the day.
>> Aloha Tofu Town: Dole Cannery, 585-8588. 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays, plus Saturdays through June. Lunches and other products available, including tofu mousse and okara cream puffs. Two-hour parking validation.
Visit aloha-tofu.com.
About the food: The vegetarian katsudon’s featured protein is tofu, breaded and fried tonkatsu style. “I must say myself, it’s excellent,” Uyehara said.
Oboro-dofu is a softer tofu, offered in a single-serve pack that comes with a spoon and a shoyu packet.
Okara, soybean pulp left from the tofu-making process, is widely used in traditional Japanese dishes, but its inclusion in cookies is sort of a creative American reflection of the “mottainai” or “don’t be wasteful” mindset so prevalent in Japanese culture.
Uyehara said the aim of the farmers market-style setup is to offer something different for lunch. “Younger people are becoming more aware of their health, what they eat, and becoming vegetarian by choice,” he said, while the older generation tends to like the portable okazu-ya approach.
Natto or other company products might be added to the offerings. Uyehara is seeing an increased interest in natto, likely given the rising popularity of fermented food and its health benefits.
Grab and go: Shingon Shu has a small parking lot, and there is some street parking. Otherwise, tag-team it with someone so one can drive and the other can run in for the food. For now, transactions are cash-only, Uyehara said.
Grab and Go focuses on takeout food, convenience meals and other quick bites. Email ideas to crave@staradvertiser.com.
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