Product and environment come deliciously together above bubbling waters in Miaoli.
The unassuming exterior and simple decor of Chuanlong Tofu Shop in northern Taiwan’s Miaoli County reflect the natural goodness of the food it offers.
The menu is straightforward—soy milk, soybean pudding, fresh tofu and dried tofu—but each ingredient brought into the shop over Chuanlong Canal in Gongguan Township is sourced with great care. All products are made with nongenetically modified soybeans grown in Taiwan and brined in a mixture of purified water from the Houlong River, which is the origin of the 1840s irrigation waterway that flows under the shop, and salt from the pans of Qigu District in the southern city of Tainan.
Chuanlong’s soybean goods are handmade, lending them a fragrance and texture totally different from that of industrially produced food. Staff start their daily routine at dawn by soaking, grinding and cooking the soybeans, separating the soy milk from the pulp, coagulating it and then pressing the tofu. The quality of the end product relies on nuances such as the soaking time for different batches of beans, the cooking temperature, and when and how much coagulant is added. An experienced worker’s knowledge of each factor has a huge impact on the final products.
Sipping soy milk or enjoying a bowl of soybean pudding while sitting above a centuries-old waterway that forms part of the ingredients list is a unique experience and a delicious way to appreciate the attention to detail that goes into soy products at the shop.
—by Jim Hwang
Soybean pudding
The shop uses only nongenetically modified soybeans grown in Taiwan.
Soy milk freshly out of the grinder is cooked, filtered and bottled.
Brine made with salt from Qigu District in the southern city of Tainan is added to coagulate the soy milk, which is then pressed to squeeze out the moisture.
The texture of soy products is determined by how much water is pressed out.