Hodo Soy tofu products are now available nationwide

Hodo Soy Thai Curry Tofu Nuggets served with veggies over rice.

When we travel to San Francisco, our primary purpose is to visit a loved family member, but I'd be lying if I said we also didn't look forward to the city itself — and the food! I have a number of posts on the blog about our visits to San Francisco, and the great times we have had exploring the Bay Area, and eating in the amazing vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants. Another of the things we always enjoy is visiting farmers markets like the one at the Ferry Building, and the Marin Farmers Market. When I go to a store in Seattle to buy a lemon or a lime or dates — I buy a lemon, a lime or dates. When I go to the farmers markets in and near San Francisco, I have to choose among 10 different varieties, all grown nearby. It's mind boggling. Even the tofu seems more exotic. It was at one of the farmers markets that I first tried Hodo Soy tofu, and I loved it so much, it really bugged me that it was only available in the Bay Area. Whenever I visited San Francisco, I always had to have some. The Hodo Soy tofu has a texture that is firm, chewy and almost squeaky. It's kind of like fresh cheese curds, if you've ever had those. And the yuba is so good. When I read they had started selling nation-wide, I was so excited. The Whole Foods near my house carries it, though the selection and availability are limited. So far we've only seen the curried tofu nuggets and the spicy yuba noodles, but hey, it's a start!

Hodo Soy Spicy Yuba noodles served with mixed veggies and miso soup.

You might be wondering what yuba is. When a pot of soymilk is heated, a skin forms on the surface. The skin is yuba. The skin is removed, and a new skin is allowed to form. The process is repeated over and over again. The yuba can be used fresh, or it may be frozen or dried. We often buy the dried form rolled up into tubes, which we re-hydrate and cook in soup, especially miso soup. The sheets can be used to make wraps. The Hodosoy Spicy Yuba Noodles are something special. They come in a vacuum pack ready to eat, or add to a dish.

Since last summer, I've been cooking pretty much fat-free, but when using prepared foods or eating out, fat-free doesn't apply. The tofu nuggets are fried, but the fat content doesn't seem terribly high to me and the taste is excellent. We don't eat them very often, but they add a great taste and texture to our dinner when we do.








I've included photos of the box fronts and backs so you can see the ingredients and other information. I hope you can find Hodo Soy products where you live. They are so delicious.



Here's one last image of the Thai curry nuggets served with a homemade curry sauce over rice.

p.s. I was not given free product to write a review. I wrote it because I enjoy Hodo Soy products and wanted to share  information about them.

A weekend of eating in San Francisco and Santa Cruz part 2

The sky was really that blue.

Usually when we go to San Francisco, we stay in or pretty close to the city — hiking at Land's End, exploring the Marin Farmers Market, wandering through the Botanical Garden in Berkeley, taking in the delights of the city — that sort of thing. But on this trip, I really wanted to see Santa Cruz, so on Sunday morning, we hit the road and headed South. Before we left Seattle, I contacted Amey from Vegan Eats and Treats, to ask what she recommended we see, and working from her suggestions, and some favorite spots of Alison's, we had a full day's worth of places to explore and food to consume. None of the four of us are very good at random shopping — I usually have to be in the exact right mood to enter shops I hadn't been planning to enter — so we just walked the downtown streets soaking up the eclectic atmosphere, ogling the charming shop window displays and working up an appetite for lunch.

There were several places we could have found vegan food, but Café Gratitude seemed like an excellent choice, and we headed there. We'd dined at Café Gratitude in Berkeley, and really liked it. Alison had either a roasted vegetable sandwich or a BLT — can't remember which.

Jordan had his sandwich with a side of tortilla soup, and Ken had a salad with fig balsamic dressing, which he loved. I don't seem to have a photo of the salad, but picture something fresh and green.

The past two nights dinners weren't sitting so well with me, and although I was hungry for lunch, I really wanted something plain and simple — which is not to say tasteless. I found the perfect solution in a basic bowl filled with perfectly cooked and fluffy millet, black beans and baby kale, with tahini dressing. I was so happy!

After lunch, we continued wandering the downtown streets looking for The Penny Ice Creamery, where Amey had told us to get the amazing vegan dark chocolate sorbet. Ahem. If I lived in Santa Cruz, I'd be in danger of eating dark chocolate sorbet at least three times a day. Amazing, yes.

After the ice cream, we went to the Beach Boardwalk — kind of a beachfront amusement park and walking area. It had a similar, somewhat rundown, dive atmosphere that I remember from the old days on the Atlantic City Boardwalk — especially around Steel Pier, if anyone remembers that. There were great views across the beach and across the water, making it lots of fun to take photos.

My three companions on West Cliff Dr. in Santa Cruz.

Our last stop was also my favorite (not counting lunch and sorbet, of course) — West Cliff Drive. What a gorgeous spot to walk and enjoy the view.

It was getting late and we still had one more stop to make on the way back to San Francisco — Mountain Feed and Farm Supply, one of Jordan and Alison's favorite 'garden' stores. Calling this labyrinth of eclectic buildings a Garden Store is like calling Mall of America a shopping center. I mean, it is ... but it isn't. They did have plants, pots and gardening equipment, but also fantastic cooking equipment, pet food and supplies, and everything you'd need for canning, brewing, fermenting, etc., as well as the most helpful and friendly employees I've ever encountered. It took about three seconds for me to loose everyone in our little group, as we each became sucked into the various buildings and departments.

By the time we returned to San Francisco, there was just enough time for a brief rest before we had our last restaurant meal of the trip at Dosa, a South Indian restaurant we are very fond of. It's not a vegan or vegetarian restaurant, but they have a separate vegetarian menu where vegan and gluten-free items are clearly marked. I ordered a traditional masala dosa, a large, rice and lentil crepe filled with spiced potatoes, onions and cashews. It came with coconut and tomato chutneys and sambar, and a spicy soup made with lentils and vegetables. You break off chunks of the dosa and dip it into the chutney, sambar and soup. I've always really loved my dinner at Dosa, but the dosa, which has always been dry in the past, was coated with oil. I ate it but it was way too greasy for me. Our restaurant karma was definitely off on this trip. (It was so dark in Dosa that I didn't take a photo. I found a photo of the same meal from a previous trip, and the dosa definitely doesn't look all slick and shiny like the one I received.)

The next day, Jordan and Alison went to work and Ken and I packed and got organized until it was time to go to the airport for the return flight. It was a short trip, but so much fun!

Other San Francisco Posts:
March 5 2015 
June 23, 2013
June 19, 2013
Jan. 30, 2012

A weekend of eating in San Francisco and Santa Cruz part 1

View from the tower at the top of the de Young Fine Arts Museum

We just spent a terrific weekend in San Francisco with a day trip to Santa Cruz. We mostly explored beautiful spaces and ate, with a few shopping outings thrown in, and had a great, energetic but relaxing, mini-vacation. We arrived late Friday afternoon, and settled into our airbnb in Lower Haight. The small space was comfortable enough, but if I were renting out my place and charging rent plus a cleaning fee, I'd try to make it actually clean.

The stove looked like this, and the oven was 10 times worse — thickly crusted and greasy, as I discovered when I tried to warm up a snack. I scoured the kitchen sink so I could stand to use it — and we had to use it more than you'd think because the bathroom sink didn't drain. My husband wiped down the refrigerator door which was so gross even he noticed. Mostly it was OK, but I wouldn't stay there again.

On Friday evening we went to a new vegan sushi place in the Mission, Shizen Vegan Sushi Bar & Izakaya, and I was very excited to experience a restaurant that served creative vegan sushi, since I'm usually limited to cucumber, avocado, or if I'm lucky, kampyo sushi. We started with a warm garlic-kale-hiziki dish that was extremely delicious.

After the kale we shared two specialty rolls, but I'm really sorry I can't remember what they were. They were both so good I was practically inhaling them. The one above came flaming at one end of the plate, which was exciting.

I can't remember what this one was, either, except that it tasted great. So great, in fact, that we ordered another one, but for some reason the second roll wasn't nearly as good as the first.

My husband and I were sharing gluten-free options while our dining companions ordered with abandon. Imagine, vegans, going to a sushi restaurant and ordering anything on the menu! This roll was one of their choices, and you can see another one of their selections peeking out in the background. (The restaurant was too dark for my camera so I had to rely on my iphone.)

Shizen Vegan Sushi Bar & Izakaya was not without issues. Though I enjoyed eating there, it was impossible not to notice the extremely slow service. I'm talking at least an hour wait before we were seated, another hour wait before the first dish came out, and maybe another hour before we had received and eaten all of our food. Everything was beautiful and delicious, but at least one of my (very hungry) dining companions was rather miffed. And since we ordered two of the same rolls, and the second one was not nearly as good as the first, there might be issues of inconsistency. Still, if you are in San Francisco, you should try Shizen Vegan Sushi Bar & Izakaya. Hopefully they will only get better, if that's even possible. I will certainly go there again no matter how long I have to wait.

My iphone app says I walked more than 12,000 steps on Sunday and even more on Saturday, but now I'm having trouble keeping it all straight. I know we went to the Botanical Gardens in Golden Gate Park on Saturday, where we strolled through the gorgeous gardens, including the succulent garden, above. I love succulents, though I never can seem to grow the really big ones that I see all over San Francisco in pocket gardens and pots.

After the gardens and a view from the top of a nearby museum tower, we went out to a late lunch at Seed and Salt. Alison and I loved our kale Caesar salads — so fresh, crunchy and tasty, with small squares of crispy, fried black-eyed pea tempeh and toasted sunflower seeds, and I think Jordan enjoyed his eggplant BLT.

But my husband was much less enthusiastic about his beet burger. It was pricey at $14, and kind of small. I was stuffed after my salad but he was still hungry. I really loved Seed and Salt — both the atmosphere and the food, though it was on the expensive side, as you can see if you follow the link and peruse the menu. I'd absolutely go there again.

After lunch we had a little shopping expedition to an enormous athletic store where Alison looked for bike gear for a ride she's going on, and the rest of us just wandered around looking at clothes and stuff. Then we headed to Rainbow Co-op which is the most excellent natural foods store I've ever been in. I wish we had a similar store in Seattle. I could find anything I could possibly want there, no matter how obscure. Alison and Jordan did their grocery shopping, and Ken and I picked up a few provisions for breakfast and the trip home. We bought one of Miyoko's Creamery cheeses as well as a package of chewy and delicious Hodosoy tofu and some Suzie's thin cakes crackers.

My favorite crackers — next to Mary's.

On Saturday night we picked up my niece, and the five of us headed to what used to be one of my favorite restaurants, Gracias Madre, for dinner. You can read about my other visits to Gracias Madre here and here. I say "used to be" because I'm now thinking the food is too heavy, or too oily or too something, because I had an upset stomach after my meal.

Tacos and refried beans at Gracias Madre.

It's so dark in the restaurant that my photos are not very mouthwatering, but I can tell you I had three tacos, one of which was filled with roasted beets, one with asparagus and one with broccoli, and a mound of refried black beans that looked like a big pile of decrepit poop, and which were too salty to eat. I ate some of the soft corn tortillas, all of the tasty vegetables, and none of the beans. Maybe it was an off night, but I wasn't as thrilled with the food as I usually am. Read my other posts for much more positive reviews. My husband had the evening special, and he described it as "OK but not great." On the other hand, Alison thought the same dish was delicious. So there you go.

Dinner was late — there had been a long wait for a table, and by the time we got back to the airbnb, we were ready to do some quiet reading, and fall into a deep sleep.

Giant succulents in a pot in front of our airbnb.

San Francisco weekend, day three — Muir Woods, Marin farmers market, Sausalito, Gracias Madre

We awoke early on Sunday morning because we had a goal to get to the Muir Woods parking lot before it filled up. Although we arrived before the typical fill-up hour, the lot was packed, and we had to seek parking a short hike away. Lucky for us we found what looked like the last space in an small lot down the hilly road.

Spending Father's Day morning at Muir Woods.

Muir Woods, in case you don't know, is an ancient redwood forest in which many of the trees are more than 600 years old — the oldest trees exceed 1000 years of age. Most ancient coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) have been cut, but the redwoods in Muir Woods are protected, and have never been logged.

The trees are BIG.

Coast redwoods are nature's tallest living things, the tallest ones in Muir Woods reaching heights of more than 250 feet and diameters of 14 feet. Redwoods are fascinating trees with the ability to withstand fire and the capability of reproducing from both burls or seeds. We saw a new tree sprouting from a decomposing log.

The trails in Muir Woods are paved, easy to navigate, and crowded, but if you follow them onto the unpaved hiking trails of Mt. Tamalpais State Park, the crowds melt away and you can continue on longer hikes.

I was still favoring an injured toe which made my hiking boots uncomfortable to wear, so we stuck to the lower, somewhat level park trails, but there are elevated more challenging trails in the park that I would have liked to hike. We hiked for several miles through the gorgeous forest before heading to our next destination — the Marin farmers market.

Photo from tofu yu

Our purpose at the market was to find something to eat for lunch before going to Sausalito. We perused the market offerings, munching samples and marveling at all the vegan and gluten-free options. We found a Mariposa bakery stand again, and purchased another baguette, and then we came to the Tofu Yu stand. Whoa. They were selling all manner of magical tofu and yuba dishes made with their own tofu. After a couple of samples, I grabbed a package of unbelievably tasty spicy veggie wraps made with yuba — a little salty but so good. I love yuba. I tried to share equally but it was really hard, and I ate three wraps.

Photo from tofu yu

My husband also picked up a package of quinoa sushi which he liked but I didn't — too much seaweed. I love nori and I used to enjoy most sea vegetables, but ever since my dinner at Prasad in Portland, I've been put off by all sea veggies except nori.

In addition to the lunch, we bought a bag of toasted lentil snacks to bring home to Miss E, and some dates for us. I love the Marin farmers market — actually I love every farmers market I've been to in California. There is a mesmerizing variety of fresh fruits and vegetables unlike any I've seen in other places.

We all wanted to see the city of Sausalito, but the big motivation for visiting was the Heath Pottery outlet store. Jordan and Alison are interested in acquiring some dishes, and wanted to see if they could find better prices at the outlet. There were some beautiful pieces there but very expensive, which tends to be the case with premium, lead-free dishes made in the U.S. No purchases were made ... yet.

We wandered around downtown Sausalito enjoying the fabulous weather and gorgeous scenery, and wondered what it would be like to live in a place so filled with tourists.

I don't know. What do you think? Do you live in a tourist-filled vacation destination in a gorgeous seaside town?

We had been planning a walk on a beach but it was getting late and Jordan and Alison still needed to get their laundry done before dinner, so we headed back to San Francisco, where the weather was a lot cooler and the wind more brisk — a rude reminder that not every place in Northern California enjoys the same amount of sunny warmth.

Back at the Airbnb, I had to photograph the pocket garden just down the street from our building. There was so much charm tucked into a small space that it made me smile every time I passed by.

Our last meal together in San Francisco was at one of my favorite places — Gracias Madre. Initially, my son had vetoed Gracias Madre, but by Sunday night he'd changed his mind and agreed we should go. I'm so glad we did. I ordered tacos filled with a choice of seasonal vegetables, and my choices were roasted poblano chilies and leeks, sautéed kale with garlic and toasted cumin, and sautéed snap peas with garlic and chili flakes. The tacos were topped with cashew cheese and served with black beans — excellent. I was sure I'd be taking some home for breakfast, but nope, I ate the whole thing, and enjoyed every delicious bite. (My husband snapped the photo with his phone because I was too lazy to bring my camera along.) Because I didn't photograph the food — it's so dark in the restaurant — I can't remember what else was on the table except for a bowl of posole. I do remember that everyone at the table was very happy with their selections.

Here's Ken in our lovely Airbnb kitchen filling the kettle for a cup of tea before we left for the airport Monday morning. I don't think I'd want to actually live in the apartment, but it made a great vacation rental — more charm and space than a hotel room at much less cost.

One last food-related item I want to point out is the box of curry tofu nuggets we purchased at the market. I thought we got it in Marin but my son insists it came from the Ferry Building market, and he's probably right. Inside the box was a vacuum-sealed bag of smallish tofu nuggets as pictured on the box front. We carried it home in Ken's backpack along with the sauerkraut, and no one stopped us when we went through security. (I got patted down because of the nifty hidden zippered pocket in my shirt seam but no one seemed to care that we were packing large quantities of tofu and kraut.) We ate the nuggets for lunch when we arrived home on Monday, and they were spectacular. The texture was springy and chewy, kind of like I remember cheese curds, and the flavor was delicious. I wonder how they do it.

Previous posts about San Francisco:  
A weekend in San Francisco - days one and two-2013
San Francisco: day 1 highlights -2012
San Francisco highlights: day 2 | Burma Superstar | Gracias Madre -2012

A weekend in San Francisco - days one and two

Luminous red onions at the Ferry Building farmers market.

We spent Father's Day weekend in San Francisco, visiting our son and his girlfriend. The trip had a rough start — just after we went through security at the Seattle airport, I asked my husband to hold my camera while I went to the restroom. I didn't take it back when I came out,  when we stopped to buy a magazine or when we went to the gate, since he offered to carry it for me. Just as we were about to board, I asked, "do you have my camera?" I was shocked to find out that he didn't. I was quietly freaking as he ran off to retrace his steps thinking he'd left it in the men's room — a situation that was probably not going to end well. He came back empty-handed, and I refused to board the plane. The Alaska Airlines agent calmly and sympathetically re-booked us on a flight one hour later, and my husband ran off again to check with the distant lost and found. In my agitated mind I was already considering which camera I would buy to replace mine, but when Ken returned, he handed me my camera! With no luck at lost and found, he'd returned to the magazine store and the clerk had the camera behind the counter. Can you believe it? I get tense just thinking about it now.

Since we had been added last minute to a later flight, Ken and I weren't sitting together, and my seatmate looked and talked exactly like Alec Baldwin. There were moments when I thought all the stuff he was telling me was an act and he really was Alec Baldwin, but I'm sure the real Alec Baldwin would be in first class. Wouldn't he?

A corner of the kitchen at our Airbnb.

Once we finally got to San Francisco, we settled into our Airbnb apartment on Duboce Triangle. The apartment was old and quaint — furnished with quirky antiques, and much larger than we had imagined. The location was perfect — a two block walk to our son's apartment.

We had an early dinner reservation at Dosa, a South Indian restaurant that we really like. Dosa isn't vegetarian or vegan but they have a separate vegan, gluten-free menu, and the food is delicious. I had a dosa stuffed with collards, peppers, spiced potatoes and caramelized onions. It came with spicy soup and two sauces into which I dipped the dosa and indulged my taste buds. It was scrumptious.

On Saturday morning we took the Muni to the Ferry Building farmers market where we wandered around gawking at gorgeous California fruits, vegetables, and other stuff.

Lobster MUSHROOMS, mind you.

You can find pretty much anything you're looking for at the indoor/outdoor market, as well as things you've never heard of. And there are so many samples. When you taste an amazing apricot, it's hard not to buy a few.

Although we had a large kitchen at our disposal, we weren't cooking, so we tried to control our impuse to buy everything we saw and tasted. We did buy a chewy and delicious gluten-free vegan baguette from Mariposa Bakery. Most of their baked goods were not vegan so we were limited in what we could choose, but the bread was excellent.

Doesn't everyone long to travel on a plane with a container of fragrant sauerkraut in their backpack? You see, all the vendors give out samples, and the kraut was so good we couldn't resist. The woman who sold us the kraut said she makes it in her house in Santa Cruz.

As you can see, the lovely cauliflower curry kraut made it home safely and it didn't scare the other passengers off the plane.

We also bought apricots.

After the market, we returned to home base and climbed into Alison's car for a drive to Berkeley and Café Gratitude, for lunch. I had a fabulous bowl called I am whole with a substitution of kale for the sea vegetables. I could only finish about half but I enjoyed every bite.

My husband had I am abundant — a raw Mediterranean sampler —  that he loved. Jordan had raw sushi and Alison had soup and salad, I think. I really can't remember and the photos didn't turn out.

This was our first visit to Café Gratitude and we were all impressed with both the serene atmosphere and the food. It may sound corny, but I left the restaurant with a deep sense of calm that lasted through the day.

Carnivorous pitcher plants at UC Berkeley Botanical Garden.

Our next stop was the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden — a wonderland of beauty. It's organized by areas of the world (Asian Collection, Eastern North American Collection, Southern African Collection, etc.) as well as by special collections like Chinese medicinal herbs, old rose collection and more.

We passed through a building housing a spectacular collection of very strange cacti.

And then headed into the New World Desert, which was pretty spectacular.

There was weird and wonderful beauty wherever we wandered.

At one point, my son and I got a little sidetracked by bees, and couldn't seem to stop taking photos of them.

The bee seemed to be rolling around in the pollen — acting like it was taking a bath, or was perhaps intoxicated.

I wish I could remember what part of the world this lovely flower is from.

Or this one. We ambled around for a couple of hours, and were trying to decide which area to explore next, when a voice came booming over the loudspeaker yelling, "the gate will be closing in five minutes. If you don't leave you will be locked inside." The voice was in direct contrast with the beautiful surroundings and we were startled into seeking the most direct path to the gate — not an easy task in such a large place. You'd think they'd give us 10 minutes to find our way out.

We returned to San Francisco for a rest before heading out to a late dinner at Thai Idea, a vegetarian Thai restaurant. My husband and I shared an appetizer of fresh spring rolls, and a dish of vegetables and rice. It was pretty, but very plain — probably because I asked for it to be gluten-free. Jordan and Alison had more interesting dishes but it was too dark for good photos.

Tired but happy, we headed back to the Airbnb for a good night's sleep.

Previous posts about San Francisco: 
San Francisco: day 1 highlights -2012 San Francisco highlights: day 2 | Burma Superstar | Gracias Madre -2012