Welcome to the LA Tofu Festival web site, August 12th - 13th, 2006, in Downtown LA!
Official Festival Spokesperson
Tofu Posters
1st Annual - 1996
2nd Annual - 1997
3rd Annual - 1998
4th Annual - 1999
5th Annual - 2000
6th Annual - 2001
7th Annual - 2002
8th Annual -2003
9th Annual - 2004
10th Annual - 2005
11th Annual - 2006
Press Release
The 12th LA Tofu Festival Returns August 18-19
Los Angeles, CA – The 12th Annual LA Tofu Festival makes its return to Downtown Los Angeles Little Tokyo on August 18 and 19. This year’s theme is “Where Tofu Meets its Perfect Match,” reflecting tofu’s versatility to match with other foods to create an adventurous assortment of dishes. These delicious and imaginative soy, as well as non-soy, organic and specialty foods will be served by LA’s top restaurants and food participants. Nearly 25,000 people, ranging from children, to seniors, are expected to partake in this annual outdoor community event. Along with great food, the festival also includes the Marketplace, Health and Fitness Lane, Beer Garden, and the ever-popular Tofu Eating contest.
Sponsored by House Foods America Corporation, and part of the 67th Nisei Week Celebration, the 2007 LA Tofu Festival will take place on Saturday, August 18, from 12pm to 8pm and Sunday, August 19, from 12pm to 6pm. Entrances to the festival will be on 2nd and S. San Pedro Streets in Downtown Los Angeles, Little Tokyo. General admission is $5, and is free to seniors over 60 years of age and children 12 and under. For more information on the LA Tofu Festival visit www.tofufestival.com.
All proceeds benefit the Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC), a social service and community economic development agency that has been providing a wide range of services for over 27 years. Programs include affordable housing, mental health counseling, transportation & translation, information referral, childcare, crisis hotlines, family literacy, cultural preservation and much more. To find out more about LTSC go to http://www.LTSC.org.
Images available upon requests.
Themes
Where Tofu Meets Its Match
This years theme is, Where Tofu Meets Its Match. A play on words, characterizing the numerous ingredients and flavors that make Tofu such a versatile, healthy, dish either alone or when you match it with the perfect ingredient. The idea is to invite people to come to our festival and find their own perfect match.
To prove that tofu is such a versatile food, Tofujii has gone to numerous restaurants in Little Tokyo and tried out the different possibilities for himself. Check out Tofujii's blog read up on what he's been up to.History of Tofu
Tofu: A 2,000-year old health food miracle
Compiled by William Shurtleff of Soyfoods Center.
In 220 A.D. archeologists find a depiction of the preparation of soymilk and tofu, suggesting that they were being made in northern China during the Eastern/Later Han Period (A.D. 22-220).
In Japan, the first mention of tofu was in 1183 in the diary of Hiroshige Nakaomi, a Shinto priest of the shrine at Nara; tofu was used as an offering at the shrine’s altar. However, it wasn’t until 1489 that the current characters used today for the word “tofu” were first written in Japan.
In 1603 “tofu” makes its first appearance in a European-language document, Vocabuliario do lingoa de Iapam...[Vocabulary of the language of Japan], the earliest dictionary of the Japanese language compiled by Jesuits living in Nagasaki, Japan.
A more detailed description of tofu by a Westerner was in 1665 by Domingo Fernandez de Navarrete, in his book A Collection of Voyages and Travels. Navarrete, who served as a Dominican missionary in China, wrote about tofu “... the most usual, common and cheap sort of food all China abounds in, and which all men in that empire eat, from the emperor to the meanest Chinese...”
The earliest known reference to tofu by an American wasn’t until 1770. It appears in a letter written by the famous Benjamin Franklin in London to John Bartram in Philadelphia. He sent Bartram some soybeans— which he called “Chinese caravances”.
In the 1800s, Chinese immigrants were coming to the United States to work and “make their fortune.” The first tofu manufacturer in America, Wo Sing & Co., was founded in 1878 in San Francisco to serve this growing market. They were followed by Hirata & Co. (1895) in Sacramento, California, the earliest known Japanese-American company and Quong Hop & Co. (1896), the oldest existing tofu maker in America today.
The two oldest existing Japanese-American tofu companies (House foods & Yamauchi Inc. of Los Angeles and Aala Tofu Co. of Honolulu) began as H. Iwanaga Daufu in Hawaii in 1923. In 1926 the company was renamed Shoshiro Kanehori Tofu, and again in 1937 as Haruko Uyeda Tofu, still at the same address. About 1939 the company was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Shokin Yamauchi, who later renamed it Aala Tofu Co. Their son, Shoan Yamauchi, made tofu at the family company until 1946, when he went to Los Angeles, purchased the Hinode Tofu Co., and began making tofu there in 1947. After becoming Matsuda-Hinode Tofu Co. in 1963, the company was renamed House Foods & Yamauchi Inc. in 1983.
Tofu production was concurrently taking place on the European continent. Although Paillieux of France, in 1880, was the first to make tofu, Caséo-Sojaïne, founded by Li Yu-ying, a Chinese citizen, biologist and engineer, was the first commercial scale manufacturer. Established in May 1911 at a site, a few miles northwest of Paris, the company was making and selling tofu.
Back in America, non-Asians also took up the craft of tofu making. In 1929 T.A. Van Gundy, a Seventh-Day Adventist and founder of La Sierra Industries in Arlington, California, became the first Westerner to make tofu commercially when he introduced La Sierra Soya Cheese. This tofu was canned and pimento was added to prevent the tofu from graying after canning.
Even with decades of tofu production in the U.S., it wasn’t until 1958 that tofu was first sold in a U.S. supermarket. Boys Market supermarket chain— which had about 12 stores at the time in Los Angeles— was the pioneer. Made by Matsuda Hinode Tofu Co., the tofu was sold in individual packages.
Tofu not only became a part of the American diet, it became the subject of books, too. The Library of Congress established in 1965 the subject heading “Tofu” as the official name for that food in cataloging books for libraries across America.
The Book of Tofu, by Shurtleff and Aoyagi, played a major role in introducing tofu to the Western World. Published by Autumn Press in 1975, this book has sold about 550,000 copies to date.
1996 - The Little Tokyo Service Center hosts the 1st LA Tofu Festival, attracting over 10,000 people.
Recipes
Tofu Burgers ala Soul Café
Courtesy of Yealang Smith
Ingredients:
2 packs of firum tofu
1 cup dehydrated soy protein
2 egg whites
1/3 cup finely chopped garlic
1/3 cup finely chopped celery
1/3 cup finely chopped scallions
1/3 cup finely chopped red onions
1 tablespoon chopped red bell pepper
1 tablespoon chopped green bell pepper
1 tablespoon chopped yellow bell pepper
1 dash cayenne
1 dash garlic powder
1 dash seasoning
1/2 cup olive oil
Directions:
Place the dehydrated soy protein in a mixing bowl. Saute the chopped vegetables in a medium pan. As soon as the vegetables are soft, pour the medley over the soy protein and blend together. Remove the tofu from the pack and discard the water. Crumble the tofu until it is pasty and all lumps are gone. Add the blended tofu, the two egg whites and the seasonings to the soy protein mixture. Mix and mash all of the ingredients together. Form the patties by hand. Heat the stove to 300 degrees. Add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the fry pan. Cook about 5 minutes on each side. Garnish using bean sprouts, pickles, tomatoes, and soy cheese. Serves 4-8.
Breakfast Tofu Muffins
Ingredients:
1 cup cooked rice
1/2 package (7 oz.) House Hinoichi Tofu, drained & cut into small cubes
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 can diced green chilies
1 egg beaten
1/3 teaspoon salt
1/3 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Nonstick cooking oil spray
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine rice, tofu, 1/4 cup cheese, chilies, egg, salt, cumin, and pepper in a bowl. Divide mixture evenly into 6 muffin cups coated with nonstick cooking oil spray. Sprinkle top with remaining 1/4 cup cheese. Bake for 15 minutes or until set. Makes 6 muffins.
Tofu Enchilada Casserole
Ingredients
1 dozen corn tortillas
1 package (14 oz.) House Hinoichi Firm Tofu
1 package Mozzarella soy cheese
1 can (8 oz.) black olives, drained & chopped
1 can (8 oz.) Jalapenos or green chilies, drained & chopped
2 bunches green onions, finely chopped
2 cans (16 oz.) enchilada sauce
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sauté both sides of the tortillas for 1 minute in olive oil and arrange six tortillas flat (side by side in a large casserole dish.) Proceed to make tofu mixture by combining tofu, soy cheese, olives, green onions and Jalapenos or green chilies. Pour tofu mixture on top of tortillas. Pour 1 can of enchilada sauce evenly on top. Place remaining tortillas on top and pour other can of enchilada sauce on top covering evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 25 minutes. (Optional: Top with sliced avocados, soy sour cream and more green onions.) Makes 10-12 servings.
Blueberry Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake
Ingredients:
1 package dark chocolate fudge cake mix
1 package (14 oz.) House Hinoichi Tofu, drained
1 cup frozen wild blueberries
3 eggs
1 cup water
1/3 cup oil
powdered sugar
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 9” x 13” pan lightly. Empty mix in large bowl. Add eggs and oil. Puree tofu with 1/2 cup water and add to mix. Pour another 1/2 cup water in blender, rinse, pour over mix and beat for 2 minutes. Pour batter in pan, evenly sprinkle blueberries on top and bake for 35-38 minutes or until done. Cool in pan at least 30 minutes. Cut into squares and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Makes 20-24 pieces.
History of LTSC
Tofu Festival is produced by the Little Tokyo Service Center.
The Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC) is a nonprofit community based organization in Los Angeles that provides services to families who are economically disadvantaged, physically challenged, homeless, and/or face language and cultural barriers in everyday life. LTSC provides a comprehensive range of services including mental health counseling, transportation, affordable housing, childcare facilities, job training, support groups, homeless prevention, information referral and crisis hotline.
Currently, LTSC sponsors over a dozen different community and social service programs, with over 100 paid staff persons and hundreds of volunteers to provide competent and compassionate services in seven different languages as well as Spanish and English.
Little Tokyo Service Center, a Community Development Corporation
231 E. Third St., Suite G-106
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Phone: (213) 473-3030
Fax: (213) 473-3031
History of the Tofu Festival
For 15 years the Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC) had a Community Service Award Fundraising Dinner. Over the years, there was a proliferation of other community service award dinners, and people began complaining. So the LTSC Board wanted to change to something new, fun, and inexpensive for supporters to attend yet still be able to raise money from new sources- not just the same groups.
In 1995, LTSC Board members Judy Nishimoto, Barbara Miyamoto and Bill Watanabe brainstormed and came up with a food festival, later “morphing” into a Tofu Festival. It sounded fun, healthy, ethnic, and very "LA".
Being skeptical and cautious, the LTSC Board conducted a survey to see what kind of reaction “Tofu” got. One third of those canvassed laughed, thought it was a terrific idea and loved tofu. One third thought it was a terrible idea (but they disliked tofu), and one third was neutral or open to the idea.
Soon after, the LA Times ran an article about the health benefits of soy and tofu. The LA Times extensively quoted a UCLA researcher who touted the benefits of these products; the article concluded that people should eat more soy foods.
Although the LA Times article almost sold the LTSC board on the Festival idea, the real breakthrough came when a board member mentioned her family friendship with Tofu manufacturer Hinoichi. Pioneer Mr. Yamauchi, founded Hinoichi Tofu, one of the first large-scale tofu producing companies in America. Mr. Yamauchi had a reputation of being very community-minded. When he came out in support of the Tofu Festival idea, LTSC was thrilled.
Prior to this, House Foods America bought Hinoichi still keeping former owner Yamauchi a major influential business partner. House foods transferred Mr. Shigeru Shirasaka from Japan to be the General Manager of the American operation. Taking a bold step in his new position, Mr. Shirasaka, inspired by Mr. Yamauchi’s enthusiasm, agreed to be the festival’s first title sponsor and to underwrite the festival at $20,000! For the first time anywhere in the world, a Tofu Festival was born!
LTSC social worker, Ayumi Kawata, became the first festival coordinator. Ms. Kawata worked hard developing the Tofu Festival, which joined the Nisei Week Festival and as was co-produced by the JACCC.
On August 10, 1996 with 30 food, health info, and craft booths on the JACCC courtyard, Kawata wondered if anyone would show up. It was gratifying to see 8,000 people turn out to consume 25,000 tofu dishes. And the LTSC netted about the same average as a service award dinner.
By 1999, Margaret Endo replaced Ayumi Kawata, and the festival spilled onto San Pedro Street to accommodate the growing crafts faire. In 2000, Joyce Shimazu became the first fulltime festival coordinator. The crowds continued to swell to 20,000.
In 2002, Debra Fong became the festival coordinator. With her hard work, marketing and management expertise, the festival became a smooth, efficient, logistic success. Audiences continued to grow.
In 2003, the event underwent major changes to take the festival into the evening and bring in well-known artists for two nighttime concerts featuring Hiroshima and Tierra. This was the second time that the Tofu Festival ventured away from the Nisei Week; this time festival grounds expanded from a parking lot (festival lot) onto San Pedro street and across the way onto the JACCC plaza for the entertainment stages. This was also the first year that the festival included beer, wine and sake.
2003 marked many firsts including a new marketing approach using the "Fresh Naked Tofu" slogan (still a crowd favorite to this day). Other firsts included autograph signing sessions by Iron Chef Morimoto, TV coverage on the Food Network's "Top 5: Amazing Celebrations" and Asian foods - "It's not just tofu anymore." All these changes made for the most successful fundraising festival to date in Tofu Festival history.
In 2004, the sale of alcohol was reconsidered and the festival took a different direction. This was to be a daytime family-friendly event with "Tofu Ninja" as the mascot. This festival included a second stage featuring "Up and Coming Asian Artists" and allowed for many young artists to display their talents. Huell Howser, the Celebrity Chairperson, addressed the crowd and sampled delicious tofu and soy dishes. The Food Network's "Unwrapped" taped for the episode "Protein Power."
In 2005, the Tofu Festival rejoined Nisei Week festivities. Multiple events took place simultaneously drawing record-breaking crowds. 2005’s festival theme was "Tofuzilla: When Giant Tofu Takes Over Little Tokyo." In addition to all the wonderful tofu and soy dishes, the festival included " A Taste of Japan". The Food Network's "BBQ with Bobby Flay" captured the event as well as the Travel Channel's "Taste of America." Host Mark DeCarlo roused the crowds during the ever-popular Tofu Eating Contest. Saturday evening, saxophonist, Gerald Albright, provided easy listening for his concert under the stars. On Sunday, Ozomatli played to a standing room only crowd with a warm introduction from Mayor Antonio Villaragosa. 2005 brought out the largest recorded crowd in festival history of approximately 25,000.
2006 brings a new coordinator to the Festival. Planning for more upscale, gourmet palates and tempting features for hungry returning regulars, this year’s festival promises to be better than ever!
There is a new Hi Tech Celebrity Chef Cooking Stage with robotic cameras and plasma screens. The 2006 LA Tofu Festival proudly presents: "Iron Chef America" Morimoto, PBS "Let's Get Cooking" Chef and cookbook author Tommy Tang, from "Hell’s Kitchen", Chef Scott Liebfried, from "Top Chef", Candice Kumai, "Next Food Network Star" finalist, Chef Reggie Southerland, chef and Real Foods Daily cookbook author, Ann Gentry, and Executive Chef Troy Thompson from Iron Chef America.
2006’s Festival brings even more excitement to Little Tokyo. Partnering with TokyoPop, the 2006 Festival features the sensational Japanese Manga and Anime Initial D! Initial D is the story of a tofu delivery boy who becomes a famous drift racer. That’s why when we say “Initial D Delivers Tofu to Little Tokyo!” We really mean it!
So we can continue to please you, tell us what you like about the Tofu Festival- fill out our 2006 survey form at the Little Tokyo Service Center Information Booth.