47
4.4.2 Sufu (Furu)
Sufu, originally a Chinese fermented soya bean product, is highly flavoured and soft
in nature like that of cheese and is creamy as well (Su 1986). Sufu is a rich source
of protein commonly used as a side dish with breakfast (Han et al. 2001). It is not
only produced in China but in other countries as well marketed under different
names. In Japan, it is commonly known as tofuyo, fu-nyu or nyu-fu (Yasuda and
Kobayashi 1989), tao-hu-yi in Thailand, ta-huri in the Philippines, taokaoan in
Indonesia and chao in Vietnam (Beuchat 1995). Chinese people consider sufu a
healthy food as it is easily digestible and a non-cholesterol food product from plant
origin (Nout and Aidoo 2010). The variety of sufu is produced using different processes in different localities of China (Li 1997; Wang and Du 1998; Han et al. 2001).
Based on the technologies used for the production of sufu, there can be four different types of sufu whose base remains the same as that of curd obtained from soya
bean by addition of calcium salts (Han et al. 2001).
4.4.2.1 Naturally Fermented Sufu
Four different steps are involved in the preparation of such sufu: (1) preparation of
tofu, (2) fermentation of tofu to produce pizi, (3) salting and (4) ripening and
processing.
4.4.2.2 Enzymatically Produced Sufu
Only three steps are involved in this process: (1) tofu preparation, (2) salting and (3)
ripening. In order to carry out enzymatic fermentation before ripening, some amount
of koji is added in dressing mixture to facilitate fermentation. This sort of ripening
takes around 6–10 months.
4.4.2.3 Bacterial Fermented Sufu
Five steps are involved in such fermentation: (1) preparation of tofu, (2) pre-salting,
(3) preparation of pizi by addition of bacterial culture, (4) salting and (5) ripening.
In the pre-salting step, tofu is allowed to absorb salt in order to enhance the salt
content up to 6.5%. Pure cultures of Bacillus sp. or Micrococcus sp. grown at
30–38 °C for about 1 week are used in the preparation of pehtze. The ripening time
of this sufu is less than 3 months.
4 Fungi in Food Bioprocessing
4.4.2 Sufu (Furu)
Sufu, originally a Chinese fermented soya bean product, is highly flavoured and soft
in nature like that of cheese and is creamy as well (Su 1986). Sufu is a rich source
of protein commonly used as a side dish with breakfast (Han et al. 2001). It is not
only produced in China but in other countries as well marketed under different
names. In Japan, it is commonly known as tofuyo, fu-nyu or nyu-fu (Yasuda and
Kobayashi 1989), tao-hu-yi in Thailand, ta-huri in the Philippines, taokaoan in
Indonesia and chao in Vietnam (Beuchat 1995). Chinese people consider sufu a
healthy food as it is easily digestible and a non-cholesterol food product from plant
origin (Nout and Aidoo 2010). The variety of sufu is produced using different processes in different localities of China (Li 1997; Wang and Du 1998; Han et al. 2001).
Based on the technologies used for the production of sufu, there can be four different types of sufu whose base remains the same as that of curd obtained from soya
bean by addition of calcium salts (Han et al. 2001).
4.4.2.1 Naturally Fermented Sufu
Four different steps are involved in the preparation of such sufu: (1) preparation of
tofu, (2) fermentation of tofu to produce pizi, (3) salting and (4) ripening and
processing.
4.4.2.2 Enzymatically Produced Sufu
Only three steps are involved in this process: (1) tofu preparation, (2) salting and (3)
ripening. In order to carry out enzymatic fermentation before ripening, some amount
of koji is added in dressing mixture to facilitate fermentation. This sort of ripening
takes around 6–10 months.
4.4.2.3 Bacterial Fermented Sufu
Five steps are involved in such fermentation: (1) preparation of tofu, (2) pre-salting,
(3) preparation of pizi by addition of bacterial culture, (4) salting and (5) ripening.
In the pre-salting step, tofu is allowed to absorb salt in order to enhance the salt
content up to 6.5%. Pure cultures of Bacillus sp. or Micrococcus sp. grown at
30–38 °C for about 1 week are used in the preparation of pehtze. The ripening time
of this sufu is less than 3 months.
4 Fungi in Food Bioprocessing