This one I discovered in the Asian food section in Wegman's. I wasn't sure what it was all about. Therefore, I had no reasonable choice but to take it home. To be exact, it was called Inarizushi-no-moto, and was listed as being from the Hime brand, from JFC International, Inc. JFC is based in Los Angeles, CA, but the label indicated that the food itself was a made in Japan.
I was unsure what the difference is between fried bean curd and tofu. As it turns out, the distinction is essentially meaningless. Both are made from coagulated soy milk, which in turn is derived from grinding up soy beans. Tofu is usually a whitish color, with a soft texture, while the kind I had was brown, and firmer. But these aspects were a result of being fried. So medium story short, fried bean curd is just a kind of fried tofu. Tofu itself dates back about 2000 years, and originated in China. Some credit Prince Liu An (179-122 B.C.) with developing it, but this is somewhat conjectural, and perhaps just a legend. The type I got, inarizushi, is a Japanese take on tofu, and like the name suggests, is typically filled with sushi rice. The "inari" part of the moniker is from the Shinto god of the same name, who is a spirit of a great range of things. Specifically, of agriculture, industry, general prosperity, worldly success, sword smiths, merchants, tea, rice, fertility, and foxes. Foxes are therefore believed to be the messengers of Inari.
JFC International stands for, not shockingly, Japanese Food Corporation, International. The goal of the company is to provide Japanese food, and other Asian delicacies, around the world. JFC's original progenitor date back to 1906, when the Dupont Company was established. In 1914 this had become the Pacific Trading Company. After a few more name changes, and mergers, the company became the Japanese Food Corporation in 1958. And in 1969 it joined with the huge Kikkoman company. The Hime line is just one of the firm's five brands.
I really messed up in sampling this food. I didn't read up on it before I tried it. Since inarizushi-no-moto is designed to be filled up with sushi rice, by eating it plain I was doing the equivalent of consuming empty taco shells, or chowing down on a pie crust bereft of filling. So bear that in mind. Anyway, as I mentioned before, the fried bean curd was brown, and kind of resembled meat. The texture was tough, which made sense when I later found out that the can held several separately formed pouches. So getting through these was a chewy experience. The taste was slightly sweetish, but still rather bland overall. The flavor was also very soy-y, too, of course. To be fair, I recall having this, in appropriate filled-with-sushi-rice format, in Japanese restaurants in the past. I think I found them to be rather disappointing in that way as well, particularly as compared to regular (fish) sushi, sashimi, etc., which I adore, almost to an obsessive degree. So I believe my latest impression of this food is probably accurate, but I'll try to revisit this one properly the next time I get the chance. (It's very unlikely that I'll feel up to buying this canned kind again, and actually take the time and effort to make sushi rice to fill it up myself.) All in all, like most tofu dishes, fried bean curd is mostly tasteless in and of itself, and is palatable only if it's with something interesting, or covered in a tasty sauce, or the like.
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