The populace is apparently tired of negative food finds. During these Omaba-fied times, people want to be uplifted. Uplifted by hope, uplifted by the stimulus plan, uplifted by GREAT soy juice.

Out of the current crop of soy producers supplying the majority of LA’s Asian grocery stores, a few stand out. Let us bypass the OC due to lack of personal interest (Dong Phuong and Thanh Song’s products are both popular with the 714 locals) and focus on the ultra competitive SGV.

Previous, I’ve listed a few of the Soy Milk producers in the Western SGV. The list includes, but is not limited to: Vinh Hung, VP, VK, Thanh Loi, Ding’s, Yung Ho, Yi Mei, Ye Mei, Mei Ling, etc.

The frontier of this battle, for the last few years, belongs to VP (in Monterey Park) and VK Tofu (Rosemead). On any given Sunday, you will see girls, women, grandmas, sitting in their cars not completely extracted out of parking stalls, frantically pawing at styrofoams full of tofu flower / dao fu fah / dou hua / 豆花. I advise you to do the same. There is no joy in being addicted alone. One can peek over the steering wheel, thru 2 sets of tempered auto glasses, at fellow dou hua lovers, and share that instant bond, if they chose to glance back. It’s nothing short of romantic.

VP produces the most consistent product. Do not suggest the hacks offered at dimsum houses. From Sea Harbor to King Hua to Elite, nothing matches the silky yet compacted tofu flower from VP. VK’s version is simply not as soyful while the syrup does not offer the un-subtle gingeriness which punches up the flavor profile to the N-th degree.

Liquify the tofu flower and the result is the same: pure soy juice bliss in a bottle. There is no need for organic labels nor fancy methodology (it is said the best Japanese tofu is made from US-exported beans), VP’s soy milk beats anything coming out of Yung Ho, or other Taiwanese breakfast joints on protein richness. Simultaneously, it is silkier, tastier, and somehow healthier, than Silk®. While the drive to eradicate soy “milk” has failed, there is hope for unadulterated soy “juice” still yet in 2009.

May you all experience the ecstasy of having tofu flower slipping and sliding through the gaps of your teeth while sitting on top of a faux rolling hill, in a random suburban park, on a Sunday afternoon.

VP Tofu
237 S Garfield Ave
Monterey Park, CA 91754
(626) 572-9930

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