Tofu

History

　It is said that tofu is a thing invented in Soong (old China) about
approximately 1000 years ago, and came to Japan around the end of
the Heian era. The exchange between Japan and the Asian continent
thrived more and more from the seventh century to the eighth century
since Buddhism was transmitted for the first time in the sixth century.
It seems that the transmission of Buddhism and tofu had a close connection. However, tofu was the food for a few people of a privileged class such as
a priest or the nobility for a long time. In the Muromachi era vegetarian
cooking began to penetrate with a spread of tea ceremony to the public,
and tofu was sold in a town. It seemed that tofu was harder than modern
tofu, and it was not broken even though someone dropped it in those days.
Tofu dishes were devised variously from the Edo era and tofu became indispensable to Japanese food.