Viet Tofu

Ha! It turns out I'm not crazy.

I knew there was a place in South Philly that made their own tofu and sold it at very reasonable prices, but when I tweeted for help in remembering the name of the place, people chimed in, "Check any Asian grocery or Whole Foods for Nature's Soy."

Nature's Soy is made in Philly, and their plastic tubs of reasonably priced tofu are abundant in the city's grocery stores, but I was just sure I had heard of some other place making and selling tofu cheaper, and doing it specifically in South Philly.

That place is Viet Tofu!
In the large Vietnamese shopping center at the intersection of 11th St. and Washington Ave., you'll find Viet Tofu (right across from Nam Phuong on the 11th St. side), a Vietnamese store selling housemade banh mis, bubble teas, sweets, snacks, and quick lunches. Viet Tofu's specialty is their housemade tofu and soy milk, though. Right when you walk in the door, there is a tub filled with blocks of fresh, firm tofu. The tofu blocks (which are larger than the blocks you get in the white plastic containers) are $1 each, or 6 for $5. This is the tofu I was looking for!

And, the fresh tofu is individually wrapped in plastic, in case you're one of those that are skeeved out by sticking your hand (where did those tongs go?) into water to pluck tofu out of bulk tofu bins.Over on the hot bar you'll find assorted fried tofu creations. Tofu Viet takes their housemade tofu and blends it with ingredients like lemongrass for lemongrass tofu, or cilantro for vegetable tofu. Not all of the tofu creations are vegetarian; for instance, there is a shrimp and tofu blend, as well as some other meat and tofu blends, so be sure to read the labels before you start loading up.

Viet Tofu is pretty good about labeling their food with English so non-Vietnamese speakers don't have to guess at what that package of ambiguous food is, but, for some reason, English labeling doesn't quite make it to the food in the refrigerator section.
Prices vary on the fried tofu, but these lemongrass and vegetable fried tofu pieces were 5 for $1.
Don't miss the housemade soy milk over in the coolers. There are gallon, half-gallon, and single-serving sizes of sweetened and unsweetened soy milk (a red string on the handle denotes that it's unsweetened), as well as green soy milk (made from edamame). I picked up a single-serving bottle of green soy milk for $1 — thick, fresh, and very bean-y tasting, but in a good way.

Locally-made tofu and soy milk bargains! Vietnamese yumminess! Go, go, go!

Viet Tofu
1110 Washington Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19147

Nam Phuong

My introduction to Nam Phuong, one of many Vietnamese restaurants along Washington Avenue, comes thanks to a comment from one of my blog readers, Beth, who suggested I check out Nam Phuong if I wanted a bowl of vegetarian soup. Beth also mentioned that Nam Phuong has an entire vegetarian section on the menu, which is sort of rare amongst the Washington Avenue Vietnamese restaurants.It's true, Nam Phuong does have a vegetarian section on the menu, which includes 17 dishes ranging from spring rolls, summer rolls, rice vermicelli bowls, soup, tofu in curry, and eggplant in garlic sauce. Prices are reasonable ($5.95 to $7.95 for entrees), and the amount of food is substantial (I haven't been able to finish any entree, yet).I was so happy to see vegetarian sweet and sour soup on the menu, since I love it so and have not had it in a restaurant in some time, so I skipped Beth's recommendation to order an off-the-menu vegetarian noodle soup, but will be back to do so soon.

Nam Phuong's steaming hot bowl of sweet and sour broth is chock full of goodies — mung bean sprouts, celery, okra, tofu, tomatoes, pineapple, and these curious half moon slices of malanga stem (I had to ask what the vegetable was because I enjoyed it's porous and spongy texture so much, I wanted to buy some — and I did right after dinner at the neighboring grocery). Garnished with scallions, herbs, and fried garlic, I found the broth perfect, so did not adulterate with the many condiments on the table. The rice vermicelli bowl topped with chopped spring rolls, lettuce, cucumbers and carrots is another behemoth to behold. Pour on the vegetarian nuoc cham, and any of the other condiments on the table (I like to add soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and Sriracha), give it a stir, and start carb loading. The crunchy, fried spring rolls were filled with a tasteless and almost mushy, finely chopped cabbage, so I don't think I'd order this dish again.Instead, I'd order the rice vermicelli bowl with stir fried lemongrass tofu and sprouts topped with crushed peanuts and scallions, which added lots of flavor and depth to the rice noodles, so much so, that I didn't even doctor up my bowl with condiments other than the nuoc cham.

Nam Phuong is a large restaurant, and is often packed during prime eating hours, but if you go on an off time, you can find yourself sitting almost alone in a vast sea of chairs and tables. Nam Phuong also has a bar with reasonable prices. Service is pretty speedy, with multiple servers tending to your table, but if you are ready for the check, be sure to make eye contact with a server or you will be sitting there for a while.

Thank you, Beth, for the solid recommendation.

Nam Phuong
1100-1120 Washington Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19147
215-468-0410
Open 7 days a week, 10 am-10 pm