New plastic packaging for tofu
February 20th, 2009 by James
If you’ve ever been frustrated by the plastic packaging most tofu is sold in, you might like the new easy-to-open packaging found in this video clip:
Its creators are hoping to cut down on its production costs and make it as cheap as other packaging methods. If they’re successful, the days of using a knife to open tofu packs may soon come to an end.
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Seeing the demo of people trying to open the normal containers made me think of infomercials where the host is conveniently unable to perform the most mundane task such as cracking an egg or pouring a glass of water.
Still, nice idea.
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Agreed about the demos. I have to admit, I don’t ever remember seeing anyone try to open a tofu pack by peeling off the clear plastic from the top, for the obvious reasons demonstrated in the video. Nor can I recall seeing tofu packed into such precisely-fitted containers, so that you end up cutting the tofu when you cut the film. There is always a few millimeters of space on each side.
I see a clear disadvantage to this new pack, though. If you just peel the whole film off the top, draining the water off becomes trickier and messier. I guess if you just partially opened it by peeling the tape off one end first, that would solve things, but I’ve always cut along the sides of the tofu first and then turned the pack upside down over the sink to drain it before removing the plastic and dumping the tofu out of the container.
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You make a very good point about the draining. Maybe there’s a recommended procedure that they left out since the demos didn’t cover the draining aspect either.
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Just punch two opposite corners open with a knife, one from which to pour and one to let the air in, and then drain. After that, slice the plastic with the knife on three sides, keeping the knife against the sides of the container and slicing from the midpoint outward (both directions on each side) so the plastic doesn’t get all floppy while you cut it. Then open up the plastic flap and, dump out the tofu (keeping it against a plate so it doesn’t break). After that, feel free to smish the tofu with your hands in celebration of a successful tofu removal.
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I just like the fact that they call it “開楽” with actual kanji, rather than some dipshit Japanese-Engrish name like “Ease-op” or “Oppy Happy! Pak”
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Somehow I expected more from science – like flying cars and a cure for cancer. Instead we get easy to open tofu packages.
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wow… we have that technology here in North America for years? Whats going on Japan?
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I see. This new easy-to-open packaging could be applied for many other packaging products rather than just for the tofu packaging.
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