In West Philadelphia, at 47th and Baltimore, there’s a Vietnamese-owned corner market called the Fu Wa. They sell the standard range of hoagies and other sandwiches, but they also sell something they call the tofu hoagie. It’s basically a tofu version of a Vietnamese classic called a banh min, usually made with pork, but in this case made with marinated tofu.
I mention it as an answer to all the emails we get objecting for one reason or another to the PB&J. Some have children with peanut allergies, some object to processed peanut butter, some think it’s too fattening, or (perish the thought) something that would bore them after too many lunches. The PB&J Campaign isn’t ONLY about the PB&J; any plant-based meal will reduce CO2e emissions, conserve water, save land, and fight pollution compared to the animal-product based alternative. If you get tired of PB&Js or can’t eat them for medical reasons, try out the Fu Wa tofu hoagie.
Tofu can be great stuff, but it’s hippie reputation and the sad attempts of neophytes to cook with it turn off a lot of people. Whatever you think of tofu, you need to try the Fu Wa Tofu hoagie. It is not what you think of when you think of tofu. It’s spicy, rich, luscious fare. It inspires ardent, rapturous support from its fans (see the Fu Wa Tofu Hoagie haiku contest), which include hipsters, grad students, punk-style anarchists, and all the just normal-cool people from the neigborhood.
PB&J Girl and PB&J Boy discuss the basic merits of the Fu Wa Tofu in their latest slide show we’ve just posted to Youtube and our Facebook groups.
