Photographing One Of America's Oldest Tofu Shops
Ota Tofu has nourished the Japanese American community in Portland, Ore., for more than 100 years, using a production process that has changed little through the decades.
Growing up in Portland, Ore., in the '90s, tofu could be hard to find. It would be a long time before ramen joints spread across the city, before national chains like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods had their own store-brand tofu.
But like soba noodles, nori, rice and fish, tofu is a staple of Japanese home cooking. So my parents regularly made a 15-minute drive west, across the Willamette River, to stock up at Ota Tofu.
The old-school company still makes its tofu by hand in small batches, navigating a growing demand for
