At the contemporary Vietnamese restaurant Moon Rabbit, tofu is transformed. It’s crisped and crumbled over steamed rice cakes; it shifts into a silky cheesecake; it’s whipped and served over roasted vegetables. But all of that tofu presents a challenge.
“Since tofu is a staple in our savory and dessert offerings, we often have an abundance of leftover tofu whey from the kitchen,” explains Thi Nguyen, the restaurant’s bar director and one of our Best New Bartenders of 2024. Instead of letting the whey—the liquid in a container of tofu that’s often discarded—go to waste, Nguyen repurposes it into a base for Moon Rabbit’s house simple syrup.
The move not only reduces waste in the kitchen, but adds nutty flavor and a slight creaminess to any cocktail that calls on the sweetener. It also boosts texture. “When used in a shaken drink, it creates a beautiful foam on top,” says Nguyen. Stirred drinks with the whey-based syrup, meanwhile, get “a rich, full mouthfeel.” To make it, she simply swaps out what would typically be water for the whey.
In addition to classics like Daiquiris and Old-Fashioneds—which the syrup folds seamlessly into—Nguyen has recently used the ingredient in a collaboration with New York’s Bangkok Supper Club. Her Đậu Hũ (tofu) cocktail takes inspiration from a tofu-based Vietnamese soup. She pairs the tofu whey syrup with chive-infused rum, lime juice and umami bitters in the lush, savory drink.
It’s a perfect showcase of Nguyen and Moon Rabbit’s approach to recipe development, which she sums up as a marriage between two driving forces: “Sustainability and creativity go hand in hand.”
