March's Local Friday Vendor: Happy Chik Chickpea Tofu
Every Friday we offer 10% off on a local vendor, which rotates monthly. March’s Local Friday vendor is Happy Chik Chickpea Tofu. We talked to one of Happy Chik’s founders, Didier Leplae, about how he and cofounder Brett Lipshutz started the company and why shopping local is important.
When and why did you start Happy Chik?
The idea for Happy Chik came to us in the early days of the pandemic over a Zoom dinner. We realized that we both separately liked making chickpea tofu. We thought, “This is something a lot of people would like and just don’t know about.”
The company was officially started in July 2020 and shortly after we started selling at Fondy Farmers Market
Image from Happy Chik’s Facebook page
How important is the collaboration between local businesses?
Collaborating with local businesses is essential for us. Because of its short shelf life, we only sell our chickpea tofu locally. Without other local businesses like the Riverwest Co-op, our business couldn’t exist.
What varieties are carried in store, and what do you think is great about each one?
The Riverwest Co-op currently carries all three of our varieties: Plain, Turmeric and Chili-Turmeric.
The Plain variety is probably the most versatile. It can be used for anything the other two varieties can be used for, but it’s particularly great in salads, lasagne or it even makes amazing hummus!
It’s also a great replacement for Italian panelle or French panisse.
The Turmeric has a beautiful golden hue and of course the health benefits of curcumin. We use high quality turmeric from Tippecanoe Herbs in Bayview. This variety is also quite versatile but probably a bit more suited for dishes like stir-fries, curries or noodle dishes. It’s perfect for making the Burmese salad recipe that we include with each package. Oh also, it makes a really good tofu scramble.
The Chili-Turmeric is actually our most popular variety. We use Thai chilis from local growers that we met at Fondy farmers market. Like the turmeric this one is great in stir-fries and so on but with a nice spicy kick.
Image from Happy Chik’s Facebook page
Grab some Happy Chik from the Co-op today!