Tofu is warmed in water with a sheet of kelp at the bottom of the pot. It is never allowed to boil. When the blocks begin to sway you lift them out and eat them with a dipping sauce and whatever garnishes are on the table. There is no step that could be taken out without taking out the dish itself. It is a thing made entirely by subtraction.

The origin given is the vegetarian cooking of Nanzen-ji, and the first people to serve it are said to have been the teahouses outside the temple gate. Restaurants along that approach still do nothing else, and have not needed to. Because the tradition is Buddhist, the stock is kelp. No fish, no meat, nothing that ever had a face. There was never a reason to add any.

Kyoto has tofu makers that have been working since the Edo period. What decides the quality is the tofu, the kelp and the water, and the groundwater here is soft, low in minerals. Tofu made with it does not firm up, does not fall apart in hot water, and warms through while staying tender.

Good water, therefore good tofu, therefore a dish that consists of warming it. The chain of reasoning has not been shortened, hidden or dressed up anywhere along the way, which is unusual for a city that is good at dressing things up.