Tofu

[touaregsand]

I just made this.

Extra soft block tofu, kanjang, mirin, chili oil, a sprinkling of shichimi togarishi, tarako furikake and shaved bonito.

[M. Lucia]

Thanks for sharing!

I discovered that steamed tofu is good too!

Topped with marinated mushrooms.

Tuaregsand, please share pictures if you make the soondubu chigae also.

[SuzySushi]

Hands up for mapo tofu as a classic, a favorite. It's one of those viscerally satisfying dishes, speaks to the palate and the soul. According to my family I make the "best" version.

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Okay, what's the recipe?

(And I know what you mean about recipes that speak to the soul: Japanese curry rice and mapo tofu are two of my "comfort foods," right up there with good ole American mac & cheese.)

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I have no idea if this is traditional or authentic.

1 tablespoon of Chinese red chili sauce

1/2 tablespoon of Chinese fermented bean paste (I can't remember what's it's called, I'll have to check the next time I go to the store)

1 clove of garlic minced

1/2 tablespoon of grated ginger

approximately 1/4 pound of ground beef (I don't eat pork)

1 package of medium firm tofu

1/3 cup of waterchestnuts, sliced

1/3 cup bamboo shoots sliced

cornstarch to thicken

1 tablespoon of oil

heat oil in pan, add garlic and ginger, sautee for a couple of minutes add the chili sauce and the fermented bean paste. Add ground meat, cook through, add bamboo shoots and waterchestnuts and about a cup of water, add cubed tofu, bring to a gently boil, add cornstarch to thicken.

You can add more or less of the red chili sauce and the bean paste according to taste.

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Oh, yum! Yes, please let me know which fermented bean paste you use. There are a lot of different bean paste products in the stores here...

[redfox]

I often use tofu instead of paneer in Indian food, because making paneer requires  a little bit of advance planning.  It's not the same, by any means, but it's still good.

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Just FYI, a great way to get premade paneer is to shop for queso fresco wherever you might find Latin American foods (for me and where I live now, this is practically everywhere). It's the same thing, or close enough for government work.

[helenjp]

Here's a quickie out of my tofu recipe file...

Stirfried Tofu with Katsuobushi (2 servings)

1 block cotton (firm) tofu

1/3 oz or 10g fresh ginger

1/2 dried red chile

30g nozawana pickles (any salt-pickled greens would do, or Chinese slices of za-sai...that lumpy pale brown proto-cabbagey thing)

2 tab chirimen-jako, very small dried salted fish, optional

Seasoning mix: 1 tab sake, 1/2 tab mirin (sweet sake), 1 tab soy sauce)

4-6" (10cm or co) of white negi (Japanese dividing onion, spring onion)

Katsuo-bushi (dried smoked shaved bonito, at least 1 small packet)

Put tofu under a light weight on a slanted draining board for an hour to get rid of some of the water. Slice thickly and halve each slice diagonally.

Chop ginger very finely, removed seeds from red chile and cut in fine rings.

Rinse pickles and chop up. (Soak if excessively salty).

Heat a frypan well, add 1 tsp each of cooking oil and toasted sesame oil. Fry the ginger and chile briefly, and add tofu, turning with a fish-slice until both sides are lightly browned. Don't worry if slices break up. Over medium heat, add pickles, chirimen jako, fry briefly, and add seasonings from the edge of the pan. Fry till well amalgamated, then sprinkle over negi and katsuobushi, mix, and serve.

Other family favorites...we like the * Korean tofu/beef patties that Torakris mentioned, made with sesame butter, and also * tofu/chicken/cilantro/spring onion/ginger nuggets, deepfried...use at least two parts firm tofu (pressed) to one part ground meat, whizz them up in a food processer or just mash together in a bowl. *Firm tofu, pressed, crumbled, and stirfried with canned soybeans and various veges (especially with curry spices); or * crumbled tofu salad-style mixed with a broken up omelet and tomato pieces and dressed with a soy-sauce vinaigrette. In winter, *simmered gently (so it doesn't toughen) with Chinese cabbage chunks in a mild, sweetish, soy-sauce seasoned broth. * Also nice simmered with thinly cut beef in a more heavily seasoned soy-sauce/mirin broth, with some green beans or scallions added at the end, almost suki-yaki style.

[Tepee]

I consume tofu (soft, firm, skin, balls) 3 or 4 times a week. This morning I read an online article where this vegetarian guy described the calcium sulphate in tofu as "essentially Plaster of Paris". That certainly soured my tofu. He suggested eating fu chook/dry tofu skin instead.

[SuzySushi]

I consume tofu (soft, firm, skin, balls) 3 or 4 times a week. This morning I read an online article where this vegetarian guy described the calcium sulphate in tofu as "essentially Plaster of Paris".    That certainly soured my tofu. He suggested eating fu chook/dry tofu skin instead.

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The calcium sulphate in tofu actually increases the calcium content, making tofu a better source of dietary calcium for people who are lactose-inolerant (as many Asians are). Here's an article about soy foods.

Edited for typos.

Edited March 3, 2005 by SuzySushi (log)

[Tepee]

Whew! What a relief! Thank you, Suzy. BTW, great site.

[touaregsand]

suzysushi-

http://home.lkk.com/product/product_detail...=17&image3.y=14

This is it. Chili Bean Sauce or Doban Djan. Lee Kum Kee is the brand that I buy, because it's readily available at most supermarkets Asian or not in Los Angeles.

[touaregsand]

I made this last night. I purposely tried to keep the ingredients "whole" and easily recognizable for photographic purposes. Upon service at the table, the raw egg should be immediately stirred into the chigae and it will cook immediately. I also "cheated" on the broth. I used more clams then normally and I added a dash of fish sauce instead of making a seperate stock of myulchi (sundried anchovies and dashima (kombu) broth. Turned out fine.

This is what soondubu looks like at a restaurant before it gets to your table. The photo is contained within an article about tofu in general which I though might be an interesting read for my fellow tofu lovers.

http://theseoultimes.com/ST/?url=/ST/db/read.php?idx=1367

[TJHarris]

Crispy fried firm tofu with an orange ginger sauce. As soon as I can find the sauce recipe in my notes I will post.

[helenjp]

Marco Polo's "Tubu Tchigae" recipe given upthread was a winner! EVERY member of my family commented on how much they liked it.