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Sauteed Tofu with Hoisin Sauce

1 pack extra firm tofu, drained of excess liquid

¼ cup hoisin sauce

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger

3 garlic cloves, grated

1 teaspoon sesame oil

Salt

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

4 tablespoons peanut oil

1 teaspoon black sesame seeds

1 teaspoon white sesame seeds

¼ cup green onions, chopped

 

Place the drained tofu on a plate lined with several paper towels. Cover tofu with several more paper towels and top with a heavy pan or something heavy. Let sit for 30 minutes to drain excess liquid.

Mix the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, honey, ginger, garlic, oil, 1 teaspoon salt and red pepper flakes in a large bowl and keep aside.

Cut tofu into bit sized squares and toss in the bowl with the sauce. Marinate for 30 minutes.

Heat a heavy pan with peanut oil. Once really hot, add tofu and sear on all sides- about 3 to 4 minutes on each side.

Remove from heat and sprinkle sesame seeds and green onion. Serve with rice.

 

 

 

Gochujang Tofu Stir Fry

We love, love Korean cuisine- this one is a play on the Korean flavors…

4 tablespoons Gochujang

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons honey

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons Mirin

1 teaspoon salt

 

Mix the ingredients in a small bowl and keep aside.

 

1 18 ounces firm tofu package, cut into 1 inch cubes

3 tablespoons corn starch

1 teaspoon salt

¼ cup peanut oil

 

Transfer the tofu into a medium bowl, add the corn starch and salt. Mix  well till all cubes are coated properly. Heat a frying pan with the peanut oil and brown the tofu on medium heat till all sides are golden brown. Drain on some paper towel and keep aside.  Save the peanut oil for stir frying the veggies.

 

1 medium onion, sliced

2 cups Cremini or any mushroom of choice, slices

1 large red bell pepper, sliced

4 cups Chinese broccoli, or bok choy or spinach

3 green onions, cut into 1 inch pieces

2 teaspoons black sesame seeds

 

Heat a wok like pan with 2 tablespoons of the saved peanut oil. Add the onion and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes on medium heat. Add the mushrooms and sauté on high for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the red pepper and cook for 2 to 3 minutes on medium heat. Add the greens and let them wilt and add the browned tofu and the gochujang sauce. Mix well and bring to a boil. Check for seasonings. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds. Serve with jasmine rice.

 

 

 

Crispy Tofu with Sugar Snap Peas

Celebrating Chinese New Year!

This is a great recipe to make for Meatless Mondays… I love making tofu dishes- we all love it. Recently I have been getting my inspiration from the New York Times cooking site – it has lots of really really good ideas. This recipe is from there.. I tweaked it a bit but it is still quite similar. Try this one, it is a winner!

  • 1 14 ounces package extra firm tofu
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/3 cup corn starch

Sauce

  • 4 garlic cloves, grated
  • 1 large jalapeno chiles, seeded and chopped
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 inch fresh ginger, grated
  • Juice of 2 medium limes
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
  • 2 teaspoons fish sauce
  • 2 teaspoons honey

Transfer all the ingredients to small bowl, mix well and set aside.

  • Peanut oil
  • 2 cups sugar snap peas, trimmed and thinly sliced
  • 4 scallions, thinly sliced
  • ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
  • ¼ cup fresh basil, chopped
  • 2 teaspoons sesame seeds

Drain tofu and wrap it with several layers of paper towel and place on a plate. Top with a heavy can and let the tofu drain for 30 minutes. Unwrap the tofu and into four parts and then diagonally. Dry with more paper towels and keep aside.

Transfer the cornstarch and salt into a wide bowl. Dredge the tofu and set aside. In the meantime, heat a large skillet over high heat. Add 3 tablespoons peanut oil and start browning the tofu on each side for 2 to 3 minutes. Take out of the pan, add more peanut oil and add the sugar snap peas and scallions. Stir fry until soften- 1 to 2 minutes. Add the sauce and bring to a boil. Add the tofu and garnish with cilantro, basil and sesame seeds. Serve with brown rice.

 

Shredded Tofu with Mushrooms and Edamame

I am making more non-meat dishes as my daughter wants to eat less meat. I am a fan of the NY Times recipes and cook a lot of the dishes. This one is modified from the NY Times cooking site and is extremely healthy but most importantly, it is delicious! I served it with red rice instead of white or brown but any rice or grain will do.

1 package firm tofu (15 ounces), drained

4 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons Chinese Shaoxing sauce

Juice of 1 lime

2 teaspoons sesame oil

2 teaspoons cornstarch

3 tablespoons peanut oil

3 cups shiitake mushrooms, sliced

1/3 cup green onions, chopped

1 stalk lemongrass, trimmed and outer leaves removed

1 inch fresh ginger

3 garlic cloves

1 jalapeno, seeds taken out

Salt

¾ cup shelled edamame

½ cup chopped, basil, cilantro and chives

 

Using a box grater, shred the tofu and spread on a paper towel lined platter to drain.

In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce, Shaoxing, lime juice, sesame oil and cornstarch. Mix well and keep aside.

Process the lemon grass, ginger, garlic and jalapeno in a food processor. Keep aside.

In a wok like pan, heat the peanut oil. Add the mushrooms and cook on high heat for 7 to 8 minutes till browned and slightly crisp. Add the green onions and the lemon grass mixture and cook on medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the tofu and edamame and mix well.  Add the soy sauce mixture and bring to a boil. Mix well and check for seasonings and add salt accordingly. Garnish with more lime juice and the chopped herbs.

Green Curry Noodle Soup

My daughter announced a while ago that she would like to eat less meat- so, I informed her that we can absolutely do that but we will need to incorporate more veggies and beans  in the diet. I know of a lot of teenagers her age who have decided to give up meat and live on pasta every day – not in my house!! This is a yummy, flavorful dish where one does not miss the meat….it does have some shrimp paste- but that can be eliminated.

Green curry paste (substitute store bought paste)

  • ½ bunch Thai basil leaves
  • ½ bunch cilantro leaves
  • 2 kaffir lime leaves, (or zest of one lime)
  • 1 (4- inch) piece lemongrass
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 1 small shallot, chopped
  • 1 (2- inch) piece peeled ginger
  • 1 small Serrano pepper
  • ½ teaspoon shrimp paste (or 5 to 6 dashes fish sauce)
  • 2 teaspoons ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin

Place all the ingredients into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth, about 3 to 4 minutes. If desired, strain the paste through a strainer to get rid of the stringy texture from the lemongrass. Take out and keep aside.

  • 2 tablespoons peanut oil
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, sliced
  • 1 bunch brown beech mushrooms
  • 1 cup spicy dry tofu, sliced or extra firm tofu, sliced
  • ½ cup sliced fresh or canned bamboo shoots
  • 3 heaping tablespoons green curry paste
  • 2 kaffir lime leaves, (or zest of one lime)
  • 1 can coconut milk
  • 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
  • 12 ounces ramen noodles

Heat a heavy saucepan with the peanut oil. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the green curry paste and kaffir lime leaves and sauté for another 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tofu and bamboo shoots and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk and broth. Bring to a boil and adjust seasoning.

Cook the ramen noodles according to instructions and add to the soup and serve garnished with basil, cilantro leaves and sliced Serrano pepper.

Recipe modified from spoonforkbacon.com

 

Day Five- Kyoto Shrines and Temples

Kyoto is a very quaint city compared to Tokyo. Considering the size, I am still surprised at the amount of French cafes and patisseries. Everywhere we go, there is another one to look at and maybe try some kind of a confection. Today, we took all kinds of buses to get around Kyoto. Just like the subway system in Tokyo, the buses here are very well run and quite easy to track. We started the day at the Golden Pavilion, which was gorgeous. A rock garden and the silver pavilion later it was time for lunch. It was a hilly area around the silver pavilion, lined with restaurants as well as homes. We scoped out a few while walking towards the temple. As we came back, we chose a small, quaint restaurant which seemed to be run by a family. We ordered bowls of rice with pork cutlet and egg for me and tofu and egg for my husband.

Rice Bowl with Tofu and EggRice Bowl with Pork Cutlet and Egg

We relaxed with some beer and sake. The meal was simple, yet delicious. It is amazing how different the portion sizes are when you leave the US… As we walked out, I remembered I wanted to have a soft serve cone with green tea ice cream. I had noticed the shops everywhere and kept forgetting to try one. Well, it was out of this world- creamy with a fabulous earthy, green tea flavor. Not too sweet- just perfect. I am really loving all the confections made with green tea- they are all over the place.

For dinner, we actually did some research and checked on tripadvisor. The number one rated restaurant in Kyoto is called Issian. I am a big fan of tripadvisor since it has never lead us wrong. Well, we decided to go to the restaurant and asked our concierge to guide us and surprisingly we found it. It is part of the famous main street full of restaurants- which is kind of a maize since there are tons of restaurants and very hard to find. It is a Japanese stone grill and they cook all kinds of meat in front of you- to perfection. The meat and fish were delicious and yet again trip advisor did not disappoint us.

The meal started with shrimp and fish. Chicken came in between- and the meal ended with pork and beef. The taste of the meats was unbelievable. We dipped the meats either in salt or ponzu sauce. Miso soup and rice were served, including a salad. We finished off with a delicious sorbet.

Shrimp and Fish on the hot stone

 

Chicken Meatballs

Amazing Pork

Overall it was a great dinner and best of all, the chef told me about a 450 year old knife shop in Kyoto which is world famous- guess who will be buying herself a knife tomorrow??- stay tuned.