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Tea Guy
14th November 2003, 21:05
Does no one eat around here? There is a food section but little here.
Hm...Perhaps no one can cook?
C'mon! Let us discuss something about food. Perhaps specialty dishes that you have experienced once before and have been searching for since. OR perhaps that one particular tea you love.
Maybe your favorite tofu dish (unless no one here enjoys tofu...)!
Just suggestions. I don't know....
Well, I'll see if anyone posts anything...

C. Sieg

Jack B
14th November 2003, 21:24
I make a pretty mean miso ramen, but I trick it up with thin-sliced mushroom, green onion, wakame (of course), tofu, and occasionally a raw egg. It ends up more like a stew.

ulvulv
14th November 2003, 22:12
Please educate me on the benefits of tofu. it taste nothing, and I very much doubt its nutritional value. Is it just for filling up space in lower regions? I eat it, but im nut sure why.

Tea Guy
14th November 2003, 23:19
What!? You believe tofu to taste like nothing!? You must not be used to eating things with such delicate flavors then. I have heard the same story from many non-Asian people, but you are certainly not to blame. You should eat and drink things with delicate flavors. Japanese cuisine is full of such foods. After much "training"(yes! developing your taste is training!) you shall be able to discern slight nuances in particular foods. I speak rather passionately about something that may seem trivial to most because I am a cook. I have spent many years of my life training in the kitchen, and so I have come to learn many things.
The delicate flavor of tofu is but one of such things. I cannot adequately explain the taste. It is simply something that one must learn to appreciate on their own.
Nutritionally, it's a great source of protein. Pure and simple. Soybeans are a relatively easy crop to grow as well and more protein can be produced in a particular area of land with soybeans than cattle.
Tofu also acts as a great insulater. Honestly. When I lived in a place that actually had winter I would eat grilled tofu quite often to keep warm.
I'm sure I could think of other things that make tofu so wonderful, but I have to go check some other posts and take care of a problem at home.

C.Sieg

ulvulv
14th November 2003, 23:51
Originally posted by Tea Guy
What!? You believe tofu to taste like nothing!? You must not be used to eating things with such delicate flavors then. I have heard the same story from many non-Asian people, but you are certainly not to blame. You should eat and drink things with delicate flavors. Japanese cuisine is full of such foods. After much "training"(yes! developing your taste is training!) you shall be able to discern slight nuances in particular foods. I speak rather passionately about something that may seem trivial to most because I am a cook. I have spent many years of my life training in the kitchen, and so I have come to learn many things.
The delicate flavor of tofu is but one of such things. I cannot adequately explain the taste. It is simply something that one must learn to appreciate on their own.
Nutritionally, it's a great source of protein. Pure and simple. Soybeans are a relatively easy crop to grow as well and more protein can be produced in a particular area of land with soybeans than cattle.
Tofu also acts as a great insulater. Honestly. When I lived in a place that actually had winter I would eat grilled tofu quite often to keep warm.
I'm sure I could think of other things that make tofu so wonderful, but I have to go check some other posts and take care of a problem at home.

C.Sieg

I appreciate hot sake. When I was on a short stay in japan, one of the highlights was guzzling large amounts of sake watching sumo. I also enjoy sushi, escpecially when made with norwegian raw salmon.

. Tofu sucks, whatever angle I try to taste it. For insulation, I wear wool or fleece, and eat flesh. Tofu must be a major waste of time. if you kept your temperature eating grilled tofu, it has to be because of the pigfat that you fried it in.:D

Tea Guy
15th November 2003, 05:57
Ha, ha, ha!
Oh well. If you don't like tofu, then you don't like tofu. To each his own.
After all, most people think I'm crazy because I don't like Italian food.
Of course, the one thing I forgot to mention about why I was eating a lot of tofu was because my budget was very low and tofu is usually cheaper than meat.
Among meat though, I believe pork to be one of the best.

Mekugi
15th November 2003, 07:24
I have Mastered Goya Champuru on my recent trip to Taketomijima. I have also learned the art of Mabo (ironically, with Goya as well), but heck if anyone wants to talk about it.

Unfortunately Ulvestad has never truly eaten my Mabo Tofu...then his tofu attitude would change methinks, unless he doesn't like hot sauces and spices.

Ya wanna discuss the finer points about smoking fish...I am a certified master (ohh yeah...it's true).

I also make a mean venison (insert dish name here), can handle anything that qualifies as "wild game" with suprising Martha Stewart like mythos.

However, no one seems impressed by "talents" until the are eating my wares - then the conversations start.

I also very rarely cook for people because most of the time it takes too long, and I don't have the time to do anything fancy.

BRING IT ON BABY!

;)

-Chef Rawsty

Tea Guy
15th November 2003, 15:17
Eh!? You can make mabo dofu? CAn you share your recipe?

Hm, I've never smoked fish before. Please, inform me.

And venison? I've never cooked venison before and it's been years since I've had some. I should learn to use a bow and go hunting....and find some place to store all the meat. I really love venison.

as for tofu, how about agedashi dofu? That's one of my favorite tofu recipes.

Mekugi
17th November 2003, 07:12
Mabo tofu

The most important thing is to pay attention when you are making it the first time. After a couple of time it gets easier. As for the ingredients I divided everything into sets which should go in order. Ohh yeah, make rice too.


Set 1
"stock"
This is any vegetables, meat or anything else you want to put in it. Just add enough for say, two people. If you want to make more you do the math. (This is everything BESIDES tofu. No tofu yet. I know you are looking at it and thinking just to add it early to simplify everything but don't it will turn to goo. Stop looking at it. Stop it. Really. You're creeping me out man.)

Set 2
(add to pan after frying your "stock")
1 TS of Soy oil or Sesame oil (or 1/2 TS of both)
1 tsp "Toban Jyan" (Chinese bean paste)
2 TBS of Soy sauce or to taste.
(Then add)
1 TBS of ground Ginger.
2 clovettes of Garlic.
1 TBS of Oyster sauce.

Set 3 (optional)
(or you can skip these for plain mabo.)
2 TBS of Sake or wine.
2/3 tsp of vinegar. (recommend rice vinegar but any vinegar would be okay)
1/2 tsp of sugar or gum sugar.
1/3 tsp of Red pepper or just add hot peppers.

Set 4
Water, just enough to cover it 1/4 inch.
Tofu (cut into small blocks)....when the rest is almost finished, then you add the tofu. Again just enough for two people. (See the math thing if you want more.)

Emergency Fixits
Cornstarch to thicken it, use this if you screw up and the mabo is runny. Trust me, it's harder than you think.

Garnishes
Garnish with whatever- I like to use sliced carrots for some reason. I always have too many carrots so it is easy and quick and I get rid of all the damned carrots before they sprout. Anyway, you get the picture.
NOTE: Avoid human body parts and small animals. For guests this is a real turn off, you sick little monkey. ;)


Directions:
1) Heat pan and fry Set 1. NOTE: use very slight oil or sea salt to keep it from sticking.

2) When your stock is fried to just about the way you like it stir in Set 2 at high heat until it starts to "smoke" just a little (that's right...a little scorch...not too much) or 20-30 seconds. Reduce heat to low or medium.

Add set 3 and keep stirring it in...or skip it. Who cares!

Keep on cooking until

3)...your primordial mabo should be properly mixed and a little sticky (caramelized). Now is the time to add a little water, just to cover it all about 1/4 inch or less. Bring to a boil & steep it again.

4) Once again it should start to thicken. Add a little more water in to keep it from burning and or loosen it up enough to "accept" the tofu. Go to five quickly now.

5)Add your tofu. Not the whole block at once...you should have cut it up into pieces dumbarse.
Return it to a slight boil.
Now is the time to really watch it. Make sure that it does not heat up so much to turn the tofu into goo, but just enough to heat it and blend together well.
Reduced heat to low again and steep it until thick. If after 3 minutes it's not thickening, then got to step 5....

<<<<<<<Uhoh :rolleyes:>>>>>>>>>>>
5) you screwed up- it's not thickening. You officially have too much water. Now it seems like it is going to take half of the night to thicken it. Never fear and praise the gods for Cornstarch. Dissolve a little cornstarch into the water & blend it in. Turn the heat down to way-way low, cover and simmer until thick. If you have to add top much cornstarch, you'll really mess it up it so watch it bozo ;).
<<<<<<<<<:rolleyes:>>>>>>>>>>>>>

OHH yeah did you remember to make rice?? If so just stick this stuff over your rice, garnish it and PRESTO and you have yourself the Authentic Japanese Mabo Tofu. Ohh yes, China in Japan tastes a lot different than China in the USA!!!

If none of this works, just go out and buy a packet of mabo mix and follow the directions. I mean hey, whatever!

Mekugi
17th November 2003, 08:19
Smoking fish is more art than science. You need to make or buy equiptment for the process and the preperation is all important.

Failing miserably is part of this too, and it can cost you some big cash. Buying cheap fish and starting with cheap wood chips is a way to cut costs. Making your own smoker is too- you hafta be creative with that.

Anyway...it's something to get into 100% or not bother with IMHO because you can end up ruining some nice fishies....


An outline would be:

Make a Smoker (or can buy one of these and skip the following * )

*Steel mesh grate made to fit the smokehut

*Small Caste Iron Pan

*Electric Burner

Wood chips

Fish (cut the way you want to smoke it)

Brine solution

About three days at least.

Then you have to ask what type of smoke you want? Wet or Dry. After you decide that, you have to soak the fish in a brine solution. Then, after the fish is cured, you smoke it (good luck trying to get it lit!! TEEHEE). Watching the smoke process every step of the way, constantly checking the smokehut chips and making sure the fish is coming about right. Not easily done, but totally possible!
I start a small batch on a Friday evening and finish on a Monday morning. Not exactly the best way to spend a weekend if you are busy.


-Russ


Originally posted by Tea Guy
Hm, I've never smoked fish before. Please, inform me.

Mekugi
17th November 2003, 08:26
=oops=

Tea Guy
18th November 2003, 23:13
Hm....I don't suppose I'll be smoking any fish anytime soon. I don't really have any place to smoke it anyway and I certainly can't take it indoors. Just tea smoking duck (which only takes 15-30 min but more cooking time other than that) can produce a lot of smoke in the house.
I should try your mabo dofu recipe sometime. I just need to find some Toban Jian though. My pantry is about 95% Japanese and 5% Chinese, so I don't always have Chinese ingredients I may need for particular recipes.

C.Sieg

samuel-t
19th November 2003, 00:14
Originally posted by ulvulv
Please educate me on the benefits of tofu. it taste nothing, and I very much doubt its nutritional value. Is it just for filling up space in lower regions? I eat it, but im nut sure why.
Oh, I have this fantastic tofu recipe, which I make way to selldom: "Ganmodoki uma-ni".

It's tofu dumplings made from tofu, cloud ear mushrooms, just a pinch of carrot, some raw shrimp, egg, salt, mirin, soy sauce and sugar. After combining the ingredients and forming the mixture to dumplings, these are deep fried. And after that simmered in bonito stock, mirin, sugar and soy sauce. They are delicious! Heating but not "hot", spicey, but not "spiced". A brilliant dish. Best served with fresh finely grated ginger, karashi and asparagus. Mmmm... Tofu...!

/Samuel

PS. I'm quite sure that there is some nutrition value to it as well. :)

Margaret Lo
20th November 2003, 15:54
Originally posted by ulvulv
Please educate me on the benefits of tofu. it taste nothing, and I very much doubt its nutritional value. Is it just for filling up space in lower regions? I eat it, but im nut sure why.

Hello Ulvulv,
Tofu is very high in protein. Rice is not high in protein compared to wheat and oats. Tofu therefore is essential to rice eaters to bolster protein intake where meat is scarce.

You mean you don't like the none-taste of tofu? Well neither did I as a child in China. As a grown up I like it much better having had many tasty dishes with tofu, but I'm still not in love with it by itself. Really its an absolutely necessary and healthful nutritional supplement in asian cuisines. It is combined with meat dishes because it absorbs flavors very well and extends the meat supply.

There's tofu in a podshell.

M

allan
21st November 2003, 18:00
The best tofu that I ever had was that which I made myself. This is a highly labour intensive process for such a small yield. For that reason I stopped doing it and no longer have my recipe. I probably got it from THE BOOK OF TOFU which, along with THE BOOK OF MISO and THE BOOK OF TEMPEH, is worth checking out (and they are available at public libraries sometimes).

I seem to have developed a soy allergy, probably from eating too much of the stuff, and so tend to shy away except at restaurants or when I'm a guest for dinner.

Regards,

ulvulv
21st November 2003, 18:40
You got me inspired. I will make a tofu-dish this saturday. I made instant tofu a couple of times. How do you tofu connoiseurs consider instant tofu from the real thing?
One recipe I had almost too much success with, was making sake. I did an easy recipe, without the fungus that is made in the "real" sake-brewing. I used oranges, some citrus, rice and baking yeast. After filtering off the sludge, leaving the sake to clear, I used the sludge once more, using yeast for wine. I added some extra sugar to kickstart the fermentation, and the result was really a kick. It was in fact too strong, so I drank it just a couple of times when I needed an extra high spirit. The rest went down the sink. Its been four years now, so i think I will have to do it again soon.

Tea Guy
21st November 2003, 19:11
I'm glad you're willing to try a tofu recipe this weekend. Have you decided on a dish yet?
As far as instant goes....I've never had any luck with anything instant. Of course, if that's the only way to go where you live, then go for it.
What is this about your "sake" brewing? If you're interested in making sake perhaps you should read up on it more and buy the proper ingredients. There are sources for such ingredients for home brewers.
Many things must be taken into account when brewing sake. Type of rice, koji, water, yeast....then of course the conditions in which it is being made. That's just the beginning. I don't think I can explain everything in clarity, so you should probably read up on it.

C.Sieg

ulvulv
21st November 2003, 20:27
Originally posted by Tea Guy
I'm glad you're willing to try a tofu recipe this weekend. Have you decided on a dish yet?
As far as instant goes....I've never had any luck with anything instant. Of course, if that's the only way to go where you live, then go for it.
What is this about your "sake" brewing? If you're interested in making sake perhaps you should read up on it more and buy the proper ingredients. There are sources for such ingredients for home brewers.
Many things must be taken into account when brewing sake. Type of rice, koji, water, yeast....then of course the conditions in which it is being made. That's just the beginning. I don't think I can explain everything in clarity, so you should probably read up on it.

C.Sieg

I have not found a source to buy koji, as I live in europe I have to find it online, and I havent been able to find a source. I will try again, maybe this weekend. I would of course prefer to make genuine sake, not just the fake recipe, where you have to add sugar.

Tea Guy
21st November 2003, 20:34
I may be able to help you find a source for the proper ingredients. I'll try to find them and post them.

C.Sieg

Tea Guy
21st November 2003, 21:02
http://www.geocities.com/rokurota3/Homebrew/koji.html

There's a good site that will direct you to information and ingredients for brewing sake. Oddly enough, I believe the most difficult ingredient to get a hold of is good sakamai(sake rice). You can use table rice, but it's not the best for truly good sake.
Please absorb as much information as you can about the brewing process.
Well, good luck. Keep me up to date with your progress.

C.Sieg

Earl Hartman
21st November 2003, 21:48
Re: tofu, we eat it all the time. My wife makes great agedashidoufu and ganmodoki. For ganmodoki she makes the broth ankake style (thickened with arrowroot or cornstarch), puts hijiki and chopped shiitake in the dumplings, and garnishes it with a lot of grated ginger.

However, I can feel ulvulv's pain. Almost all tofu you can get in supermarkets is tasteless. Commercial tofu makers usually use various stretchers to increase yield, with a severe resulting loss in flavor.

This is true even in the SF Bay Area where I live, in spite of its large Asian population. Most commercial tofu just isn't worth buying. In addition to the problems associated with mass production, most tofu sold in stores isn't fresh. Fortunately, there is a local, small-scale shop in San Jose Japantown called San Jose Tofu. His tofu is excellent, and you can get it fresh.

That being said, for Westerners, tofu is indeed bland and takes some getting used to. Also, it is a HUGE mistake to try to use it as a stretcher or a filler or to try to dress it up Western style to try to make it "interesting". Tofu only really shines when it is prepared as it was meant to be prepared: Asian style. Trying to pretend it is meat is stupid.

A really quick and tasty tofu dish (I don't know what this is called; I saw a picture and a description in a Japanese cookbook, but there was no recipe, so I made it up based on the description):

Actually, I just decided to call it Tamago Toji Doufu (Egg Soup Tofu)

One block fresh momen tofu (firm), drained and crumbled
About 3 cups ichiban dashi (1st preparation stock, the more katsuobushi [bonito flakes] you use the better)
Two eggs, well beaten
I cup frozen green peas (tiny peas are best)
Soy sauce to taste

Add the tofu to the stock and bring to a gentle simmer. Add the green peas and simmer until just heated through (frozen green peas are already cooked, so you don't need to boil them. The peas should remain bright green). Add the eggs, stirring constantly, until they are just cooked. Add soy sauce to taste.

Important Point: NEVER allow the pot come to a rolling boil. This will ruin the tofu and make the eggs hard and rubbery. The lowest possible heat is best.

Serve immediately with large spoons and slurp away. You can garnish it with chopped mitsuba (honewort, or Crytotaenia japonica) if you like.

This is great when it is cold, and if you have all the ingredients ready, it takes about 5 minutes to make. If you want a more robust preparation, you can add miso instead of soy sauce, and a little bit of sake added to the broth is good too.

Mekugi
22nd November 2003, 00:25
hmm...simple. Very nice.

-R

Originally posted by Earl Hartman
Actually, I just decided to call it Tamago Toji Doufu (Egg Soup Tofu)

One block fresh momen tofu (firm), drained and crumbled
About 3 cups ichiban dashi (1st preparation stock, the more katsuobushi you use the better)
Two eggs, well beaten
I cup frozen green peas (tiny peas are best)
Soy sauce to taste

Add the tofu to the stock and bring to a gentle simmer. Add the green peas and simmer until just heated through (frozen green peas are already cooked, so you don't need to boil them. The peas should remain bright green). Add the eggs, stirring constantly, until they are just cooked. Add soy sauce to taste.

Important Point: NEVER allow the pot come to a rolling boil. This will ruin the tofu and make the eggs hard and rubbery. The lowest possible heat is best.

Serve immediately with large spoons and slurp away. You can garnish it with chopped mitsuba (honewort, or Crytotaenia japonica) if you like.

This is great when it is cold, and if you have all the ingredients ready, it takes about 5 minutes to make. If you want a more robust preparation, you can add miso instead of soy sauce, and a little bit of sake added to the broth is good too.

Tea Guy
22nd November 2003, 02:38
Hey Earl, that sounds pretty good. I think I'll make that tonight. I don't have any peas, but perhaps I can use some hakusai instead.

C.Sieg