Steamed Silken Tofu with Ginger, Green Onions, and Cilantro

It might seem odd that after spending much of the summer in Kediri, self proclaimed Kota Tahu (Tofu City) in Indonesia, that one of the first things I cooked upon returning to the States was this silken tofu dish, but this is not something you generally find in Indonesia.  I first tasted something like this dish some years ago in Kuala Terengganu in Malaysia. Tjing and I were at a rather unassuming Chinese restaurant and decided to give it a try.  It was a surprising burst of flavor against the backdrop of the silken tofu.  I have never come across the dish at any other restaurant.  Web searches have been fruitless as well.

When Andrea Nguyen's Asian Tofu came out, I eagerly purchased it hoping to find a recipe for the dish in it.  Alas, although her book has many delicious recipes (and the silken tofu I used in this recipe is made following her directions), it doesn't have this recipe in it.  She has several recipes using silken tofu cold, but nothing like that dish we had in KT. 

Actually, this is similar to the Chinese way of steaming fish.  The tofu is steamed and then sprinkled with finely julienned ginger and green onions, sprinkled with a vinegar-laced soy sauce dressing and chopped cilantro, and then drizzled with smoking hot peanut oil.  The oil flash cooks the herbs and adds a richness to the tofu.  This is one of those dishes meat eaters and vegans can both enjoy.  Indeed, this is one of those dishes that could actually get meat eaters to concede that a vegan diet might be possible, were all vegan dishes this tasty.

Silken Tofu with Ginger, Green Onions, and Cilantro

printable recipe

1 block of silken tofu, sliced into 1-inch thick rectangles

4 tsp kecap manis

4 tsp black vinegar

3 tsp soy sauce

1 inch piece of young ginger, peeled and finely julienned

2 green onions, cut into 2-inch lengths, finely julienned

1/2 cup cilantro, roughly chopped

1 tsp sesame oil

2 TBS peanut oil

Place the tofu on a plate, place half the ginger and green onions on top and steam for 8 minutes.  

Drain accumulated liquid from the plate.  Mix together the kecap manis, vinegar, and soy sauce.  Pour this mixture over the steamed tofu.  Sprinkle the remaining ginger, green onion, and the chopped cilantro on top.  Heat the peanut oil in a small pan until it is smoking.  Add the sesame oil and then drizzle this over the tofu dish.  Serve with steamed rice.

Suon Rang--Vietnamese Glazed Spareribs

The end of the semester along with an unexpected opportunity to substitute for a friend at the school where I used to teach has limited my posting recently.  The end of the semester is always a busy time getting finals ready and finishing grading.  The substitute position was a surprise because with cuts in the budget for adult education, the district no longer hires substitutes when teachers are sick or have jury duty; classes are simply canceled.  The director of the division loathes to pay for a substitute when also paying sick leave for the absent teacher.  Because her father, who himself has bone cancer, is no longer able to adequately care for his wife, who is terminally ill with cancer while also suffering from Alzheimer's, my friend had to take a family leave of absence to care for her parents.  Since the school district isn't paying her, the director agreed to pay for a substitute.  This is the state of compassion and education in present day America.

Although I agreed to substitute primarily because I wanted to help out a friend, I've greatly enjoyed her classes.  If only the people responsible for funding education could see how important these classes are to our community.  Besides recent college graduates from other countries, there is an orthodontist who fled the violence and fear of kidnapping in Mexico, a pharmacist from Algeria who is working at Del Taco, a psychologist from Spain,  and a young, former accounting executive for Coca Cola in Africa in one of the classes.  One of the Chinese students is also fluent in Japanese, married to a neurological researcher working at the UC Davis medical center.  Many of them are already fluent in several languages, but without greater fluency in English they are reduced to working in fast food restaurants or other such menial jobs.  Yet, the only reason they even have a class now is that their regular teacher is forced to go without pay in order to take care of a dying parent.  Merry Christmas!

On to the main point of this blog, I suppose.  The food.  Today's dish is a tasteful recipe for spareribs.  It has the characteristically Vietnamese combination of salty (from the fish and soy sauce) and sweet (from sugar).  I served them with quick pickled beansprouts and carrots, the pickled vegetables a nice counter balance to the richness of the spareribs.  The recipe is from Nicole Routhier's The Foods of Vietnam, the first Vietnamese cookbook I ever bought and still one of my favorites.  In the future, I think I'll deep fry the ribs in the first part of the recipe as stir frying them requires a large wok and a great deal of patience to cook them through.  I used my 22-inch wok to stir-fry the ribs, a smaller wok will probably require you to cook them in batches if you don't choose to deep fry them.  Another option would be to grill them before the final step of glazing them and stir frying them with the vegetables.  The important thing is to make sure they are cooked through before doing the final glaze.

Suong Rang--Vietnamese Glazed Spareribs

printable recipe

1 TBS oil
3 lbs pork spareribs, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 TBS sugar
2 TBS fish sauce
1 TBS soy sauce
2 medium onions, each cut into eighths and separated
8 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
2 red bell peppers, cut into 1/2-inch strips
1 green bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch strips
1 bunch of green onions, cut into 2-inch pieces
freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a large wok or frying pan.  Add the ribs and cook on both sides until browned and almost cooked through, 25 minutes or longer.  (Alternatively, deep fry the ribs in batches, about 6--8 minutes, or grill over hot coals until almost cooked through.)

Add the sugar to the ribs and cook, stirring, for another ten minutes.

Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of oil from the wok.  Add the fish sauce and soy sauce and stir for five minutes.  Add the onions, garlic, and peppers and stir-fry  just until onions are lightly browned and peppers are becoming soft.  Season with pepper and remove to a serving platter.  Garnish with cilantro if you so desire.  Serve with steamed rice and pickled beansprouts and carrots.

Pickled Bean Sprouts

1 pound fresh bean sprouts, tails removed if you wish
1 bunch of green onions, cut into 2-inch lengths
1 TBS salt
4 cups water
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar.

Place the sprouts and green onions in a large, non-reactive bowl.

Combine the salt, water and vinegar in a small sauce pan.  Bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve the salt. Cool until warm to the touch.  Pour this over the bean sprout mixture and stir.  Marinate for at least one hour, or until ready to serve.  Drain before serving.

These are best eaten on the day they are made.  Don't marinate too long or they will become limp.

Pickled carrots

3 carrots
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1 TBS sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Peel carrots and cut into julienned strips or thin rounds.  Combine the water, vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small sauce pan.  Bring to a boil.  Remove and let cool to room temperature.  Add the carrots to the vinegar mixture and allow to marinate for at leas one hour.  Drain and serve.

I was sorry to see that Delicious Vietnam, the monthly blogging event founded by Anh of A Food Lover's Journey and Hong and Kim of The Ravenous Couple is coming to an end.  It will still exist here in the world of Facebook apparently, but not as a monthly event.  Anh, one of its founders, is hosting the final addition of Delicious Vietnam.  Interested participants have until the final day of 2011 to take part and have a chance to win some wonderful prizes.  For more detailed information, please go here.

I may try to get in another entry, but for now, this will have to do.  I must say I've enjoyed participating in and having the chance to host several of the round-ups of Delicious Vietnam over the past few years.  I hope it will continue to thrive on Facebook.

Crab Fried Rice

Fried rice is one of those dishes that I generally avoid at restaurants.  It's a great way to get rid of leftovers, but that's not why I go to restaurants.  Moreover, it is often greasy, fried in too much oil.  At home, fried rice is a treat.  It's quick, easy, and not greasy at all.

 Crab fried rice is not a dish of leftovers.  Although I originally had this version at a restaurant near the school where I taught in Jakarta, this is not an Indonesian style of nasi goreng.  Indonesian nasi goreng features kecap manis and is a dish that I associate more with breakfast.  This crab fried rice is more subtly spiced and allows the crab to stand out.  The addition of corn adds a little sweetness and texture to the rice.

It's important to use good quality crab meat when making this dish.  You could add other ingredients if you like, but I prefer to let the crab be the star of the show here.  That's the same reason I would feature this as the main dish of the meal, not peripheral to any other dish.

Crab Fried Rice

(printable version)

4 cups cold, cooked rice
1 cup good quality crab meat
2 shallots, minced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1--2 red chilies, finely diced
kernels from 1 ear of corn, about 1/2 cup
2 large eggs
3 green onions, thinly sliced
2 TBS fish sauce
1 tsp light soy sauce
3 TBS Thai basil, finely chopped
2--3 TBS vegetable oil

Beat the eggs with 1 tsp of the fish sauce.  Heat a wok or frying pan over medium high heat.  Add a little oil to cover the bottom.  Fry half the egg mixture to make a thin omelet.  Remove and repeat with the remaining egg.  Let the omelets cool, then roll and slice into thin strips.

Heat the remaining oil in the wok.  First, fry the corn for about a minute.  Then, add shallots and garlic and briefly fry.  Next, add chilies and fry another 30 seconds or so.  After this, add green onions and then stir in rice, breaking up any clumps.  Then, add crab meat, fish sauce and soy sauce.  Stir well to distribute the ingredients evenly.  (If necessary, add a little water to help break up any rice clumps.) Finally, stir in the Thai basil just before removing from heat.  Decorate the plated rice with the omelet strips before serving.

Chile Colorado

Mexican food for me is comfort food. I spent a number of my younger years living in Southeast Asia and as much as I love the food from the region, there were times I sorely missed Mexican food. I love a good plate of rice and beans, and I've been making my own flour tortillas since eighth grade. One semester in college I practically lived on a diet of homemade burritos, keeping my food budget to a minimum so I could buy more wine.

It's interesting that so many ingredients indigenous to Mexico found their way into Asian cuisines, most importantly the chili pepper. It's hard to imagine Indian, Thai, or Indonesian food absent the chili, yet that was the case until the sixteenth century when the Spanish or Portuguese (there appear to be arguments for each) introduced chilies to Asia. Mexican cooking incorporates a great variety of chilies, both fresh and dried, into its dishes.

This version of chile colorado is probably a greatly bastardized version of the original. It has been a go to dish in my family for more than thirty years. I believe the original recipe comes from Sunset's Mexican Cooking, a 100-page or so 8 1/2-inch by 11-inch paperback for which my mother probably paid about $4.95. I can't recall any other recipes from the book, but this one was a winner. By the way, if you're looking for heat, this ain't the dish. You could add cayenne, of course, or some other chili to raise the heat quotient, but try it as it is first.

BRAISED PORK WITH RED CHILE SAUCE

3 lbs lean boneless pork butt
2 TBS salad oil
2 large onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 TBS ancho chili powder
2 TBS chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp oregano leaves, crumbled
1 3/4 cups water
1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 TBS canned tomato paste
1/2 cup whipping cream
Roasted pumpkin seeds warm
soft tortillas or hot cooked rice

Garnishes: 1 large avocado,peeled, pitted, and sliced; 1 large tomato, cut in wedges; sour cream sprinkled with chili powder; 2 limes, cut in wedges.

Directions

Trim meat and cut into one inch cubes. Heat oil in frying pan over medium-high heat; add meat a few pieces at a time and cook until lightly brown. Push to side; add onion, garlic, chili powder, oregano, and cumin; cook until onion is limp.
Stir in water, sugar, tomato paste and salt. Sim- mer, covered about one hour. Skim off fat and discard. Add cream, and cook, stirring until mixture boils.
Turn into a serving dish and garnish with pump- kin seeds. To serve, fill warm tortillas with meat and garnish with avocado, tomato, and sour cream.

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Thai Basil Claypot Rice

Moo Paht Bai Graprao--Pork Fried with Basil is one of my favorite Thai dishes. I also like the basil fried with chicken or shrimp. It's a comforting dish that comes together quickly. Many times when I don't have anything specific in mind for dinner I'll to a quick stir-fry with basil. It's something that comes together in a few minutes and makes a great leftover to bring to school the next day.

I'm also fond of claypot rice. My wife makes a version her mother made with minced pork, garlic and choy sum which I like very much but which she keeps as a closely guarded secret. Like the stir fried basil dishes, claypot rice is a dish that comes together easily and makes great leftovers.

Since I couldn't get my wife to part with her mother's recipe, I decided to do a mash-up of Thai basil pork and claypot rice with mushrooms. While I don't think it's quite as tasty as my wife's claypot rice, it was delicious, quick and comforting. A great one-dish main for a busy school night.

Thai Basil Claypot Rice

12 ounces pork, diced (you could easily substitute boned, skinless chicken thighs)
8--12 dried shitake mushrooms, soaked in water 30 minutes, diced
2 shallots, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced
2--4 thai chilies, thinly sliced or minced
2 TBS fish sauce
1 TBS kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)
1 TBS water
2 cups rice
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup Thai basil

Mix the pork, mushrooms, shallots, garlic, ginger, chilies, fish sauce, kecap manis and water. Marinate for at least 15 minutes.
Put rice in claypot. Stir in chicken broth and bring to boil. After a minute or two of boiling, place pork mixture on top of rice, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is cooked. Add the basil leaves and stir the meat and basil into the rice. Remove the claypot from the heat and let the rice stand for five minutes or longer before serving.

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