Tofu rolls

I`m losing track on how often I get inspired-and of course, hungry-after reading fabulous posts on Jun`s blog. These tofu rolls for instance, was what came in my mind after a post on her beautifully baked spring rolls. Baked, everyone. Not fried. So, that left me no reason for not making the rolls. Have I told you how I always avoid deep-frying in my kitchen the best I can?

I initially intended to give it a try with the regular ready-to-use spring rolls skins, but then I wondered on the possibility of using fried tofu skin instead. And seaweed paper. And..oh let`s just scroll down the mouse.

So here`s how I made the rolls.
First thing first. Heat a bit of oil on a pan and saute your favorite choice of fish.
Fish fillet would work great here, but I used salted salmon still with  some bones attached. But the bones are relatively few and large, so removing them later would not be such a problem.
If fish isn`t your thing, just use  meat instead, or just omit the animal protein  completely if you want the rolls to be a whole-plant based diet.

Now, if you go with the fish, wait until the meat is cooked and then break apart with a spatula until it turned into flakes. And by the way, doing this is a lot easier when the fish is cooked through.
One important thing is, you need to remove all visible bones-I use chopsticks-before adding the next ingredients. Believe me, getting choked up with fish bones is no joke at all. If you serve these to kids and removing fish bones take too much time of yours, just go with fish fillet and your life will be easier.

After the fish, now throw in carrots and stir well.

And this is konnyaku noodle, with lots of fibers in it. And almost zero calories. Nice.
According to the package, the konnyaku needs to be blanched in boiling water to remove the alkaline smell. I actually don`t really have problem with the smell, but I just quickly soak it in hot water anyway and drain it.

Toss the noodle in.

Season with soy sauce, sugar (or mirin), vinegar, salt, and pepper. And if you`re happy with it, that means the fillings are done!

Now, the wrapping.
I hope you can find this kind of fried tofu at your place. If your fried tofu is thin enough to  roll, then you`re ready to go with the wrapping. But if you think it`s too thick-like what mine was-, cut throughout the edge open with a scissor and carefully pull it open with your hands, as if you`re flipping  open a book page, to make a  rectangular tofu skin that is half thinner and twice wider now.
Please don`t say you`re confused because sadly this is the only picture I`ve got, and worse, I have no better way  in explaining it verbally. So, fingers crossed, you all are good.

Now the seaweed paper. Cut it to make a roughly same size of sheet with the tofu skin.

Now get a sheet of tofu skin with the fried side down and then place the seaweed paper onto it. Arrange the fillings on the seaweed and spread it evenly along the edge.

Start rolling, tuck in the fillings, and continue rolling up.

I thought letting the rolls unsealed would cost me a nasty disaster, but these tofu skins behaved pretty nicely once they`re rolled. 

Bake them in 200 C for 15 mins or until the skins are all crisped up.

The rolls are done! 

You can cut them up into smaller pieces before serving. I actually tried to cut a roll into halves before baking them and they turned out alright too.

The rolls are crisp on the outside with chewy-thanks to the noodle-, and crunchy-thanks to the carrots- fillings inside. Lovely! I served them with soy sauce and a pinch of wasabi salt as I`m running out of my wasabi paste. Oh, that didn`t bother me at all, though. These rolls made my Sunday rock and roll!

Enjoy your weekend!

Ingredients:

Fried tofu skin
Seaweed paper
Salted salmon
Carrots
Konnyaku
Soy sauce
Sugar or mirin
Vinegar
Salt
Pepper

Bake at 200 C for 15 mins

Condiment
Soy sauce
Wasabi salt

Steam-fried tofu patties

So after getting busy with sneezing, coughing, and wiping my nose (sorry) since Monday, I finally took a day off today. I thought I would get bored to death staying at home alone as I was too dizzy to read  or watch anything, let alone cook in my kitchen. But with the medicine, I dozed off right after my lunch (instant noodles, yikes) and dinner (store-bought bento, better). Now I`m awake and except for the stuffy nose and the occasional coughing, I`m feeling much much better now.

I hope my story won`t cause you loosing your appetite, because I`m going to share this steam-fried tofu patties recipe. I learned about this steam-frying technique from cooking gyouza and love the way it gives moisture to the browned food without having to turn it into a stew or soup.

Shall we start now?

Lightly wash the tofu, drain, and remove the excess water by wrapping it with a paper towel and let it sit that way for like 30 mins.

While waiting, chop garlic and saute it with bit of oil to bring out the aroma. Try not to overcook it as burned garlic is NO good at all, even for a garlic addict like me. Set aside when the sauteed garlic is done.

After the tofu turned drier (it`s almost impossible to make it 100% dry with a paper towel), place it in a mixing bowl.

Dump in shirasu (tiny white anchovies), chili slices, sesame seeds (better if toasted), spring onion, and sauteed garlic and season it with salt and pepper.
You can substitute the anchovies for minced beef, chicken, or pork if you`re a meat lover.

Mix everything well with your hand, a potato masher, or a wooden spatula.

With your hand, take a fistful of the tofu mixture, softly squeeze it to make it compact, and shape into a patty.

Put a bit of oil  on a frying pan but do not turn on the heat yet, place the patties one by one, and now you can turn on the heat.

Carefully (I used two spatulas) flip over to brown the other side.

After both sides are browned, pour in a mixture of water, soy sauce, sugar (or mirin), vinegar, salt, and pepper. The liquid should be enough to cover one third to one half of the patties and later you can reduce it to your preference.

Throw in carrots and mushrooms, quickly close the lid, and let the steam cook the tofu and vegetables.

How long the steaming process will take depends whether you like the carrots to be mushy or crunchy. For me, I steamed them for 5 minutes and the carrots were cooked through but still leaving the crunchy texture.

So this is what we had for one of our meatless days. The lightness of the texture makes this dish a good choice when you need a break from non-fish meats and heavy meals. Or you can omit the fish  if you`re more into a vegan diet.

Enjoy!
p.s. I gained weight. Gasp!! Now you know why I had these patties.

Ingredients:
White tofu
Tiny white anchovies (shirasu)
Sesame seeds
Spring onion
Carrot
Mushroom
Water
Soy sauce
Sugar
Vinegar
Salt
Pepper

Chicken braised with miso and tomato

When it`s freezing outside and my stomach is loudly growling, I need to whip up something warm for dinner in a matter of minutes. So, what`s for dinner...I kept thinking when I was about to go home from work. We usually have meat in our menu only for weekend (thanks to his BMI), but that day was different. He had his research presentation at lab, so I thought I wanted to make a little celebration for him finishing the work. By little celebration I mean having meat.
So, chicken it was. I wanted chicken with miso and tomato. I wondered how the combination of miso and tomato would taste.

Start with sauteing the chicken with the skin (if any) at bottom first. If you use a non-stick pan, no need oil for this. The chicken fat, especially from under the skin (bad but yummy, yummy but bad, your call), will melt out and thus layering the whole pan surface.
By the way, I was hungry and cold, so I bought the chicken chunks. It saved me from chicken cutting process.

Look at the "oil" coming out from the chicken. You may wipe off this oil with a kitchen paper clipped between chopsticks the way Japanese cooks usually do, or you can just let it stay there. Keep sauteing until the surfaces browned. Don`t worry about the chicken not getting cooked properly. We`ll work on it later.

When they`re browned, slice spring onions and toss them in. Smell is getting even better.

Meet "bunapii shimeji", a white colored shimeji mushroom. Remove the bottom part and detach every mushroom.

Throw them into the pan. The more the merrier!

This time, I don`t want to stir up the whole things. You`ll find out the reason very soon.
Mix up the sauce and seasoning in a cup. I used shoyu, sesame oil, chilli powder, salt (a bit!), pepper, and fish sauce. Add water to dilute the sauce and bring up the volume of liquid because we`re going to braise the chicken.
Note: I forgot one important ingredient for the seasoning mix. MISO. 
So, don`t forget add miso into your seasoning mix. In case you`re not familiar with this ingredient, miso is a fermented soy paste with a very concentrated and salty taste. To avoid oversalting the dish, it might be good to add salt (if you still need it anyway) later after miso is added.

Stir well the sauce mix in the cup, drizzle it over all ingredients in the pan, and start braising on low heat. I added my miso at this step, by the way.
Then, another ingredient is tofu blocks and I don`t want them to be mashed during stirring. I want them to look pretty when the dish is served. That`s why I mixed up the sauce before adding it to the pan.

Another note: I forgot to add tomatoes. So I added them at this step.
If you want to use them too, toss tomato chunks into the pan after the chicken is browned and lightly mash them to release the juice out.
Not only I`m a clumsy person, I`m forgetful as well. I`m aging!
By the way, the chicken will be cooked throughout the braising.

Here it is, a very homy and soul-warming dish prepared in 30 minutes. Or 40 minutes if you include time required for "Hhmm...this feels strange..I must have forgotten something here..think..think..." moments.
Tomato and miso turned out nice. Really nice.

And guess what, his presentation was rescheduled until next week. So, he got to eat meat for nothing. He was totally happy that day.

Ingredients:
Chicken
Spring onions
Bunapi mushroom
Tofu
Miso
Tomato
Soy sauce
Sesame oil
Fish sauce
Chilli powder
Salt
Pepper

Fried tofu with spiced nattou

I can`t believe I haven`t made any post on nattou and I just came to realize that it`s been months since I had my last nattou!
Alright. This is not easy for me to write about a certain food, which is not quite an eater-friendly one. Most of non-Japanese and even some Japanese people I know think of nattou as a super duper healthy fermented soybean product yet with an unattractive looking and unpleasant smell. Weirdly (and luckily!), I have no problem with nattou. Since the beginning. Whatsoever.
Nattou does smell, but for my nose, it`s definitely not stinky. It`s just not an appetizing one. Believe me, I know what stinky is like. I work with animals and don`t get me started with that.
If there`s one thing that bothers me about nattou, it`s only the messiness, especially when I get careless during eating it. That`s it. I am simply a fan of nattou.

So, the day I realized that it`s been too long for not having nattou, I headed to the store and got this 3-individual pack set of nattou home.

This is what each pack usually contains of: the nattou itself, a slightly sweet soy sauce, and mustard.

Dump the nattou into a mixing bowl. Yes, in case you never saw nattou before, have a nice long looking at the beans now. Look how each bean is covered and glued with a slimy and sticky thread.



Time to spice it up! I omit the sauce from the pack because I don`t want the sweetness this time. I use the mustard, chilli powder, pepper, soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, and cardamom. Now, mix with a fork or chopsticks until blended well.



And until your nattou looks more slippery and slimier than ever. If you`re happy with the taste (and you`ve got to be happy, by the way), set it aside while we are preparing another thing.

Soybean pudding, everyone. Welcome the tofu. This is Soybean Day. When I was in the store, I had no idea what to do with the tofu. I just wanted tofu and nattou. Then, when I stood in my kitchen staring at these pieces, I just knew that I wanted to fry them. So, if you want to be more efficient, just buy the fried ones and heat them in a microwave instead. But if you end up with this kind of tofu like me, try squeezing out the water excess from the tofu surface with a kitchen paper. Do it gently, please.

Heat oil in a frying pan and fry the tofu until both sides turn golden brown .

Now, place the spiced nattou you prepared earlier on the fried tofu, garnish with seaweed flakes (or green onion if you have) and sesame seeds.

Eating recommendation:
1. Hold the plate with one hand and chopsticks with your other hand. You want to have this food as close as possible to your mouth when eating it. Never put it back on the table without cutting off all the sticky threads from your mouth first. Trust me on this.
2. With a concern on No 1, do not let your hair touch any part near your mouth. Things will turn ugly. Speaking from experience, of course.
3. Do not eat this on your first date, unless your date is crazily in love with you. Trust me on this too.

I thought I was done with No 3, but here is another one.
4. When you start getting frustrated with it, google it, and you`ll find that you`re eating one of the healthiest food in this planet.

It`s a real good food, so ENJOY!

Ingredients:
Nattou
Soy sauce
Fish sauce
Chilli powder
Mustard
Cardamom
Sesame oil
Fried tofu
Seaweed flakes
Sesame seed

p.s. He just wouldn`t eat it, so I happily finished the whole 3 packs by myself. My skin glowed the next day. His lost.

Me-want-tempeh!

So my blots showed no signal whatsoever. For the X-th time. This isn`t my first time error and trialing in experiments. But still I feel exhausted with the constant "nothingness" moments. Good thing is, my petite kitchen is always there for me. To be honest, when I got home pretty tired, I really can`t be bothered with putting something on the stove. Our lifesaving store always welcomes us anyway. Change my clothes and go to bed are on my top list. But when I still have any energy and willpower left, I`m always keen on cooking. If some people need a glass of wine when they get home at night, I need to saute my garlic and chili. I wonder if I can get these wonderful aroma from a scented candle. Man, how cool is that!
 
Soo....now I`m going to stop blabbering because there is a more fun thing to talk about.
We`re actually part time vegans. But only for a very super duper special occasion. An occasion where we have tempeh in our freezer. Being Indonesian, having tempeh isn`t something special, really. But being Indonesian living abroad, that`s another story. Lucky for me though, there is an Indonesian who owns a tempeh factory in Japan. Thank you, Mr. Rusto! I adore you!

This time I made these two dishes in one post because the preparation is quite similar (translation: both require sambal). They are pressed tempeh with sambal and stir-fried tempeh with wakame seaweed.

Alright, guess I`d like to start with pressed tempeh first. Slice the tempeh and fry it until golden brown. The thicker your tempeh slices are, the more oil you need. Your call.

When you`re done frying, set them aside.

And here comes my lover. Sambal. With tomato puree. I hate to say that I didn`t shoot the previous step in making sambal. But these are what I usually use: chili (of course!), garlic, onion (shallot if you`re lucky to have them), ginger, and kencur (or not). After making those into spice paste, continue with sauteeing until fragrant. Add powdered chilli to boost the redness.It always takes extra effort to make sambal with dried chilli looks like a real sambal with fresh chilli. 


And here is the other star. Shrimp paste. I love this Thai shrimp paste for its readiness. Just for a quick hint, especiallly if you`re a first timer, shrimp paste has a very very very strong smell and taste. Like durian and stinky beans, it`s either you like it, or hate it. So, to decide whether you use it or not, smell, and taste it. If you aren`t happy, put it back and quickly pass the paste to your (South East Asian) friends. They will love you more and more.

But if your tummy growls after tasting it, add the paste to the spice while sauteeing. Mine is growling loudly now just talking about it.

 

After the shrimp paste, prepare tomato puree and add it into the sauteed spices.

Stir up...oh I use kaffir lime leaves too. Season with fish sauce, salt, pepper, and a bit of sugar.

Now this sambal looks done to me.



Next, place some fried tempeh on a plate, spread the sambal over, and...

Get your weapon. No, get your pestle. I use my (new-unused) wooden pestle, hence the wrap covering as I hate to see it gets greasy. It just came to me like a year later that I could have just wrap the pestle instead of covering the tempeh. Duh.
In a traditional and right way to do, these are all done on a stone mortar and pestle. But this is me living in a FarAwayLand. So grab anything you think you can use to make the tempeh flattened.

Now they`re ready for you. Quick get your rice! Have I told you I can be a vegan with tempeh and sambal??

And the other dish. If you have extra tempeh. Dice them and fry until golden brown.

Stir-fry with sambal.

Wakame seaweed. This is how dried wakame looks like. Blackish dark green and really dry.

Soak them in water for 5 minutes or until they swell up and turn to brighter green. Throw in the rehydrated wakame to the tempeh and sambal.

Stir up...

And you`re done! 

Ingredients:
Spice paste for sambal:
chili
garlic
onion
ginger
kencur

chili powder, optional
shrimp paste, optional
fish sauce
tomato, pureed
lime leaves
salt pepper to taste
sugar, a pinch (or depends on how sweet you want it to be)

tempe, fried
wakame seaweed, rehydrated