It’s that time of year again for the annual Northern
California Soy and Tofu Festival
where you can discover the joy of soy! On top of the Tofu Dessert Competition, live musical performances, soy and tofu vendors including free samples,
you’ll probably run into the reigning Cherry Blossom Queen and her Court. Of
course you’ll have to take my word. Why? I’ll still be here in the 50th
since I usually “burn” my Bay Area vacation in the Fall. But hopefully I’ll
inspire you to add more soy to your diet 2500 miles away.
The Basic
Early on in life, the basics simply meant Mom draining a
container of tofu, placing it in a
shallow bowl then slicing the block roughly into 1 inch cubes. These cube were
simply dipped or drizzled with plain shoyu
and consumed as is. As basic as it gets. But during my undergraduate days at
the University of Hawaii, I frequented a Japanese restaurant because a
classmate was doing an internship there or more likely it was because the chef
was very liberal with his sake and
beer pours because of our friendship with his intern. The chef did have a
simple tofu dish on his menu where he
simply grilled the tofu on one side
then topped it with shaved bonito flakes and finely sliced green onion. Due to
the residual heat of the tofu, the
bonito flakes “danced” on the surface of the tofu which probably made it taste better – mentally at least - than
if the bonito flakes laid there motionless. The tofu was then drizzled with a flavorful teriyaki sauce instead of plain shoyu
and served with a little dish of daikon-tsuri
(grated white turnip). Something about creamy fresh tofu, smoky bonito, herbal and sharp green onions with a salty,
sweet, peppery sauce. A little more involved that Mom’s tofu but worth every minute of that extra effort.
The Gochiso
Gourmet’s Teriyaki Sauce
1 cup low sodium shoyu
½ cup sugar
2 cloves fresh garlic, grated
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
2 tbsp awamori
or sake
1 tbsp awamori
or sake
2 tsp corn starch
Dissolve the cornstarch in the awamori/sake and set aside. Bring the shoyu, sugar, ginger, garlic and awamori/sake to a simmer then stir in the cornstarch slurry,
constantly whisking until it thickens.
I believe I finally have a teriyaki sauce that’s not too salty or overwhelms any dish and tofu is as subtle as they come. Enjoy
with a tokkuri of sake!
The Avant Garde
This dish isn’t really avant garde in the truest sense.
There’s no dehydrated tofu or soy
powder, no powdered soybean oil or other forms of molecular gastronomy. The
main soy component is still pretty recognizable just that it’s been processed a
little different than your usual block of tofu.
It’s first been frozen. If you remember a previous column I wrote on the joys
of soy, totally freezing then defrosting a block of tofu reduces the water content of tofu a lot more than simply draining it on a cheesecloth. Throw in
a little smoky flavors from unexpected sources and process your “greens” a
little differently and you’ll have my:
Smoked Tofu Club Sandwich
One block fresh tofu
frozen for at least 24 hours then defrosted then sliced into ¾ inch “patties”
2/3 cup low sodium shoyu
½ cup packed brown sugar
1 & ½ tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp dried sage
3 Roma tomatoes sliced in half lengthwise
1 small sweet onion with ends removed and sliced in half
1 to 1 & ½ cup mayonnaise (use egg-free if you want a
vegan sandwich)
A couple dashes of Worcestershire sauce (leave out if you
want a vegan sandwich)
A couple dashes of garlic powder
Salt and fresh black pepper to taste
4 cups fresh arugula
¼ cup macadamia nuts or almonds
1 large clove fresh garlic
6 500mg Vitamin C tablets, crushed
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese (leave out if you want a
vegan sandwich)
Salt and fresh black pepper to taste
Roughly ½ cup olive oil
Sliced fresh tomatoes
Shredded lettuce
Hamburger buns
Combine the first block of ingredients – be careful
handling the tofu as you want it to
remain as intact slices. Place in a zip top bag, remove as much air as possible
and marinate in the refrigerator for 24 to 48 hours. Remove and drain as much
moisture from the tofu as possible –
I place it between several folded paper towels and place a small frying on top
as a “weight” to help press some of the liquid out of the tofu. Place in a
smoker for about 1 hour – if you don’t have a smoker, place your fired coals on
one side of your grill and the tofu
on the other side so they aren’t over direct heat. Add wood chips on the coals
and cover your grill. I flip the tofu
over about 30 minutes into the smoking process but once again, be careful while
flipping so the slices remain intact.
While the tofu
is smoking, you can also add the sliced Roma tomatoes and sliced onion to smoke
at the same time. After the tomatoes are smoked, remove the skins and inner
pulp. Allow the tomato flesh and onions to cool before proceeding. Place the
tomatoes and onions in a food processor along with the rest of the ingredients
in the second block and process until they’re fully incorporated. This Smoked
Tomato Mayonnaise improves in consistency if it’s allowed to chill overnight.
Combine all of the ingredients in the third block except
the olive oil in a food processor. Process until a slightly chunky “paste” is
achieved. With the processor running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until a thick,
sauce-like consistency is achieved. This Arugula Pesto firms in consistency
after it has chilled overnight.
To create the sandwich, slather the Smoked Tomato
Mayonnaise on the bottom of a toasted hamburger bun then top with the lettuce.
Place the smoked tofu on top of the
lettuce then top with the sliced tomatoes and finally slather the top toasted
bun with the Arugula Pesto to complete the Club Sandwich. And if prepping the
mayonnaise and pesto seems a bit mendokusai
for you, just smoke the tofu which
you can use on its own as a smoked meat alternative.
The Sweet
This dish is an adaptation of a dessert I first sampled
at Pah Ke’s Chinese Restaurant in my hometown of Kaneohe, Hawaii. Chef Raymond
Siu has a Soy Milk Custard on his dessert menu that’s to die for! He infuses
the soymilk with a little sorbet and fresh vanilla beans along with gelatin to
create a custard-like consistency then serves it with chopped fresh local fruit
including mango and strawberries and it’s served with a scoop of berry sorbet.
As luscious as a panna cotta but without any cholesterol and very little fat!
In lieu of Chef Raymond’s recipe, this is my basic
version of his superlative dessert offering. Heat 2 cups of soymilk and 2 teaspoons
of powdered gelatin in a microwave for 45 to 60 seconds until the soymilk is
hot enough to dissolve the gelatin. Place in a ½ cup mold of your choosing and
refrigerate until the “custard” sets. Obviously plain soymilk and gelatin alone
do not make good eats, there must be flavoring components so experiment on your
own! The basics are ½ teaspoon of powdered gelatin and ½ cup of soymilk for
every serving, the rest is up to your imagination but here are some of my
suggestions for every 2 cups and tablespoon of soymilk. Since soymilk does have
an inherent sweetness, I just add agave syrup for a little more sweetness
though you can substitute sugar or honey for additional sweetness:
Vanilla soymilk, 1 vanilla bean split lengthwise and
scraped of the inner vanilla seeds, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 2 tablespoon
agave syrup
Chocolate flavored soymilk, ¼ cup chocolate syrup, 1 tbsp
cocoa powder, 2 tablespoon agave syrup
Substitute ½ cup of fruit puree for ½ cup of the soymilk
The Good
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