Korean pan-fried tofu (goon dubu)

I grew up eating this dish, and it always brings back happy childhood memories. Cut a 16 oz block of tofu in half vertically, and then crosswise into ½" thick slices. Blot each piece with paper towels until bone-dry; this will minimize splattering and help the tofu brown instead of steam. Heat 1 Tbsp vegetable… Continue reading Korean pan-fried tofu (goon dubu)

Crispy baked cubed tofu

We accidentally purchased pre-cut tofu (cubed extra firm tofu in 2" dice), so we tried making it crispy. We followed this recipe generally, except we increased the oven temp to 425: https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/baked-tofu/ Because we planned to use this as a neutral topping for Japanese curry rice, we omitted seasonings and used only cornstarch and olive… Continue reading Crispy baked cubed tofu

Vegetarian dan dan noodles

We adapted our beloved meat-based dan dan noodle recipe to create a vegetarian version. We kept the noodle seasoning the same, but we changed the topping from minced pork (or minced turkey) to freeze-dried tofu crumbles and dried shiitake mushrooms. Here’s a breakdown of the topping and the noodles. 1) The topping: Inspired by Andrea… Continue reading Vegetarian dan dan noodles

Frozen tofu chunks for later use

When defrosted, these will become tofu crumbles - and good vegetarian substitutes for ground pork - in recipes such as vegetarian ma po tofu or vegetarian dan dan noodles. We tried this method by Andrea Nguyen: https://www.thekitchn.com/leftover-tofu-freeze-it-for-later-167830 We used Whole Foods extra firm tofu. After handpressing the 14 oz tofu brick with paper towels, we… Continue reading Frozen tofu chunks for later use

Chinese braised beancurd with shiitake mushrooms

My friend Dora recommended this recipe, and it was delicious: https://rasamalaysia.com/braised-bean-curd-with-mushrooms/ In lieu of sweet soy sauce (kecap manis), we used 1 Tbsp dark soy sauce plus 1/8 semisphere (about 1 tsp) of a small palm sugar mound (see Note below). For the meat, we used ½ lb minced bison. In addition to shiitake mushrooms,… Continue reading Chinese braised beancurd with shiitake mushrooms

Chinese smoked tofu with celery and roasted peanuts

We tried this recipe from Fuschia Dunlop: https://www.vegkitchen.com/smoked-tofu-with-celery-and-peanuts/ Our modifications: first, we increased the amounts to 5 oz smoked tofu, 4 celery stalks, and ¼ cup (about 2 oz) peanuts. To destring the celery stalks, we used a serrated vegetable peeler to scrape off 1/8" of the outer layer of each celery stalk. To roast… Continue reading Chinese smoked tofu with celery and roasted peanuts

Sichuan-style cellophane noodles with smoked tofu, asparagus, and enoki mushroom

We made substantial modifications to this recipe to make it almost vegetarian (we used chicken stock): https://www.chinasichuanfood.com/ants-climbing-a-tree/ Our modifications: first, we used 300 mg (1 bundle) Korean sweet potato cellophane noodles (dang myun). Because they are thicker than bean thread noodles, we parboiled the cellophane noodle for 4 mins, drained, rinsed in cold water, and… Continue reading Sichuan-style cellophane noodles with smoked tofu, asparagus, and enoki mushroom

Korean potato soup with beef and cellophane noodle (gamja guk)

We tried this recipe: https://www.koreanbapsang.com/gamjaguk-potato-soup/ Our modifications: first, the recipe called for garlic, but didn’t specify the amount; we used 4 minced garlic cloves. Second, we doubled the amount of beef to 8 oz (½ lb) but kept the soup soy sauce to 1 Tbsp. Third, we found the soup a little underseasoned, so we… Continue reading Korean potato soup with beef and cellophane noodle (gamja guk)