Ode to Japchae

Because it's cold, and noodles...but it's only an "ode" because I like to add gojuchang and can't usually find sweet potato noodles at my local store. Sorry to the purists out there!

Ode to Japchae

Serves 4

1/4 cup soy sauce low sodium, or tamari

1-2 gojuchang

1 cup firm tofu diced, (7 ounces)

8 ounces sweet potato starch noodles or bean thread noodles

4 ounces spinach fresh

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 cup yellow onion thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic minced

6 shiitake mushrooms stems removed and thinly sliced

1/2 cup carrots shredded

2 scallion stalks cut into 1-inch pieces

1 1/2 teaspoons Sesame oil

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

In a medium sized bowl whisk together soy sauce and gojuchang. Add in tofu, gently stir to coat and allow to marinate while you prepare other ingredients.

Bring a large pot of water to boil, enough to fit the noodles. Cook noodles in boiling water for 5 minutes. Do not discard water. You will use it for blanching the spinach. Use tongs to transfer to a colander and rinse noodles under cool running water. Cut the noodles into 6-inch long pieces with scissors. Set aside.

Blanch spinach in the same pot of water that you cooked the noodles for 1 minute, until wilted. Drain the water and rinse under cold running water. Roll spinach into a ball and squeeze out excess water. Use a knife to cut the spinach ball in half. Set aside.

Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil and allow to heat up. Add onion, garlic, mushrooms, and carrot, saute for 2 minutes. Add scallion and saute 1 minute. Add tofu and cook 1 minute to warm (do not discard sauce). Turn heat to low and add noodles, spinach, sesame oil and sauce. Gently stir to combine until noodles are coated with the sauce. Serve topped with sesame seeds.

Vegan cooking with the Shannons (+ recipe)

Dan and Annie Shannon must be the cutest damn couple.  They have kids and they're fun-loving, frugal vegans!  Nah, I shouldn't make fun--I wanted to like their book, Mastering the Art of Vegan Cooking. They want to use (mostly) common ingredients, they want to be cheap (they even break down the cost per serving of making each dish), and they're open about ways to use leftovers.  What's not to like?  But many of the recipes are just bland, some measurements don't work (the lemon-tahini sauce turned out to be a gloppy mess of tahini with some things stuck in it), and they rely too heavily, IMHO, on meat replacements, which are ironically expensive, and totally unnecessary if you can just get past the mindset of needing a serving of meat on each plate. (Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall offers a great restructuring of the common meal, for instance.)

But here's a version of a recipe I really liked (though I doubled the amount of pepper to give it some kick). This works great with some steamed veggies and cooked rice (you can actually use the leftover marinade, whisk in a little corn starch and chili-garlic sauce, and cook it up as a sauce for the veggies), but it's also a great snack by itself for cocktail hour with friends. The authors also suggest tucking the tofu into a sandwich, and if I did that, I think I'd make a bright little vinegary cole slaw to throw on top. 

Black Tea and Pepper Tofu

Adapted from Shannon, Mastering the Art of Vegan Cooking

Serves 4

2 cups strong brewed black tea, room temperature (I like Russian Caravan for its smokiness)

2 tablespoons crushed black peppercorns, plus more to sprinkle on top

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

Juice of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 16-oz. package extra-firm tofu, drained and cut into squares or strips

¼ cup neutral oil (grapeseed, canola,…)

Lemon wedges, for serving

In a shallow dish, whisk together the tea, pepper, lemon zest, lemon juice, and soy sauce.

Pat tofu dry and place in the marinade (above). Leave for 10 minutes, then flip and marinade for another 5 minutes.

Heat the oil over medium heat. Working in batches, fry the tofu on both sides to golden. Drain pieces on a paper towel-lined plate.

Serve hot, seasoned with more pepper if desired and lemon wedges for squeezing over the top. 

Easiest marinades for perfect summer grilling

It is clearly summer now, and that means it is clearly time to grill some hunks of meat, tofu, and vegetables (take your pick).  Grilling shouldn't be complicated (ahem...Martha Stewart...), and neither should the marinade.  You don't marinade, you say?  Then you're probably eating some pretty tasteless, tough meat when you grill.  Pick a marinade (my favorites are below), mix all the ingredients together in a gallon-size, zip-top bag, add your meat/tofu/veggies, and throw it in the fridge until you're ready to lay it on the grill.  I marinade land animals for 6 hours-overnight (turn the bag once or twice when you go in there for tonic water and stuff), tofu, fish, and veggies for about an hour before cooking.  And don't forget to add some hickory chips (or some kind of smoking wood) to your coals and oil the grill well before starting!

4-Ingredient Magic Marinade (amount for 4 chicken breasts):

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup vinegar

Works on chicken, extra-firm tofu, eggplant, zucchini, salmon, pork (any cut), beef (I particularly like to marinade skirt steak and other lean cuts).  For a little extra zing, throw some Sriracha into the marinade as well (although you'll then have to call it 5-Ingredient Magic Marinade).



Tandoori Chicken Marinade (enough for 16 chicken thighs):
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
large piece ginger, grated
4 garlic cloves, crushed
¾ teaspoon garam masala
¾ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon chilli powder
¼ teaspoon turmeric

This one involves more ingredients, but it really does keep the chicken moist and flavorful  Swap out the chili powder for cayenne (and maybe increase the dosage) if you want it spicy. This works equally well on any white fish, by the way. 

Lemon Marinated Flank Steak (good for 1 1/2 pounds of flank or similar steak):

1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon onion soup mix
2 chopped garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

I grew up on this one (you can tell it's Midwestern from the onion soup mix), and it is still my favorite way to eat red meat.  Works well for all vegetables, pork chops, firm white fish, or chicken (any cut), as well. 

I wanted to go to Asia but all I got was some peas...

My friends recently toured Southeast Asia and posted some great photos of delicious-looking food and fun times every step of the way.  Around the same time, I started noticing all the newly available fresh produce at my local hippy-dippy natural food store, and the beautiful sugar snap peas, combined with my mild jealousy towards my friends eating their hearts out in Singapore, yielded this recipe. You can make a lot of substitutions here--change the noodles, the veggies, the fresh herbs, trade the tofu for meat (the marinade works just as well).  But don't skip the mayonnaise, which I know sounds insane, but it is oh-so-good.  If you do and I find out, I will physically fight you.

Creamy Asian Noodle Bowl

Serves 4


½ block extra firm tofu
Tofu marinade:
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons Sriracha sauce
1 teaspoon lime juice
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Peanut oil for frying
2 packages instant ramen noodles
8 dried shitake mushrooms, broken into small pieces
6 dried Thai red chili peppers, whole
¼ red onion, finely diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 pound sugar snap peas, trimmed and cut into ½-inch pieces on the bias
1 small red pepper, cut into similar-sized pieces
¼ cup mayonnaise
1/8 cup rice vinegar
¼ teaspoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Prepare ahead: press the tofu until most water is release, about 30 minutes.  Combine all marinade ingredients in a small container.  Cut the pressed tofu into bite-sized pieces and place in the marinade, shaking or stirring gently to coat evenly.  You can leave this on the counter and occasionally stir it while you chop your vegetables and cook.

In a medium saucepan, heat enough water to cook the noodles along with one of the ramen seasoning packets (I always get “Oriental Flavor”).  When the water comes to a boil, throw in the mushrooms and noodles and cook until done.  While you are doing this, steam the sugar snap peas and bell pepper; this can be done in a steamer above the cooking noodle if you have one, or in a separate pot if you don’t.

Meanwhile, heat about 2 teaspoons of peanut oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Sauté the dried peppers, onion, and garlic until soft and fragrant.  Scrape into a small bowl and wipe excess oil off the side of the pan.  Return pan to medium-high heat, add 2 tablespoons of peanut oil, and when it smokes, add the marinated tofu.  (Keep any excess marinade for the end.) The liquid from the marinade will cause a lot of spitting, so I remove the pan from the heat in order to do this, then put it back on the burner.  Cook tofu until browned on each side, flipping once in the middle.

When the tofu is golden on both sides, lower heat to medium low.  Stir in the steamed vegetables, cooked noodles with mushrooms, and any remaining marinade form the tofu.  In the small bowl with the onions and garlic, add the mayonnaise, vinegar, fish sauce, and cilantro.  Stir to combine, then stir into the noodle mixture in the pan.  Heat through and serve with fresh lime wedges and Ponzu sauce.

Marinated Tofu Magic

I like seafood, but I try to avoid eating land animals on a regular basis. I mean, in the name of sampling new foods, sometimes I must, but I would also like to avoid the heart disease and obesity that can come with regular consumption. And so, for well over a decade, I have tried to find creative ways of getting enough protein into my diet without those constant stacks of chicken or beef littering my plate. Besides beans and rice, legumes, and fatty cheese-based meals (love those!), tofu seems like an obvious item on the grocery list, but it has taken me a long time to really like it. The texture is creepy, and that vague soy taste that seems to linger in the mouth is not my favorite. I have come up with some solutions: you can change the texture by freezing and thawing it (thank you Mark Bitman, for sharing your genius with the world), you can sear or fry it for a little crispness to add variety to that texture, and you can marinade the heck out of it so the flavor is not only palatable, but tasty. This is the preparation I return to again and again, it makes a great add-in wherever you would use meat in an Asian-inspired dish.




Spicy marinated tofu

Prep: When you come home with your little tub of extra-firm tofu, take it out, give it a good squeeze between your hands to remove some of the excess water, slice it lengthwise into two “steaks”, and place each piece in a sandwich-size Ziploc bag. Place baggies of tofu in freezer for at least two days. Then, you’ll need a good 1-2 days of thawing time in the refrigerator before you decide to use it. Fussy? Not any worse than thawing a roast!

So, for 1 container (2 “steaks”) tofu, thawed and pressed for an hour,



Marinade:

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon grated ginger

1 tablespoon Sriracha hot sauce

1/8 cup soy sauce

1/8 cup rice wine or apple vinegar

1 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

¼ cup water



Place pressed tofu in a container with an airtight lid. Stir marinade ingredients together and pour over tofu. Cover, then gently shake to coat and set aside for 30 minutes. *If you are going to grill or sear the tofu, leave it in steaks. Otherwise, for frying or baking in the oven, I cut it into cubes before placing it in the marinade.



Cook as desired. To grill, place on a well-oiled grill or grill pan over high heat. Cook 4-5minutes on each side or until sufficiently browned. Ditto for searing on the stove (frying pan, lightly coated with oil, medium-high heat).



To fry, heat 2-3 tablespoons canola or peanut oil (watch for the shimmer) in a frying pan and cook over medium-high heat 3-4 minutes on each side or until browned.



To bake, lay out on an oiled cookie sheet so that each cube of tofu is making contact with the pan. Bake at 400˚F for 20 minutes, turn each cube, and bake for another 15 minutes or until well-browned. This cooking method will produce the most shrinkage from your tofu, by the way.



In cubes, use as a meat substitute in stir fries, Thai curries, or soups. As steaks, serve with veggies of your choice. Cold or warm leftovers are great in salads, too.