Miso Soup with Wakame and Silken Tofu

For dinner tonight I made miso soup with wakame (dried sea weed) and silken tofu. To complete the meatless meal I had the soup with roasted kabocha sprinkled with sea salt flakes. Sooo delicious and healthy too.

Miso Soup with Wakame and Silken Tofu

¼ ounce dried wakame

4 ounces silken tofu

2 cups dashi stock

4 tablespoons miso paste

2 spring onions, chopped

• Soak wakame in cold water for 15 minutes. Drain and cut into 1-inch pieces. Slice or cut the tofu into strips, squares, or rounds. Bring the dashi stock to a boil. Stir in the miso. Taste the soup and add more miso paste if needed. Add wakame and tofu and turn up the heat. Let it come to a boil, turn off the heat and add spring onions. Serve immediately.

Food Friday: Asparagus Tofu Stir Fry

This easy to prepare and yummy healthy dish has two of my favorite ingredients: silken tofu and asparagus. I crave for tofu when I've had too much meat and because I love it. It's a Filipino thing; we ♥ our tofu!;D

Asparagus Tofu Stir Fry
1 block extra firm silken tofu, cubed
2 tablespoons light olive oil, divided
½ pound fresh asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 scallions, cut into half-inch pieces
1½ tablespoons soy sauce, more or less to taste
2 tablespoons dry sherry or rice wine
a pinch of red pepper flakes
¼ teaspoon cracked sichuan peppercorns

• In a wok or large non-stick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil and pan fry the tofu until golden brown. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil and add scallions. Stir fry for 1 minute then add the asparagus. Stir fry for 1 minute. Add soy sauce, sherry, and red pepper flakes. Stir cook for 2 minutes or until half of the liquid has evaporated and asparagus is cooked but still crunchy.
  
• Turn the heat off and sprinkle the sichuan peppercorns. Serve immediately over hot steamed rice.
  

Tahoooo!

I miss the voice of magtataho summoning kids and adults alike to his taho, the custard-like shaven silken tofu with brown sugar syrup and chewy sago pearls. In the Philippines taho is eaten as breakfast, snack, or dessert. I remember my son, armed with a large glass tumbler, used to wait for the lilting voice of the magtataho yelling tahooo, tahooo!

Here in the US we usually have taho as a dessert in Chinese dimsum restaurants where it is served with warm ginger flavored white syrup. Very yummy too.

It is easy to prepare taho at home. Get the softest silken tofu available, I prefer the ones in tubes from the Korean grocery. Cook large-size Philippine tapioca pearls (sago), then boil equal amounts of brown sugar and water for 10 minutes. Shave the tofu using a spoon into a tumbler, add sago, pour the still warm syrup and enjoy taho any time of the day.

To cook sago: In a medium saucepan, heat 4 cups of water, bring to a rapid boil. Add ½ cup uncooked sago pearls, lower heat to medium-high and boil uncovered until the middle portion of the sago is almost clear. Drain and transfer into a bowl with cool water. The sago will turn transparent all throughout in a few minutes, they will be chewy just the way I like them.

To cook ginger-flavored syrup: Boil uncovered for 15 minutes equal amounts of water and white sugar with a quarter-inch thick slice of peeled fresh ginger.

Soba So Good

I have never eaten cold noodles before. It sounds so appealing now that we in the northeast are suffering from this most oppressive heat wave...and it's not even officially summer yet. I love that the cold buckwheat noodles topped with shredded nori is simply eaten with wasabi and preserved gingers then dipped in soba dipping sauce which comes in a bottle available at Asian groceries. I never thought the noodles would be so delicious and really satisfying. I cubed a box of silken tofu, topped them with snipped green onions and shaved dried bonitos with simple soy sauce for dipping. I love this light, healthy, yummy, and most specially easy to prepare dinner that's perfect for hot summer nights. The only cooking involved is boiling the noodles for 5 minutes.

Japanese buckwheat noodles