Tofu Croquettes (or burgers, depending on how fancy you want to go)
Sometimes I get sick of doing the usual pan-fry with tofu, or the salad, or the soup, so I make tofu burgers. Before I got my little mini KitchenAid food processor, I had to be fairly energetic to make them though, because the tofu has to get pretty well crumbled up, which is a chore to do with a fork or knife. But now, I just get rid of the excess moisture in the tofu (usually by squeezing the water out with my hands — wrapping the tofu in a towel helps), roughly crumble it up in the bowl of the food processor and whiz away. I can't tell you how much I love my little mini KitchenAid. The motor is pretty darn powerful — creams butter like a dream. And what it does for tofu! Like whipped heaven! (This is sounding a little too much like a Good Housekeeping ad from the 60s...)
I found out that by whipping up the tofu, I didn't need any eggs as a binder. Which is great because sometimes you don't have eggs in the house. Today, I made a pretty simple burger. Just a regular package of tofu, about a half teaspoon of salt, some pepper, a grated carrot, ginger, garlic and about a cup of panko break crumbs to absorb moisture. Now, I call the burgers croquettes sometimes because, after forming the tofu mixture into patties, I pat them in a pile of panko before frying them up. The great thing about this burger/croquette is that you can add almost anything, like diced ham or peas or cheese or chicken or shredded cabbage. If you've added too much dry ingredients and the mixture isn't forming, add an egg to bind it all up.
Now if you haven't fried with panko before, I should say that you need a very hot pan and a good deal of oil. The oil should come to about a quarter of an inch up the sides of the frying pan. Keep the oil fairly hot, but watch it or the bread crumb will burn! I know I'm keeping the oil at a good temperature when I see gentle bubbles of oil dancing against the food.
Since I've taken care of the croquettes, I'll talk about the tofu and my latest discovery. Last year, at a branch of Whole Foods, I noticed a brand of tofu I'd never seen before, Wildwood. And a kind of tofu I'd never seen before, organic tofu made from sprouted soy beans. The package explained that the sprouted soy beans meant your body would digest the tofu better. I'm always up for better digestion, so I decided to try it, thinking it would taste like the typical American tofu, rubbery and kind of gross. But, boy, was I wrong. The Wildwood firm and soft tofu is some of the best tofu I've ever tasted. Great texture, great flavor. Absolutely nothing off. All I could think was "how in the world could an American company get tofu so right"?
Well, today, I did some checking on Wildwood. It's owned by Pulmuone, a Korean food manufacturer, one I know very well! In fact, most of the Korean food products I buy now are made by Pulmuone. And then, I recalled that about a year ago, I was watching a Korean news program that talked about how a big Korean manufacturer had bought an American tofu maker and was trying to teach them how to make tofu better. Well it figures that I'd end up buying and loving it! I just wish all the branches of Whole Foods carried it. In LA, I've only found it at the Pasadena and the Studio City branches. At least the sprouted soybean tofu. All the branches seem to carry the Wildwood tofu burgers, so why not the regular tofu? It's a good price and much better, I think, than even the Asian brand that they carry. One word of advice, the Wildwood extra firm has very little water and rubs against the teeth like chalk. Definitely not something to be eaten plain.
If only the Pulmuone naeng myun was as good! But that's another story.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Citrus Kimchee
About a month ago, I was watching a Korean cooking show called Best Cooking Secrets and this kimchee master came on and said, "Today I am going to make citrus kimchee" and I thought, "What! I have to try that!" While I've eaten a lot of different kinds of kimchee, I'd never even heard of one with citrus fruits in it (and I've heard of some weird ingredients, like 7-up). This recipe calls for tangerines, which gives the kimchee a nice tangy sweetness.
For most people, kimchee is just the very spicy fermented cabbage side dish you usually get at Korean restaurants. Even many Koreans don't realize that there are over 180 different kinds of kimchee — there's even a kimchee museum in Seoul dedicated to its glories. Kimchee isn't really one dish, but a term for a kind of fermented food, just like pickles used to be. At one time, you'd never say just "pickles". You'd say "cucumber pickles" or "beet pickles" or "pickled watermelon rinds" or "pickled pig's feet". That's the same with kimchee.
Kimchee, pickles, sauerkraut — it's all one and the same thing, foods that have been preserved in salt. In fact, when Kimchee was first being made (about 8,000 years ago), the only difference between kimchee and sauerkraut was the variety of cabbage or vegetable. It was only later that Koreans started adding spices like garlic and ginger. The red, chili infused versions are late-comers, as chili peppers weren't introduced to Korea until the 16th century. The popular cabbage kimchee you usually see is called mak kimchee. At the better Korean restaurants, you'll also see mul kimchee, which is a white kimchee served in a broth of its own fermented liquid ("mul" means water in Korean). Citrus kimchee is in that category. [For examples of different kimchees, with pics, click here.]
Mul kimchees tend to be one of the easier kinds of kimchees to make since you can make it with chunks of ginger and whole cloves of garlic — with kimchees like mak kimchee, you have to spend quite a lot of time mincing all the garlic, ginger, scallions, etc. Having said that, this particular recipe does require some diligent work in the peeling of all the tangerines. Extra flavor has a price!
Citrus Kimchee
2 cups of Chinese cabbage, washed and cut into small one to two inch squares
1 small Korean radish, cleaned and cut up into small, flat rectangles (about a cup or so)
6 Tangerines, just the pulp*
1/4 cup of Minari (Korean watercress), cut into 4 half-inch pieces
2 cloves of Garlic, sliced into strips
1 teaspoon of Ginger juice — to get ginger juice, grate a hunk of ginger in a Microplaner (the one with the smallest holes)
2 tablespoons of Korean dried chili or 2 sliced red chili pepper
Kosher salt
Put the cut-up cabbage in a big bowl (you want the cabbage to have lots of room and be happy). Sprinkle the cabbage with enough salt to coat the cabbage with a light layer. Shake up the cabbage a little (you want to make sure every bit of the cabbage gets a little salt). Let the cabbage stand for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, clean the radish. First wash and then trim all the hairy parts with a small knife. Cut into small, flat rectangles.
After 30 minutes, the salt will have extracted some liquid from the cabbage. You want to keep that. Add the cut-up radishes along with the minari, garlic, ginger juice, and Korean dried chili. Mix thoroughly with your hands. Add half the tangerine pulp*. Mix again with your hands. Put the mixture into a container, like a pickling jar or even a plastic box — just make sure whatever you are using has a tight lid. Put some water into the bowl that had the cabbage in it — about a cup. Add the other half of the tangerine pulp to the water. Clean your hands in the water. While you're at it, clean the bowl, swishing the water gently around and around. I know this sounds odd, but there's a method to this madness: by cleaning the bowl with your hands, you'll extract every bit of flavor left in the bowl and on your hands. There's also a theory that using your hands while cooking transfers your energy into the food, so it's crucial that you're in a happy mood when you cook. Now add that liquid into the container. Put the container in the refrigerator. In about three days, the kimchee should be ready to eat.
*To get the tangerine pulp, use this technique. Take a sharp, small knife and cut off the top and bottom of a tangerine. Place the tangerine firmly on a cut end. With the knife, cut away the skin and inner membrane, going from top to bottom, easing the knife around the curve of the tangerine. With the membrane gone, it should be easy to remove the pulp, either with a knife or with your fingers.
Here's a picture of a display from the Kimchee Field Museum. All the dishes are examples of ancient kimchee.
credit: Wikimedia Commons
For most people, kimchee is just the very spicy fermented cabbage side dish you usually get at Korean restaurants. Even many Koreans don't realize that there are over 180 different kinds of kimchee — there's even a kimchee museum in Seoul dedicated to its glories. Kimchee isn't really one dish, but a term for a kind of fermented food, just like pickles used to be. At one time, you'd never say just "pickles". You'd say "cucumber pickles" or "beet pickles" or "pickled watermelon rinds" or "pickled pig's feet". That's the same with kimchee.
Kimchee, pickles, sauerkraut — it's all one and the same thing, foods that have been preserved in salt. In fact, when Kimchee was first being made (about 8,000 years ago), the only difference between kimchee and sauerkraut was the variety of cabbage or vegetable. It was only later that Koreans started adding spices like garlic and ginger. The red, chili infused versions are late-comers, as chili peppers weren't introduced to Korea until the 16th century. The popular cabbage kimchee you usually see is called mak kimchee. At the better Korean restaurants, you'll also see mul kimchee, which is a white kimchee served in a broth of its own fermented liquid ("mul" means water in Korean). Citrus kimchee is in that category. [For examples of different kimchees, with pics, click here.]
Mul kimchees tend to be one of the easier kinds of kimchees to make since you can make it with chunks of ginger and whole cloves of garlic — with kimchees like mak kimchee, you have to spend quite a lot of time mincing all the garlic, ginger, scallions, etc. Having said that, this particular recipe does require some diligent work in the peeling of all the tangerines. Extra flavor has a price!
Citrus Kimchee
2 cups of Chinese cabbage, washed and cut into small one to two inch squares
1 small Korean radish, cleaned and cut up into small, flat rectangles (about a cup or so)
6 Tangerines, just the pulp*
1/4 cup of Minari (Korean watercress), cut into 4 half-inch pieces
2 cloves of Garlic, sliced into strips
1 teaspoon of Ginger juice — to get ginger juice, grate a hunk of ginger in a Microplaner (the one with the smallest holes)
2 tablespoons of Korean dried chili or 2 sliced red chili pepper
Kosher salt
Put the cut-up cabbage in a big bowl (you want the cabbage to have lots of room and be happy). Sprinkle the cabbage with enough salt to coat the cabbage with a light layer. Shake up the cabbage a little (you want to make sure every bit of the cabbage gets a little salt). Let the cabbage stand for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, clean the radish. First wash and then trim all the hairy parts with a small knife. Cut into small, flat rectangles.
After 30 minutes, the salt will have extracted some liquid from the cabbage. You want to keep that. Add the cut-up radishes along with the minari, garlic, ginger juice, and Korean dried chili. Mix thoroughly with your hands. Add half the tangerine pulp*. Mix again with your hands. Put the mixture into a container, like a pickling jar or even a plastic box — just make sure whatever you are using has a tight lid. Put some water into the bowl that had the cabbage in it — about a cup. Add the other half of the tangerine pulp to the water. Clean your hands in the water. While you're at it, clean the bowl, swishing the water gently around and around. I know this sounds odd, but there's a method to this madness: by cleaning the bowl with your hands, you'll extract every bit of flavor left in the bowl and on your hands. There's also a theory that using your hands while cooking transfers your energy into the food, so it's crucial that you're in a happy mood when you cook. Now add that liquid into the container. Put the container in the refrigerator. In about three days, the kimchee should be ready to eat.
*To get the tangerine pulp, use this technique. Take a sharp, small knife and cut off the top and bottom of a tangerine. Place the tangerine firmly on a cut end. With the knife, cut away the skin and inner membrane, going from top to bottom, easing the knife around the curve of the tangerine. With the membrane gone, it should be easy to remove the pulp, either with a knife or with your fingers.
Here's a picture of a display from the Kimchee Field Museum. All the dishes are examples of ancient kimchee.
credit: Wikimedia Commons
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Biscuits With Cream Cheese Hearts
I love breakfasts at B&Bs. Unlike at hotels, the food is usually much better, and more likely than not, served from the heart. One memorable B&B breakfast I had was from a small B&B in Ulster county, New York, years and years ago. The highlight was this incredible sweet roll filled with warm cream cheese. I guess the owner of the B&B couldn't help but notice how much I liked them, because as we were leaving, she slipped me the recipe. I've been meaning to make them, but only now had the chance! I have to say, they're better than I remembered.
Biscuits With Cream Cheese Hearts
From Sunset cookbook, tasted at Orchard House, and slightly revised by me
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon of pumpkin spice mix (the original recipe called for straight ground cinnamon)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (the original recipe called for almond extract, but I didn't have any so I substituted)
3 tablespoons of melted butter or margarine
1 3 ounce package of cream cheese, cut into 10 equal portions
1/4 cup of chopped walnuts (the original recipe called for almonds to go with the almond extract)
1 package (10 pieces) or refrigerated biscuits like the Pillsbury kind
In a small bowl, combine sugar and pumpkin spice mix. In another small bowl, combine vanilla extract and butter. Dip each piece of cheese in butter, then roll in the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Lay the pieces side by side on waxed paper. Mix walnuts with the remaining cinnamon/sugar mixture.
Separate the biscuits and pat each into roughly 3 inch rounds. Place a piece of cheese in the center and pinch the dough edges to seal. Dip the filled biscuits in butter and then roll in the cinnamon/nut/sugar mixture.
Place each biscuit, seam side down, in an ungreased 2 1/2 inch muffin cup tray (I just put them on a baking tray, but the muffin tray will help the biscuits from popping open). Bake in a 375 degree oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from the muffin tray immediately and let cool for ten minutes. Serve warm. (You can cover and chill any leftovers, just reheat in a 350 degree oven until warm, about 20 minutes.)
Biscuits With Cream Cheese Hearts
From Sunset cookbook, tasted at Orchard House, and slightly revised by me
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon of pumpkin spice mix (the original recipe called for straight ground cinnamon)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (the original recipe called for almond extract, but I didn't have any so I substituted)
3 tablespoons of melted butter or margarine
1 3 ounce package of cream cheese, cut into 10 equal portions
1/4 cup of chopped walnuts (the original recipe called for almonds to go with the almond extract)
1 package (10 pieces) or refrigerated biscuits like the Pillsbury kind
In a small bowl, combine sugar and pumpkin spice mix. In another small bowl, combine vanilla extract and butter. Dip each piece of cheese in butter, then roll in the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Lay the pieces side by side on waxed paper. Mix walnuts with the remaining cinnamon/sugar mixture.
Separate the biscuits and pat each into roughly 3 inch rounds. Place a piece of cheese in the center and pinch the dough edges to seal. Dip the filled biscuits in butter and then roll in the cinnamon/nut/sugar mixture.
Place each biscuit, seam side down, in an ungreased 2 1/2 inch muffin cup tray (I just put them on a baking tray, but the muffin tray will help the biscuits from popping open). Bake in a 375 degree oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from the muffin tray immediately and let cool for ten minutes. Serve warm. (You can cover and chill any leftovers, just reheat in a 350 degree oven until warm, about 20 minutes.)
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