Vegetarian Country Stew


Ingredients:
1 package (140 grams) Superior Tofu Puff, cut into halves*
2 medium onions, cut in wedges
1 medium carrot, cut in 1/2 inch slices
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut in 3/4 inch slices
1/2 cup string beans
1/2 cup vegetable broth or water
3 tablespoons flour
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce
1 cup frozen peas

Directions:

In a large pot, combine onions, carrot, string beans, potato, 1/4 cup water
and salt to taste. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to simmer until
vegetables are tender (about 20 min). Mix the rest of the ingredients except
frozen peas and add to vegetables in the pot. Continue cooking for another
10 min. Add peas and cook another 5 min. Caution: tofu puff absorbs the
gravy very well, and can be very hot in the centre.

Nutritional value per serving: 210 calories, 10g protein, 7.5g fat, 28g
carbohydrates.


Nicholas Zhou - Author
"Real and Healthy Chinese Cooking" http://www.chinesefooddiy.com/
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Zhaohui Zhou > wrote:
> Vegetarian Country Stew
> [...]
> 1 package (140 grams) Superior Tofu Puff, cut into halves*
> [...]
> Caution: tofu puff absorbs the gravy very well, and can be very hot
> in the centre.

I do think it would have been polite to credit the original source of
this recipe - the Superior Tofu website at
http://www.tofu.bc.ca/recipes/entree...untrystew.html

I found that when I was looking on the web to find out what these tofu
puffs are. They're "Light and spongy textured squares with a hollow
centre", apparently:
http://www.tofu.bc.ca/products/asian/puffs.html

They don't seem to be very widely available though. A nice substitute
might be the cubes of deep-fried tofu found in the fridge at Chinese
supermarkets.

Kake
PS Merry Christmas to all, if this gets moderated in time...

Kate L Pugh > wrote:

> Zhaohui Zhou > wrote:
> > Vegetarian Country Stew
> > [...]
> > 1 package (140 grams) Superior Tofu Puff, cut into halves*
> > [...]
> > Caution: tofu puff absorbs the gravy very well, and can be very hot
> > in the centre.
>
> I do think it would have been polite to credit the original source of
> this recipe - the Superior Tofu website at
> http://www.tofu.bc.ca/recipes/entree...untrystew.html

"Polite" is not very similar to the word I would have used. But I
suspect that the main point of the posts made by that particular person
is to promote his web-banner scheme.

[moderator's note: sorry, folks! slipped through the net]

>
> I found that when I was looking on the web to find out what these tofu
> puffs are. They're "Light and spongy textured squares with a hollow
> centre", apparently:
> http://www.tofu.bc.ca/products/asian/puffs.html
>
> They don't seem to be very widely available though. A nice substitute
> might be the cubes of deep-fried tofu found in the fridge at Chinese
> supermarkets.

They might be similar to Japanese *ganmo*.

ObRecipe:

Ganmo (short for *gan-modoki*, meaning "fake goose")
^^^^^

1 block "cotton" tofu (I think it's called "regular" abroad)
4-cm chunk of carrot
12 mangetout ("snow peas"?)
4 dried shiitake, reconstituted
2 Tbs almond powder (a substitute for the traditional grated yam)
salt

Press the tofu well to get rid of as much water as possible. (The
official way is to wrap the block in paper towels, place it on a tilted
board, place another board on top, and weight it. Keep changing the
towels whenever they get soaked. This strikes me as wasteful and
fiddly--I just wrap it in a bamboo sushi-rolling mat, put it on the rack
over the sink, and balance a couple of tins or something on top.)

Cut the carrot into very thin julienne strips lengthways, the mangetout
diagonally, and the shiitake similarly (in class, the carrot was the
bits left over from carving flowers). Make sure the veggies are dry.
Grind the tofu in a *suribachi* (Japanese pestle and mortar, if you
happen to have one handy, otherwise I suspect a food processor would do)
until it's creamy and free of lumps. Mix in the almond powder and a
pinch of salt, then mix in the veggies.

Heat the oil for deep frying. Test the temperature by dropping a tiny
bit of the mixture in. If it sinks sullenly to the bottom; the oil's not
hot enough. If it skitters frantically over the surface, the oil's too
hot--add cool oil immediately to prevent damage. At just the right
temperature, the bit will sink a little, then rise and make cheerful
frying noises.

Dampen your hands and shape small handfuls of the mixture into patties.
Put a couple of the patties into the oil, but only enough to cover about
1/3 of the surface, to prevent the temperature of the oil dropping. Turn
them when the underside is nicely browned (small puffs ought to turn
themselves as the air in the submerged half expands). Remove and drain
when cooked. Allow to cool.

> PS Merry Christmas to all, if this gets moderated in time...

And you!

__________________________________________________ ______________________
Louise Bremner (log at gol dot com)
If you want a reply by e-mail, don't write to my Yahoo address!

Louise Bremner > wrote:
> Ganmo (short for *gan-modoki*, meaning "fake goose")
> ^^^^^

Hey, this sounds good. I'm not going to make it, since I don't want
to deep-fry until I replace my cooker hood filter, and that's never
going to happen, but it sounds good

> Press the tofu well to get rid of as much water as possible. (The
> official way [...] strikes me as wasteful and fiddly--I just wrap it
> in a bamboo sushi-rolling mat, put it on the rack over the sink, and
> balance a couple of tins or something on top.)

Microwaving it helps to drive out water, as well.

> Grind the tofu in a *suribachi* (Japanese pestle and mortar, if you
> happen to have one handy, otherwise I suspect a food processor would do)
> until it's creamy and free of lumps.

How does a Japanese pestle and mortar differ from other pestles and
mortars? (I always have trouble with the plural of that.) The one I
have is marble, about 10cm (4in) in diameter, and smooth inside. It
was the smallest of three available in the range.

Kake

Kate L Pugh > wrote:

> > Ganmo (short for *gan-modoki*, meaning "fake goose")
> > ^^^^^
>
> Hey, this sounds good. I'm not going to make it, since I don't want
> to deep-fry until I replace my cooker hood filter, and that's never
> going to happen, but it sounds good

I'll admit I don't often make them myself, since I can go out and buy
several different types of ganmo in the local supermarkets.....

> How does a Japanese pestle and mortar differ from other pestles and
> mortars? (I always have trouble with the plural of that.)

Avoid the problem by not using a plural? ("...differ from any other kind
of pestle and mortar?"?)

> The one I
> have is marble, about 10cm (4in) in diameter, and smooth inside. It
> was the smallest of three available in the range.

The bowl (is that the pestle, or is it the mortar?) is pottery, with
ridges on the inside formed by running some sort of comb over the
surface just before it dries, and the rod is wood--completely different
from a Western-style combo.

__________________________________________________ ______________________
Louise Bremner (log at gol dot com)
If you want a reply by e-mail, don't write to my Yahoo address!