The Art of Tofuism

We're back in Australia now, and we're loving the fact that you can just stroll into an Asian grocer's - or the local supermarket for that matter - and stock up on fresh tofu. No dodgy buckets of tofu sitting in the sun here!

And so we've been getting into some serious Tofuism this week. Last night it was fried noodles, veggies, and big juicy tofu puffs.



Dinner tonight was stir-fried tofu, cashews, and veggies with rice.



There's an obscene amount of tofu in the fridge, so expect more photos from either the missus or I very very soon.

Been a little while since there's been a post, so thought I'd inject a little tofu culture. I took this picture last week in the market in Nong Haet, a district in the eastern part of Xieng Khouang Province with a population about 40% Hmong. Hmong love tofu so it's always for sale here - I bought 5 blocks, each for 2,000 kip - probably over 1 kg. for about a dollar.

Just thought I'd make those folks in Nias salivate a little...

Nias Island is a relatively remote part of Indonesia and so there are some food items that you won't find here. Tofu is not made locally, so it comes from mainland Sumatera on an overnight ferry.

This means you have to be at the market at the right time to get it while it is fresh - no fridges at the market! Vasco and I have had some bad experiences with off tofu, so we have not eaten it for a while.

So when we were recently in Medan in Sumatera, we went a little silly and stocked up on tofu. We brought it home on the plane in our little esky bag.



Usually, when expats head off to the mainland or somewhere they come back with wine, cheese, olives, or maybe pizza and donuts. Not us. We stock up on tofu. Now that is tofuism, Nias-style.

A couple of nights ago we got stuck into the tahu telur, the custardy egg tofu in the long tube. Vasco fried it up along with some bewdiful veggies - we can't get broccoli or capsicum here, either, so these are also from Medan - and served it with bubur jagung, rice porridge with sweet corn.

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Alpha and Tofu Alpha is my bossy calico cat. She knows that Lao tofu, sold in bricks wrapped in banana leaves, will make you strong and healthy. She doesn't really like tofu but she's willing to pose next to it just to get into the picture.

It's a rainy day in Sydney. Light drizzle is falling now, the roads are black and slick, and the leafy streets of Parramatta are dripping with cool water.

So it was a great morning for a warm breakfast. Fellow tofuist and culinary adventurer, Miss Vasco, was once again in the kitchen. She is unstoppable!

Some fresh tofu came out of the fridge and was fried in blocks until sealed. Then it was crumbled in the wok and a little soy sauce was splashed in. Next came some bean shoots and chopped tomato. The aroma was wonderful! The scrambled tofu was garnished with fried onion and coriander and a slice of oatbran toast.

I have wanted to try scrambled tofu for a long time, but have either been too lazy or too scared of buggering it up. Today's breakfast was great - quick, easy, and delicious. There'll be a repeat performance very soon, I reckon.

Ingredients:

Fresh Spinach 500g (which is about 2 big bunches I think)
Tofu - 1 packet
Onion - 1 medium size
Tomato - 1 medium size
Red Chilli powder - enough to suite your own taste
Turmeric - 1 pinch
Salt - again enough to suit your own taste
Cumin seeds - 1 pinch
Garlic - 2 flakes(optional)
Ginger - 1 small piece (optional)
Oil - 2 tablespoons


Method:

Wash the Spinach thoroughly and add garlic and ginger then let it steam until its quite soft/limp.

Cool it and then grind to a fine paste along with the tomato.

Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. When its done, quickly add slices onions, fry until they turn golden brown.

Add little turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt and then add the spinach-tomato paste. Add little water to give it a curry consistency. Let it cook for sometime.

Cut the Tofu into small square pieces and finally add to the above prepared curry. Let it simmer for a while and enjoy the taste

To pretty it up a bit and make it even yummier, you can decorate it with coriander/mint leaves, or with some chopped roasted cashews.