Char Siu Tofu with Soba Noodles and Summer Vegetables

This Sunday at the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market, held between 10 am - 2 pm on the corner of Agate and 19th Ave., stock up on summer produce from Camas Swale Farm and pastured meat and poultry from Fair Valley Farm and Fog Hollow Farm.

A favorite summer meal in our household is bibim guksu, where lightly seasoned soba noodles serve as a palette for your choice of vegetables and protein. Last Sunday I used Camas Swale produce to make sides of crunchy cucumbers, seared padrone peppers, a smokey eggplant salad, and sweet and sour summer squash. For a protein I made these seared char siu tofu slabs from Andrea Nguyen's Vietnamese Food Any Day. It's a great recipe because you don't have to bother with pressing moisture out of the tofu, but rather you mix up your marinade in an unheated skillet, let the tofu absorb the flavors as you heat and evaporate the liquid, and then end by searing the slabs in a little oil in the same pan. If you spend Sunday afternoon prepping your fresh market produce into these delicious sides, your Monday and Tuesday self will thank you for the multitude of mix and match dinners you can put together in a flash.

Char Siu Tofu with Soba Noodles and Summer Vegetables

noodles
300 g (3 circular packets) of soba noodles
Cook in salted boiling water until barely cooked through (about 5 minutes), then immediately rinse under cold water until entirely cooled. Toss with a drizzle of sesame oil to help prevent the strands from congealing. 

sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp rice vinegar
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp honey
1 tsp Korean gochujang paste for a mild, kid-friendly sauce, or more as desired 
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
Mix together all the ingredients. Taste and adjust flavorings as desired.

Char Siu Tofu (adapted from Andrea Nguyen's Vietnamese Food Any Day)
14 ounces extra-firm tofu
1 Tbsp soy sauce or Bragg Liquid Aminos
1/4 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
1 Tbsp hoisin sauce
2 Tbsp canola or other neutral oil

Cut the tofu block into 8 1/2 inch thick slabs. In a large skillet, combine the ingredients except the tofu and mix well. Add the tofu and turn several times, then arrange flat in the skillet. Set the skillet over medium heat and when the sauce starts to bubble, in about two minutes, use a spatula to flip the tofu. Continue cooking to allow the seasonings to concentrate and stick to the tofu. When little liquid remains in the pan, drizzle 1 Tbsp oil over the tofu, shake the pan and flip the tofu again. Let the tofu sizzle for 3 to 4 minutes to dry out and brown.  Drizzle on the remaining 1 Tbsp oil and flip again. The finished tofu will have be orange-brown with some dark brown spots. Remove the pan from the heat and let the sizzling subside.  

Chinese smokey eggplant with garlic (adapted from Fuchsia Dunlop's Every Grain of Rice)
2 large eggplants
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp light soy sauce
2 tsp Chinkiang vinegar
2 Tbsp chili oil with its sediment (or use a diced fresh hot pepper and 2 Tbsp sesame oil)
1 tsp sesame seeds
2 Tbsp finely sliced scallions (green part only) 
cilantro leaves for garnish (optional)

Char the eggplants on a grill, under a broiler, or using the broiler of a toaster oven, for about 30 minutes, or over gas flames for about 10 minutes, turning with tongs, until they are completely soft and collapsed. At the same time, roast a couple of cloves of garlic in a small cast iron pan on the grill, under the broiler, or on the stove, until soft (if you don't mind raw garlic, you can skip this step). Cool the eggplant until you can handle them and then peel off the charred skin with a pairing knife or your fingers. Place the softened pulp in a strainer for about 15 minutes to drain out some of the liquid. Mince the garlic and chop the eggplant pulp. Combine in a bowl and toss with the remaining ingredients. Garnish with cilantro leaves if you like and serve.

Sweet and sour summer squash (from Fuchsia Dunlop's Every Grain of Rice)
2 zucchini
salt
2 Tbsp cooking oil
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp Chinkiang vinegar

Quarter the summer squash lengthwise, and slice thinly. Toss with 1/2 tsp salt, mix well and set aside for 30 minutes or so to sweat. When you are ready to cook, squeeze the slices to get rid of excess water. Heat a wok over a high flame. Add the oil, then the garlic, and stir-fry for a few seconds until you smell its fragrance. Add the squash and stir-fry until they are hot and just cooked, but still a little crisp. Add the sugar and vinegar, with salt to taste, stir a couple of times, then tip on to a dish and serve.

Tofu Puffs and Bok Choy Pickles

This Sunday at the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market, stock up on pastured meats from Fair Valley Farm and Fog Hollow Farm and fresh produce from Camas Swale Farm, including plenty of root vegetables, squash, and bok choy.

We had a period last spring when we ate a lot of bok choy while my son was concocting a recipe for a 4J elementary school cooking competition with the theme of "healthy, kid-friendly Asian fusion" and extra points for using brown rice, tofu, bok choy, ginger, and garlic. He decided to hedge his bets and use all of the above. For the tofu, he made a ginger and garlic version of baked tofu cubes from Deb Perelman's Smitten Kitchen Everyday, coated with a soy sauce and cornstarch mixture that gives them a crispy surface, and they were an immediate hit. The first iteration of the bok choy was another matter. He had steamed these until quite soft and served them limply over plain brown rice. His older sister pushed hers around her plate with teenage contempt. My son initially wrote this off to her being a picky eater, but ultimately had to concede that she represented his target audience, who might be equally as picky. So he went back to the drawing board and came up with the idea of making quick pickles with the crunchy bok choy stems. This proved to be much more popular and had the added benefit of providing some sweet and salty pickle brine to drizzle on the brown rice. His recipe was chosen as one of the two representing his grade school in the citywide competition. The big day came when they all prepared their recipes in a cavernous cafeteria. Working with awkward knife guard gloves, abiding by food handling regulations, and producing 50 tasting samples were all challenging, but he stayed cheerful through it all and even came up with an eye catching Dr. Seuss-esque food plating design using denuded bok choy stalks.

Perhaps most rewardingly, his recipes have made their way into our regular family meal rotation, as in this rice bowl with tofu puffs.

Tofu Puffs and Bok Choy Pickles

for the tofu puffs
1 block extra firm tofu
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp diced garlic
2 cloves garlic, diced

for the bok choy pickles
1 head bok choy (or two baby bok choy)
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup hot water
1/4 cup rice vinegar

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Set a pot of brown rice to cook.

3. Slice the tofu into 1/2 inch thick slices, and press between two cutting boards to drain off excess liquid. Cut the slices into 1/2 inch cubes.

4. In a large bowl, mix together the oil, soy sauce, corn starch, garlic, and ginger. Gently fold in the tofu cubes to coat with the soy sauce mixture. Spread them onto the parchment paper coated baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 30 or 35 minutes, turning once, until puffy and golden.

5. While the tofu bakes, prepare the quick pickles. Mix the sugar and salt into the hot water to dissolve and then stir in the vinegar. Allow to cool a few minutes.

6. Separate the leaves from the bok choy head and rinse well. Cut the white stems from the green leaves and reserve the greens for another use (stir fry or salad). Cut the white stems into 1/2 inch pieces, stir into the pickle brine, and allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes.

7. Serve the tofu puffs with brown rice topped with the pickles and drizzled with some of the pickle brine.

Gado Gado and Chicken Satay

This Sunday at the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market, you can expect to find pastured meat and eggs from Fair Valley Farm, fresh cut flower bouquets from Tiger Lily Art Company, and fresh produce from Camas Swale Farm including:

strawberries (make some fresh fruit crepes)
last of the snap peas
carrots
beets (try this quinoa and beet salad with roasted kale)
potatoes (make some gado gado below)
summer squashes
onions (make this addictive cumin lamb with seared onions and Fair Valley Farm lamb)
salad mix
chard (why not bake a chard and bacon tart with Fair Valley Farm bacon)
kale
herbs

When we were in Bali a few weeks ago, we took at cooking class at a restaurant in Ubud, Cafe Wayan, where we made (clockwise from top left) eggplant with sambal balado, chicken satay with peanut sauce, chicken curry in coconut milk, and a Balinese grilled fish salad.  

It all tasted wonderfully exotic, but in fact many of the ingredients were ones we have in our kitchen, and the flavors came from how they were combined, often in complex ground pastes, or cooked in unexpected ways. For example, the peanut sauce for the chicken satay, unlike our regular peanut sauce for noodles, was made by grinding fried peanuts with garlic and some tomato and then simmering in a pan with water. 

Last week we recreated this recipe at home, along with another Indonesia dish called gado gado, a composed salad of boiled and fresh vegetables that is also served with peanut sauce. We made a trip to Sunrise Market for small peanuts, kecap manis (a sweet soy sauce), palm sugar, and prawn crackers (little discs that puff up when fried and are traditionally served with gado gado).   

All the vegetables we sourced from the Fairmount Farmers Market, including fingerling potatoes, green beans, cabbage, cucumbers, and carrots. Almost anything could go into gado gado, so it is the perfect farmers market dish for any season, and once you've made a big batch of peanut sauce, the rest of the recipe scales easily for a crowd.

We served ours with hard boiled eggs and fried tempe, with chicken satay skewers on the side. It was a wonderful meal for reminiscing about our recent trip and my husband's family's years spent in Indonesia long ago.  

Gado Gado

peanut sauce (recipe follows)
lightly steamed cabbage leaves
boiled little potatoes
blanched green beans
fresh cucumbers and carrots
other steamed or fresh vegetables of your choice
cilantro
hard boiled eggs
tempe or tofu, sliced into thin strips and fried
prawn crisps and sambal oelek for serving

Prepare all of the vegetables, the hard boiled eggs, and the fried tempe or tofu. Serve with peanut sauce, fried prawn crisps, and sambal oelek.

Peanut Sauce (Bumbu Kacang) 

from Cafe Wayan (for four servings of gado gado)

100 ml water
100 g small peanuts (often called Spanish peanuts)
canola oil as needed for frying the peanuts
1 slice tomato
1 clove garlic
1 Tbsp palm sugar (or use white sugar)
a pinch of salt
1 Tbsp kecap manis (sweet soy sauce, or use regular soy sauce and 1 tsp sugar)
1 tsp tamarind paste or lime juice to taste

If using fresh, small peanuts, fry them in a small amount of canola oil until they harden and become fragrant. Drain on paper towels and season with a pinch of salt. Grind all of the ingredients together with a mortar and pestle or in a food processor. Place in a pan with 1/4 cup water and simmer over medium heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring to prevent sticking. Then add 1 Tbsp kecap manis and 1 tsp of tamarind paste. Combine, taste, and if needed add more salt, sugar, tamarind paste, or lime juice.

Chicken Satay (Sate Ayam)

from Cafe Wayan (serves four as an appetizer) 

1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch cubes
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp oil such as canola
3 Tbsp kecap manis (sweet soy sauce, or use regular 3 Tbsp soy sauce and 1 Tbsp sugar)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
mild chili
salt and pepper

Mix the ingredients thoroughly. It's best if you can marinate the chicken for several hours or up to a day. Thread the chicken cubes onto skewers and grill until cooked. Serve with peanut sauce.

Miso Tofu Salad with an Egg on Top

If you get to the Fairmount Farmers Market early this Sunday, you might be lucky enough to pick up some of Fair Valley Farm's pasture raised eggs. 

If you also pick up an bunch of greens, some basil, a cucumber, some baby potatoes, and a handful of these Japanese eggplants from Sweetwater Farm, then you'll have the fixings for a satisfying dinner salad, perfect for these hot days.

I baked sliced eggplant and tofu in a miso marinade in my toaster oven, to avoid heating the kitchen. Over a bed of chopped kale and basil leaves, I layered on the eggplant and tofu with baby potatoes, cucumber spears, and a six-minute egg, and drizzled it all with the sweet and spicy dipping sauce left over from last week's chicken recipe. A delicious farm to table dinner, without generating much heat.

Miso Tofu Salad with an Egg on Top

makes four dinner salads

Miso marinate
1 tablespoon white miso
1/4 cup hot water
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Salad
4 Japanese eggplants, sliced on the diagonal into 1 inch slices
1 block firm tofu, sliced into 8 slabs and pre-frozen or pressed to remove liquid
1 bunch kale or lettuce
~16 basil leaves
1 large or 2 small cucumbers
16 baby potatoes
4 eggs

For the sweet and hot dipping sauce (1/2 recipe):
1/4 cup rice or cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoons dried red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon fish sauce

1. Prepare the miso marinade by whisking together all of the ingredients directly in a toaster oven pan or small baking dish. Dip both sides of the eggplant slices and tofu slabs into the marinate and let soak for at least 30 minutes at room temperature or for a day in the refrigerator. Bake at 350 degrees in a toaster oven or stove for 30 to 40 minutes until the eggplants are sift and have started to char and the tofu is dry and firm. Slice the tofu into strips and reserve.

2. Prepare the dipping sauce. In a small saucepan, heat the vinegar to a boil. Add the sugar, stirring until it dissolves, then lower the heat to a simmer for 5 minutes. In the meantime, pound or mash the garlic and salt into a paste in a mortar or on a cutting board with the side of your knife. Stir the red pepper flakes into the sauce. When the vinegar and sugar mixture is done simmering, stir in the garlic paste and fish sauce and let the sauce cool to room temperature. 

3. Prepare the remaining salad ingredients. Boil the baby potatoes until cooked, about 15 minutes, then drain and reserve. For the eggs, set a small pot of water to boil and the carefully lower in each egg with a slotted spoon. Lower the heat and cook for 6 minutes for eggs with yokes that are still a little runny, or up to 10 minutes for firm yokes. Transfer to a bowl with ice water to cool and peel gently. Peel the cucumber if desired and cut into spears. Rinse the kale leaves, remove the stems with your hands or a knife, and chop into small pieces. Rinse the basil leaves, tear into pieces and mix with the kale leaves.

4. Assemble the salads. On four plates, distribute the kale and basil leaves. Layer on eggplant slices, tofu strips, baby potatoes, cucumber spears, and an egg. Drizzle with a little of the dipping sauce and serve with more sauce on the side. Enjoy.

Soba Noodles with Lemon Grass Tofu and Roasted Broccoli

This Sunday at at the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market, you can look forward to a selection of pastured chicken and grass-fed lamb cuts from Fair Valley Farm and beautiful fresh cut flower bouquets from Tiger Lily Art Company. Good Food Easy at Sweetwater Farm will have the following offerings: 

Fresh
Blueberries (world's perfect pancake topping)
Lots of tomatoes (Romas and red, yellow, and orange slicers) 
Eggplants (try these grilled eggplant with tomatoes and mint)
Bell peppers, jalapeños, anaheim and poblano chile peppers
Artichokes, baby beets, new potatoes, and broccoli (try roasted, below)
Carrots, summer squash, and cucumbers
Chard, collard greens, and kale (try this chard and bacon tart with rye crust)
Garlic and fresh herbs (basil, oregano, sage, thyme) and home-grown lemon grass
Lettuce, including ready-to-eat bagged mix
Cherries and Blenheim apricots (from Washington)

Preserves, Beans, and Grains
From Sweet Creek Foods:
Dill Pickles, Chili Dill Pickles, Bread 'N Butter Pickles, Pickle Relish
Blueberry, Strawberry, Blackberry, and Raspberry Fruit Spreads
Enchilada Sauce and Salsa
From SLO Farm: Applesauce
Assorted beans and grains from Camas Country Mill

The farmers of Sweetwater Farm are always experimenting with new produce, and this season they lovingly raised their very own lemongrass for us. I used these tender stalks to infuse fragrant flavor into slabs of tofu (prefrozen to remove liquid). These were baked until firm and layered onto buckwheat soba noodles tossed with a lime vinaigrette.

For vegetables, I prepared these highly addictive roasted broccoli spears from America's test kitchen (similar in flavor to kale chips) and some seared cabbage with black Chinese vinegar. A satisfying summer meal that could be eaten warm or at room temperature if you are planning on picnicking over the 4th of July weekend.

Soba Noodles with Lemon Grass Tofu and Roasted Broccoli

serves four

marinated tofu
1 block firm tofu (sliced into 8 slabs, preferable frozen and then thawed to remove liquid)
2 to 3 stalks lemon grass
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp maple syrup
zest of one lime

Remove excess liquid from the tofu either by freezing and thawing or by pressing between two cutting boards weighed down with cans and propped at a slant to let the liquid drain. Slice the bulbs of the lemon grass stalks into half lengthwise and slice thinly. Combine the lemon grass with the remaining ingredients. Place the tofu slabs into a single layer in a small baking dish and pour over the marinade. Let sit for at least 15 minutes or overnight in the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake for about 15 minutes, flip the slabs and bake for another 15 minutes. Scrape off most of the lemongrass slices, cut the slabs into bite sized cubes, and reserve.

roasted broccoli (from America's Test Kitchen)
1/2 lb broccoli florets
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil

1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position, place large rimmed baking sheet on rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees. Cut broccoli at juncture of florets and stems; remove outer peel from stalk. Cut stalk into 2- to 3-inch lengths and each length into 1/2-inch-thick pieces. Cut crowns into 4 wedges if 3-4 inches in diameter or 6 wedges if 4-5 inches in diameter. Place broccoli in large bowl; drizzle with oil and toss well until evenly coated. Sprinkle with salt, sugar, and pepper to taste and toss to combine.

2. Working quickly, remove baking sheet from oven. Carefully transfer broccoli to baking sheet and spread into even layer, placing flat sides down. Return baking sheet to oven and roast until stalks are well browned and tender and florets are lightly browned, 9 to 11 minutes.

roasted cabbage
1/2 head napa cabbage or a young green cabbage
2 Tbsp black Chinese vinegar or balsamic vinegar

While the oven is heating to 500 degrees for the broccoli, place a cast iron skillet on the middle rack of the oven. Cut the cabbage into 1 to 2 inch wide wedges and remove a triangle of the core at the base, but leave enough so that the wedges stay intact. Drizzle the wedges with a little vinegar. When the pan is hot, place the wedge into the pan to sear on one cut side for about 3 minutes, then flip and sear them on the second cut side for about 3 minutes, until the both sides are nicely chard and the interior cabbage is just cooked but still has some crunch. 

soba noodles
4 bundles soba noodles (360 g)
juice of one lime
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp soy sauce

In a pot of boiling water, cook the soba noodles according to the directions. Meanwhile, mix together the dressing. When the noodles are cooked, drain and toss with the dressing in the bowl or platter you will use for serving. Garnish the sides with the roasted cabbage wedges, then the roasted broccoli, and then top with the tofu cubes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Chipotle Tofu Tacos

With day lights savings depriving us of our morning sunlight, and the drizzly days lingering, this is the time of year when you need some easy weeknight dinners in your back pocket. These tofu tacos fit the bill, especially if you cook up some grains and a pot of beans (like Rio zapes in mole sauce) ahead of time. The sauce for these tacos comes from a shrimp recipe from Rick Bayless' Mexican Everyday and is dead easy: blend together a 15 ounce can of fire roasted tomatoes with a couple of chipotle chiles in adobe sauce. A tip for storing a can's worth of these chiles: dot them on a piece of saran wrap draped across a cookie sheet, freeze, and then store in a freezer bag for future meals. If you've taken to stashing tofu in your freezer for banh mi, the same strategy would work here for creating extra firm tofu chunks. For toppings, fresh avocado is nice, but shredded cabbage and root vegetables or even refrigerator pickles will do the trick. And while you eat these, imagine yourself on a sunny tropical beach. 

Chipotle Tofu Tacos

tofu filling
1 14 ounce package of tofu (if possible, slice and freeze, then thaw, for extra firm pieces)
3 cloves garlic
3 Tbsp canola oil
1 15 ounce can fire roasted tomatoes
2 to 3 chipotle chiles in adobe sauce
salt to taste

taco fixings
tortillas
cooked grain, such as farro, or rice
cubed avocado
spinach leaves or chopped lettuce or cabbage
cilantro
shredded cheddar cheese or sour cream
lime wedges

1. Cut the tofu into 1 inch slabs. If you can prepare this ahead of time, freeze the tofu slabs and then thaw them to release extra liquid. 

2. In a blender, combine the fire roasted tomatoes and chipotle chiles.

3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat and, when hot, add 2 Tbsp oil. Now add the tofu slabs in a single layer. Allow them to sear undisturbed for about 3 minutes, then gently flip and sear on the second side. Sprinkle them with a pinch of salt. Meanwhile, mince the garlic. When the tofu is nicely golden on both sides, remove to a plate.

4. Add remaining 1 Tbsp oil to the pan and when warm, add the garlic. Stir for a minute until fragrant but not brown, and then pour in the tomato chipotle sauce from the blender jar and a generous pinch of salt. Stir and bring to a simmer. Cook for about five minutes or so, taste and add more salt if needed. Meanwhile, cut the tofu slabs into 1 inch cubes. Add the tofu cubes to the sauce, stir to coat, and continue to simmer while you prepare the tacos toppings and warm the tortillas.

5. Allow everyone to assemble their tacos to their personal taste following the general formula of starting with a warm tortilla, adding a scoop of grains, a generous helping of tofu, topping with avocado, greens, cilantro, and cheese or sour cream, a squeeze of lime, and serving with beans on the side. Enjoy.

Tofu Banh Mi

When the clocks fall back and darkness descends well before dinnertime, I always feel an enhanced sense of urgency about preparing our evening meal. And no longer can one rely on fresh tomatoes or basil to drive the show. Instead we need to hope for inspiration from root vegetables and greens. One recent favorite solution is these tofu banh mi sandwiches. 

The tofu, from a Mark Bittman recipe, is braised in a concoction of caramelized sugar and soy or fish sauce that produces addictively flavorful slabs. The sugar caramelizing step seems a bit tricky, but every time I've made these, the unpromising sugar crystals at the beginning have dissolved during the braising step and all has turned out well. The Slate banh mi recipe adds a step of pre-freezing the tofu to give it a firmer texture. I've taken to keeping a stash of sliced tofu in my freezer at all times so that we can make these sandwiches on demand (just pull them out in the morning, or thaw in a microwave).

The classic garnish for these sandwiches is the Vietnamese quick pickle of julienned carrots and daikon radish called dau chua. On a family trip to San Francisco last spring, my son discovered a passion for these pickles, so I've been making them quite frequently based on a recipe from Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through Southeast Asia. They can be made ahead, but are also easy to whip up along with the tofu. Once you have the pickles and tofu prepared, then all you need to do is slather some good baguette with butter or mayonnaise (if you like, mix in some sriracha sauce), then layer on the tofu and dau chua, and add some cucumber and jalapeno slices and springs of cilantro, if you have them. Even if it's the end of the week and your supplies are low, I suspect that you've got carrots in the crisper and with that tofu in the freezer, you can make a simplified version of these sandwiches. Heck, you could even put them in a tortilla. No matter what, be sure to eat with plenty of napkins.

Tofu Banh Mi

based on a recipe from L.V. Anderson of Slate

Caramelized tofu
1 14 ounce package of firm tofu, sliced into 8 slabs, frozen, and thawed
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp water
1/3 cup fish sauce or soy sauce
1 large shallot, minced
plenty of freshly ground pepper
1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar

Dau chua
2 large carrots
Equivalent amount of daikon radish
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
3/4 cup water

For the sandwiches
1 baguette
butter or mayonnaise, mixed with some sriracha sauce if you like
cilantro leaves
1 small cucumber, thinly sliced
1 or 2 jalapenos, thinly sliced

1. First prepare the pickled carrots and daikon. Scrub the carrots and peel the daikon. Trim and julienne them or coarsely grate them (I use a food processor for this and it goes very quickly). Toss with the salt, place in a strainer, and allow to drain for 10-30 minutes (depending on your time schedule).

2. Meanwhile prepare the pickling sauce. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, rice wine vinegar, and water and warm just until the sugar dissolves. Allow to cool completely (you do not want to cook the vegetables).

3. Quickly rinse the drained carrots and daikon and squeeze well. Combine with the vinegar sauce and allow to marinate until you are ready to serve, or refrigerate and store for a few days. Taste before serving and add a little more salt if desired.

4. To make the caramelized tofu, thaw your pre-frozen tofu slices and drain off any liquid they release. Warm a large skillet over medium-low heat. Put 1/3 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon water in a large skillet, stir to mix, and then put your spoon down because you should not stir the sugar as it melts or it will crystalize. Instead, let the sugar warm and bubble and gradually turn a golden brown while you shake and swirl the pan occasionally, about 10 minutes. Now take the pan off the heat. Slowly drizzle in the soy sauce or fish sauce, then add the shallot. Return to the heat and cook, stirring often, until the onion is tender, about 4 minutes. Add the thawed tofu and the black pepper and cook, turning the tofu occasionally, until it has absorbed most of the sauce, about 15 minutes. Stir in 1 tablespoon rice vinegar and remove from the heat.

5. Prepare the sandwiches. Cut the baguette into lengths a bit longer than the tofu slabs and cut horizontally. Slather the bread with butter or mayonnaise (mixed with a bit of sriracha sauce if you like). Layer on a tofu slab, a spoonful of drained pickled carrot and daikon radish, cilantro leaves, cucumber and jalapeno slices. Enjoy. 

Ume Grill's Japanese Style Rice Balls

Neighborhood food cart aficionados have been happy to see the return of Ume Grill to the Sun Automotive lot on the corner of 19th and Agate (now located in back, away from 19th). In addition to an expanded menu with chicken and tofu teriyaki, a new Ume offering is beautifully prepared bento boxes to go. On Thursdays, Ume will deliver pre-ordered bento boxes to Edison Elementary and Roosevelt Middle Schools as a welcome alternative to the unfortunately dismal cafeteria fare.

Ume co-owner Helen (aka Mama Ume), who in the past has graciously shared her recipe for tsukemono, was kind enough to help the Edison Girl Scouts earn their cooking badges by teaching them how to make their very own rice balls (example above). Helen even brought each girl her own bento box kit, complete with fun rice ball molds.

My resident Girl Scout was eager to teach me her new skills. We prepared rice, baked tofu, and edamame beans, and I cut up some leftover roasted parsnips and rutabaga. She demonstrated the proper rice packing, complete with finger dipping in salty water, and we sprinkled the rice balls with black sesame seeds (on hand from making gomae sauce). I was the only taker for cooked purple barley mixed into the rice, but the heart shaped rutabaga slices were consumed with enthusiasm, making me think that there is room for a rutabaga lover badge in the Girls Scout pantheon, between "entertainment technology" and "social butterfly." Thanks Ume Grill for sharing these delicious treats.

Ume Grill's Japanese Style Rice Balls

The beauty of these rice balls is that you can improvise and tailor them to any taste. This recipe gives the basic outline but you can pack them with whatever strikes your fancy.

You should gather together:

cooked rice (about 1/2 cup per rice ball, Helen recommends "hapa" rice: 3 parts medium grain white rice and 1 part brown rice)
a small bowl of sea salt water for finger dipping
rice mold (or use a teacup or ramekin lined with plastic wrap) 

any of the following fillings:
baked tofu (recipe below)
teriyaki beef or chicken
cooked edamame beans
carrots, cucumber, and other vegetables sliced into pretty shapes by hand or with a cutter

and some toppings:
nori seaweed sheets
sesame seeds
more sliced vegetables

Scoop some rice into the mold. Wet your fingers in the sea salt water and pat down the rice into a firm layer. Add some fillings (protein and vegetables). Add another layer or rice and pat down with wet fingers. Close the mold firmly to completely compress the rice ball. Open the mold and carefully dislodge the rice ball by inverting over your hand and pressing on the release tab on the back. Decorate the rice ball with strips of moistened nori, sesame seeds, and more sliced vegetables. Enjoy.

Baked tofu
1 package extra firm tofu
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp sesame oil

Slice the tofu into 3/4 inch thick slabs. In a shallow baking dish, mix the marinade ingredients. Place the tofu slabs in the marinade and flip to coat both sides. Marinade for 30 minutes or so. Bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes per side, until the tofu has dried and firmed. I do this in a toaster oven. Once baked, cut the tofu slabs into desired sized pieces, or use a small cookie cutter for fun bento shapes.

Ma Po Doufo

This Sunday at the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market you can look forward to the following offerings from Sweetwater Farm and Fair Valley Farm:

• lots of peppers both sweet (Anthohi Romanian, Carmen, Italia, Numex Joe Parker, and anaheim) and spicy (long red cayenne, Czech black, jalapeno, serrano)
• peaches and plums (bake a plum cake)
• many kinds of tomatoes, including plenty of romas (cook up tomato sauce)
• lettuce and lots of greens (top with salmon cakes in honor of Julia's birthday)
• eggplants, zucchini, and summer squash (make ratatouille)
• green and yellow beans (make a school spirit salad) 
• cucumbers (garnish a rice noodle salad)
• a variety of new potatoes (fry potato wedges)
• fennel and fresh herbs, including basil and parsley
• beets, carrots, and cabbage (make a crunchy slaw)
• broccoli, cauliflower, and possibly sweet corn
• garlic, scallions, onions, and possibly ginger 
• tomato sauce and pesto
• homemade jams
• fresh eggs
• Scottish oats (try this oatmeal with teff and flaxseeds)
• a selection of dried beans and grains from Camas Country Mill
• pastured chicken
• pastured pork: bacon, ground pork, pork chops, shoulder roasts, ham roasts, spare ribs, and the best sausage for hash
• pastured lamb: ground, stew meat, leg roast, rib chops, loin chops

This week past we feasted on Fair Valley Farm's fresh ground pork and Sweetwater Farm's hot peppers, fresh garlic, and scallions in my husband's specialty dish Ma po doufu. I've asked Eric to do another guest post to share his recipe.

This is Eric again, with one of my favorite dishes. Ma po doufu (or "pock-marked Grandma's tofu") is easy to make, and yet is a delight of contrasting textures and tastes. It is also remarkably resilient to subtractions and additions, so go for it even if you lack some of the ingredients. The only key is sichuan peppercorns, which impart the numbing heat that gives this its defining flavor. 

Ma Po Doufo

1 pound ground pork (the more authentic style would be less than 1/2 pound but since we had a pound of this tasty pork, I used it all)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (coat the bottom of pan or wok, swirl)
2 teaspoons sichuan peppercorn, ground with mortar and pestle (also can be found in stores as dried prickly ash)
3 cloves garlic, chopped 
1-2 inch cube of ginger, chopped
1 hot pepper, de-seeded and chopped
1 block soft tofu, drained and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (I'm a stickler for soft tofu, as regular or firm tofu doesn't give the same contrast in texture)
2 scallions, green part chopped

Marinade
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon chili oil

1 teaspoon low salt soy sauce

1 teaspoon black pepper

Sauce
1/2 cup rice wine
2 teaspoons low salt soy sauce
2 teaspoons black bean chili sauce (also fermented black bean, broad bean chili sauce, red bean sauce are good to include)
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon corn starch to thicken if desired

Cooking ma po doufu can go quickly, but the overall strategy is to bring the heat up to very high and then reduce the heat as you add the different parts. 15 minutes later it is all done!

1. Marinate the pork in a bowl while you chop and prepare the other ingredients.

2. Then, heat a large wok or pan (I often use a large paella pan). As it is heating, toast some Sichuan peppercorns in the pan until they start to smoke.

3. Remove most (but not all) of the peppercorn, and add oil. The oil will get infused with the leftover peppercorn. When the oil is hot, put in the ground pork. I usually let it sit for a minute to get the crispy edges of pork that provide a nice contrast to the soft tofu. Once the bottom side is browned, start breaking up the pork and stirring it around so it cooks through. Once the pork starts cooking, it is time to start rice going so it will be cooked when the ma po doufo is done.

4. When most of the pork is cooked and a noticeable fraction has browned, crispy edges, add the garlic, ginger and hot pepper. Stir. Once I start stirring I reduce the heat to medium so the garlic doesn't burn and the pork doesn't overcook.

5. Once the garlic starts to soften, add rice wine, soy sauce, chili bean sauce and/or paste, a little sesame oil and most of the toasted sichuan peppercorn. The sauce should start to gently simmer, at which point reduce the heat a bit more.

6. Add the soft tofu. You want to retain the integrity of the tofu, but also give it a chance to soak up all the flavors in the dish, so stir it and coat it with sauce gently with a motion similar to folding in egg whites. Simmer for a few minutes. Sometimes I'll push aside the ingredients and stir in (slowly) a teaspoon of corn starch to thicken the sauce.

7. As it simmers, add the sliced green onion greens. Serve over rice and sprinkle extra sichuan peppercorn as desired. Eat with a strong IPA to drink.