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.