Batter-Fried Tofu with Tomato Sauce

The best tasty way to enjoy tofu is to batter it first and then fry.  It has a few more calories but, for tofu, it is the best way to enjoy the taste. The base of batter very much depends upon each cook and taste. Some cook with beer, club soda, egg yolks or whites, while some others cook with all-purpose flour or cornstarch.  However, for my taste, the simplest way to prepare the batter is to use flour or Korean ready mix, water, and egg yolk. This recipe can be served with the soy dipping sauce, but today I will use an easy healthy tomato sauce recipe* using some fresh produce from my garden. I hope this recipe will be present at your family’s meal once a week for a meatless day.

Ingredients:
One 14 oz. medium firm tofu

Batter ingredients:
1 cup Korean batter mix**
1 egg yolk
1 cup water
1 tbs peanut oil
Salt and black pepper to taste
Tomato sauce ingredients:
2 tbs oil
1 cup chopped fresh tomato
1 tbs coconut vinegar or red wine vinegar
2 tbs tomato paste
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup chopped red or white onion
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp horseradish mustard

Directions:
Drain and cut tofu into 12 chunks. You also can cut into cubes or however you like.

Combine the batter ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk until smooth.

Heat the oil for deep frying. Dip each tofu chunk or cube into the batter. One at the time, drop them in the hot oil. Cook as many tofu chunks or cubes that can fit comfortably in the hot oil without crowding.

Cook about 3 to 5 minutes or until the pieces are golden brown. Transfer them onto paper towels to drain the excess oil.

The Vietnamese family usually serves this dish with soy sauce or fish sauce over rice or on a plate of salad.

 

*Tomato sauce directions:
Heat oil in a saucepan and add the onion and garlic. Cook until wilted and add the vinegar and bay leaf.  Cook for 1 minute or until the vinegar is reduced by half.

Add tomato paste. Stir and cook for a few seconds. Add tomato. Season with salt, sugar, and black pepper to taste.

 Cook and stir occasionally for 10 minutes. Stir in mustard. This sauce is ready.
Pour this sauce over the fried tofu or on the side.

**If Korean mix is not available, use one cup of all-purpose flour with 1 tsp baking powder.

Stir-fried Rice Noodles with Tofu and Vegetables

 Stir-fried rice noodles with tofu and vegetables is a Buddhist dish and is often served in the temple during the big celebrations. Once a week, I like to make this dish to help maintain my healthy eating habit. All the ingredients are very easy to find and most of them are already in the kitchen. The one issue when making this dish is choosing the type of rice noodles that are sold in the Asian market. I suggest that one has to find the right rice noodles and adjust the soaking time to soften the noodles. Some rice noodles need cold water, but others need warm or hot water. If this recipe becomes the usual dish in your family, stick with the rice noodles that you like. Other than that, this recipe is very easy to create a home-cooked meal with all the flavors of a takeout dish.

Ingredients:
6 oz. tofu
6 oz. dried rice noodles
Vegetables:
1 garlic clove, minced
1 shallot, sliced
1 carrot, cut into strips
1 stalk of celery, cut into strips
1/2 yellow bell pepper, cut into strips
1 piece dried fungus
1 cup bean sprouts
Sauce ingredients:
1/4 cup vegetable broth
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp mirin
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp mushroom seasoning
1 sriracha hot sauce

Other ingredients:
Chopped green onions and cilantro

Directions:
Soak the rice noodles in warm water for 30 minutes and drain.
Soak the fungus in water for 10 minutes and julienne.
Cut the tofu into 1/2 inch thick chunks. Add 1/4 cup oil into a saute pan and deep-fry the tofu. Remove and cut into thick slices.
Combine all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
In a nonstick skillet over medium heat, add 2 tablespoon peanut oil. Stir in shallot and garlic. Cook for a few seconds or until fragrant.

Add carrots, celery, and fungus. Stir and cook for 3 minutes. Add fried tofu, rice noodles, bell pepper, and the sauce. Stir and cook until the noodles and the vegetables are coated well with sauce (it should take 2 minutes with high heat).

 Add bean sprouts and make a quick stir to combine.

Add green onions and cilantro. Serve this dish with soy dipping sauce on the side.

Quinoa, Lentil, and Black Rice Salad

There are many recipes and wonderful things about quinoa for the nutrients that they provide. I like to make salad when I have leftover cooked quinoa, lentils, and black rice. These combinations are so healthy for a daily diet. I use in easy method to prepare these grains, so I can have them ready for this recipe. For the dressing, my friend shared with me some coconut vinegar. It gave me an idea to create this recipe with an Asian flair. It is simple and so perfect for a light dinner.
Ingredients:
1 cup cooked quinoa
1 cup cooked lentils
1 cup cooked black rice
1/2 cup cucumber, diced
1/2 cup red onion, diced
1/2 cup chopped cherry tomatoes
1 cup diced, deep-fried tofu
Dressing ingredients:
1/4 cup avocado oil
1/4 cup coconut vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1 tbs soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp cayenne or red hot chili
Other ingredients:
½ cup chopped basil and cilantro
Directions:
Combine the dressing ingredients in a jar and shake well. Refrigerate until needed. You can adjust the seasoning to your liking, such as more sugar, less vinegar, and some lemon juice.
In a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients and pour the dressing over them. Mix well. It is now ready to serve.

Tip for cooking quinoa, lentils, and black rice:
I use my rice cooker to make quinoa and the ratio is for every one cup of quinoa, lentils, and black rice, add 2 cups of liquid.

Simmered Chicken and Cabbage

A lazy day meal is the one that includes good protein and vegetables. For the meat, pork can be used, but I like chicken for my healthy eating habit. I also remove the skin from the chicken thighs. Ginger and garlic are the healthiest herbs to lower cholesterol, blood sugar, and to prevent certain diseases. I like to offer a nutritious approach to all the visitors to my blog and easy method of cooking. Lean protein and vegetables are powerhouses of health benefits. A final touch for this dish is to serve it with black rice.

Ingredients:
2 chicken thighs
6 dried Shitake mushrooms, presoaked
1 lb. headed cabbage or Napa cabbage
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 knob of fresh ginger, minced (about 1 tbs) 
Sauce ingredients:
1/3 cup coconut water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp honey
1 tsp blackstrap molasses
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp mushroom seasoning
Other ingredients:
Chopped green onions and cilantro

Directions:
Remove skin from the chicken thighs and cut thighs into big chunks.
Add 1 tbs olive oil in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Brown the chicken pieces well on both sides

Add the ginger, garlic, and presoaked mushrooms. Stir and cook for 3 minutes.

 

Combine the sauce ingredients and mix well. Stir in the chicken; Stir well and cover with lid. Simmer for 30 minutes.
Add both vegetables. Cover and let cook for 10 to 15 more minutes or until the cabbages have wilted.

Adjust the seasoning. Top with green onions and cilantro and serve with black rice.

 

Tofu and Quinoa Patties

What is a healthy recipe, anyway? For me, the simple answer always is staying away from processed food, eating too much red meat, and not eating enough vegetables. When preparing food for my family, I always make them stay meatless for two or three meals per week. This is an effort to reduce consumption of certain key staples, such as meat, in our daily diets. This being said, the positive health benefits of cutting down on saturated fat in food dishes demonstrated in simple recipes located throughout my blog since I stated. I hope today’s recipe will be the key recipe for a meatless day, and I wish to help whoever comes to my blog will always have a healthy, happy life.

Ingredients;
One 12 oz. firm tofu
1/2 cup cooked quinoa
1/2 cup cooked lentils
1/2 cup cooked red beans or any cooked beans of your choice
1/2 cup total of a combination of chopped carrots, celery, and mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped green onions
2 tbs chopped cilantro
1 egg
Spices:
1 tsp fresh mined ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tbs soy sauce
Other ingredients:
1/4 cup peanut, coconut oil, or olive oil
Sesame seeds

Directions:
Squeeze out as much of the water from the tofu as you can (you can place the tofu on a sieve and place a heavy object on top to do this).
In a small sauté pan, heat 2 tbs oil. Stir in ginger and garlic and cook until fragrant. Add chopped carrot, celery, and mushrooms. Stir and cook until the vegetables are wilted.

Combine all the cooked vegetables, tofu, quinoa, lentil, green onions, cilantro, and beans in a food processor or blender. Add spices, Process the mixture until it has a consistency that you can mold into patties.

Shape into ten patties. Sprinkle each patty with sesame seeds.

Place 1 or 2 tbs of oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add as many patties as will fit in the skillet, and fry them for two or three minutes per side (turn just once).

 

 Continue until all 10 patties have been fried.
Wrap the patty in a leaf of lettuce to serve with sweet soy dipping sauce.

 

Baked Chicken

Although I like to bake meat in my NuWave® oven, this recipes meat can be grilled over charcoal or on a stovetop range. In my kitchen, I like to have some marinade sauce already made for meat or fish dishes because most of my sauces can be refrigerated for weeks and some even for months. The simple reason that I always keep some marinade sauce in the fridge is that I usually cook for just one or two, and this method save time. The recipe today is a classic Vietnamese grilled pork or beef and served over the rice noodles or with steamed cooked rice. Either way, this dish is delicious and very easy to make as long as the marinade sauce is master.

Ingredients;
6 chicken thighs skin removed*
Marinade sauce ingredients:
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbs peanut oil
2 tbs dry sherry
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbs minced lemongrass
1/3 cup minced red onions or 2 shallots
1 tbs honey
1 tbs blackstrap molasses
2 tbs sweet hot chili sauce
1 tbs five spice
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp chili flakes

Directions:
Combine all the marinade sauce ingredients and mix well. Place the chicken in a Ziploc bag and pour marinade sauce into Ziploc bag to coat the chicken. Marinate overnight.
Line a baking sheet with foil and place the chicken onto the lined baking sheet.

 Bake in the preheated oven set to 350° for 20 minutes and then turn the meat over for anther 20 minutes. Turn the oven to broil, if your oven has this function and broil the chicken for an additional 3 to 5 minutes.

Remove and serve.

 

*I removed the skin and added oil for a healthier meat (if the skin is left on, simply omit the oil).

Chinese BBQ Pork for Two

We all know that BBQ pork or Char Siu is a popular Chinese dish. If we are strolling around Chinatown in large cities, this dish is sold in almost every takeout restaurant. This recipe is quite simple to create at home, even if it is just for two people. Pork tenderloin is suitable for this recipe, but pork shoulder is fine too. The marinade is for one pound of meat. Double or triple the marinade if you need to prepare for more people. I do no like to use the red food color, so it will not have the red color like most of the BBQ pork sold in a Chinese restaurant. Feel free to add the red color into the marinade, if you choose.

Ingredients:
1 lb. pork shoulder
Marinade ingredients:
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs dry sherry
1/2 tsp five spice
1/2 tsp salt
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp honey
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp black strap molasses
1 tsp hoisin sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions:
Combine the marinade ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
Add pork and turn the pork to coat with the marinade.
Cover and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.

Drain pork and reserve the marinade.
Place pork on a wire rack over a baking pan.
Bake in preheated oven set to 350° or use a NuWave® oven. Turn and baste often with the reserved marinade until cooked through (about 30 to 45 minutes).

Remove from oven and serve.