Over-Stuffed Tofu

As promised I think I have the recipe ready for the stuffed Koyadofu （高野豆腐）.

Koyadofu, also known as freeze dried tofu, is great for stuffing because it's flexible and kind of sponge like, so it rarely tears. It also absorbs flavors well.

I was inspired to make this recipe while in the grocery store a few weeks ago. It was the start of the Mofo so I was checking out some cooking magazines near the front for inspiration. The magazine had a recipe for stuffed koyadofu. Do you know what it was stuffed with? That's right, minced pork. I mean what goes better with tofu than minced pig meat. Sick! I was so angered by this image that I slammed the magazine close without actually looking at how it was prepared and marched over to the section to get freeze dried tofu. And went home and got straight to work. That's how this recipe was born.

I love boiled koyadofu. My boyfriend's mom often boils up a bunch of the small ones and I can eat most of them in one sitting. I used her method in this recipe for preparing the koyadofu.

Over-Stuffed Tofu

4 blocks of the large size koyadofu

For the tofu:
3 cups water
4 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp mirin
1 Tbsp sugar
a pinch of salt

Bring to a boil. Add the koyadofu and boil for about 10 minutes. Then let them sit in the hot liquid for another 5 minutes, covered.


For the stuffing:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic
1 small nub of ginger
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 large carrot or 2 small
2 cups spinach, cut into bite size pieces
handful toasted walnuts
2 Tbsp green onions, sliced

Before preparing the stuffing, drain the koyadofu and leave it in a strainer. It will be far too hot to handle, so I put a bag of frozen veggies in the strainer and set it aside while I make the stuffing.

Fry the ginger and garlic in the oil. After a minute or two add the carrots, spinach, and soy sauce. Fry it all together until the spinach is wilted, about 5-8 minutes. Turn off the heat. Add the toasted walnuts and green onions and mix it all together.

Now that the tofu is cooled enough to handle, use a serated knife to cut a pocket into the tofu on the long side. Like this:

Then shove as much stuffing into it as you can with a spoon.　　I think it looks good a little over-stuffed.

I then put all four filled pieces onto a glass baking dish and put it in the oven for 10 minutes at 180 (celsius-350 Fahrenheit) just to bring everything back to the same temperature. Enjoy!

If you have extra filling, it works nicely in a tofu scramble for breakfast the next day.

The filling is also very flexible depending on your tastes or what you have on hand. I think almond slivers would work to replace the walnuts. You could also use different vegetables you have on hand or some spices. I kept spices out, to more mimic the Japanese style of cooking.

If you don't live in Japan, I'm sure you can get koyadofu in an Asian market.

Let me know what you think!

--Pamela

I also made this recipe for the Iron Chef Challenge.

Feeling hungry?...

I feel that Punk You is still lacking the drool-factor required for a successful vegan blog. Thus, I have decided to try to remedy this by including more food prOn in my posts!

Some recent culinary adventures:

Vegan tonkatsu (from the Asian Vegan Kitchen) with Japanese style simmered pumpkin and new potatoes

My modified version of General Tao's Tofu. That sauce is the shit! Highly recommended!

Vietname-style spring rolls (from the Asian Vegan Kitchen)

No-bake Black Bottom Peanut Butter Silk Pie from Vegan With A Vengeance. Soooo good!

And finally, I'll leave you with the money shot ;)

-- Sarah

Vegan Breakfast Burritos

You will need:
Some music to rock out to while you cook
1 block of firm tofu
Garlic, 2/3 cloves
Onion (white or red), 1/2 medium-sized one
Tomato, 1/2 medium-sized one
Mushrooms, 2 or 3 large (I used shiitake cause they're cheap here!)
Jalapenos, 2 or 3 (depends how spicy you like it!)
Corn or flour tortillas (how many you use will depend on their size and how full you want them to be)

For seasoning:
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon soya sauce
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast (optional but I like it)
salt and pepper to taste

Recommended additions: avocado slices, hot sauce!

Instructions (as if you didn't know how to make scrambled tofu!):

1) Press your tofu between two plates. Put something heavy on the top one to help squeeze that tofu juice out... If you're lazy, you can skip the pressing - it's not totally crucial.
2) Mince your garlic, or chop it into teeny-tiny pieces by hand. Chop up your onion, tomato and mushrooms into small bited-sized chunks. Slice your jalapenos and make sure not to put your fingers in your eyes afterwards.
3) Heat about a tablespoon of oil or vegan margarine on medium heat in a frying pan and add your garlic and onion. Fry it all up until the onions start to get soft and you've inhaled enough of the delicious aroma.
4) Add your mushrooms, tomato and jalapenos and fry for a couple of minutes.
5) Sprinkle the turmeric, paprika and soya sauce into the pan and stir it up for 20 seconds or so. Add the nutritional yeast too if you're using it.
6) Crumble your tofu into the pan and give it a good stir around. You want to try not to mash it down too much but retain the chunkiness.
7) Now reduce the heat to low and let your tofu cook for about 10 minutes. If you find the mixture is sticking too much, you can add a splash of water.
8) Taste your tofu and and add salt and pepper as you like! If the mixture is still watery (you didn't press your tofu did you, you badass!) then keep it cooking on a low heat until the liquid has cooked off.

To serve:
Toast or pan-fry your tortillas to warm them up. Spoon a generous helping of tofu into each one, garnish with some fresh avocado slices and splash on the hot sauce...... yum!


P.S. This scramble is delicious with some refried beans smeared onto the tortilla first! Also, you might like adding spinach, diced red pepper and/or chipotle if you're feeling saucy. Have fun!

-- Sarah

Gyoza

This recipe is super flexible, you can add what you like and change the amounts depending on your preference.

Ingredients:
480g tofu or 1 pack
1 carrot, diced
4-6 shiitake mushrooms, chopped
2 cups hakusai or a cabbage, chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp fresh ginger, finely chopped
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
salt and pepper
40-50 gyoza wrappers (check they are vegan)

Directions:
Press the tofu between two plates to get out any excess water.
Chop all the veggies, garlic, and ginger.
Crumble the pressed tofu into a large bowl.
Add all the ingredients and mix together, except salt, pepper and sesame oil.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Fill the gyoza wrappers with about a tablespoon or 2 of the mixture.
To seal them, wet the edges with water, then press them closed.



Then cook them in your favorite way!
- You can put them in the oven to bake for 10 minutes on each side (low fat!)
- Fry them in a bit of the sesame oil and water covered for 10 minutes or so (my preferred way)
- Steam them.

The finished product!

*disclaimer*I didn't measure exactly so change them if you want. You can really add any vegetables you like. You can also vary how you cut the veggies, chopped,shredded, etc.

380ｇ　豆腐　（一丁）

１本　にんじん、みじん切り

4－6枚　しいたけ、みじん切り

２カップ白菜、みじん切り

2－3かけ　にんにく、みじん切り

大さじ２　ショウガ、みじん切り

1/4カップ　青ねぎ、みじん切り

[A]

大さじ１　ゴマ油
大さじ１．５　醤油
大さじ１．５　酒

塩、こしょう、少々
40－50枚餃子の皮

１． 豆腐の水けを切る。
２． 野菜とにんにくとショウガを切る。
３． ボウルに豆腐入れてつぶす。
４． [３]のボウルの中に[２]の全部を入れてよくませる。
５． [A]の調味料を加えてよく混ぜる。
６． 大さじ１ぐらいずつを皮で包む。
７． 皮にあんをのせて端に水をつけ二つ折りにしてひだをつけながら包む。
８． フライパンを熱してゴマ油大さじ２をなじませ、ギョウザを並べる。ギョウザの高さの１/２くらいまで水を注ぎ、ふたをして蒸し焼きにする。
９． ポン酢をつけていただく。

-- Pamela