Fish Trip Cafe

This simple deep fried tofu is called “Atsu-age”.

Freshly-made atsu-age has a lovely texture ― crispy on the outside and soft, fluffy on the inside. Yum.

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— Deep Fried Tofu (Atsu-age) —

Tofu

Daikon (mooli) radish, grated

Ginger, grated

Spring onion, finely chopped

Soy sauce

Vegetable oil for deep frying

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Wrap the tofu in a clean tea towel or some layer of kitchen papers, and place a heavy thing (such as a pan) on top of it to force out excess water, then leave it for 30 minutes.

Cut the tofu into 1 inch cubes and pat dry with kitchen paper.

Heat the oil to 350F/180C and deep fry the tofu until light golden. Place them on kitchen paper to remove excess oil.

Top with grated daikon radish and ginger. Garnish with chopped spring onion and sprinkle with a dash of soy sauce.

My vegetarian friend taught me “freezing-tofu” method, and this is the first time I put tofu in the freezer.

Yes, freezing tofu does change the texture, it became more meat like and chewier, also soaks up sauces more than normal tofu.

It’s perfect with the sweet and savory teriyaki sauce.

Light, fluffy & healthy tofu doughnut holes.

It only takes about 10 minutes to cook. Super easy and yummy. Suitable for vegans too.

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— Tofu Doughnut Holes —

180g plain flour

40g sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

A pinch of salt

300g tofu

Vegetable oil for deep frying

*****

— for Cinnamon sugar —

1 & 1/2 tablespoons caster sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

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Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.

Mash the tofu in a separate bowl. Add to flour mixture and mix well.

Heat the oil to 340F/ 170C.

Drop the dough by heaping teaspoonful into the oil.

Deep fry until golden brown all around.

Place on kitchen papers to drain the excess oil.

Toss with the cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar.

I love this Vietnamese style tofu dish.

The crispy cubes of tofu are simply seasoned by lemongrass, a pinch of chilli and salt. Very simple dish but it has a beautiful flavor and aroma.

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— Spicy Lemongrass Tofu (serves 2) —

400g firm tofu, drained

3 tablespoons corn flour

Oil for deep frying

1 tablespoon vegetable oil for stir-frying

2 stalks fresh lemongrass, tender part only, very finely chopped

1 small chilli, very finely chopped

A pinch of salt

some coriander lives, finely chopped

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Cut the tofu into 1 inch cubes and pat dry with kitchen papers and lightly coat them with the corn flour.

Heat the oil to 340F/170C and deep fry the tofu until light golden, place them on kitchen paper to remove excess oil.

Heat the 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large frying-pan, add the lemon grass and chilli, stir-fry for 2 minutes over medium heat.

Add the deep-fried tofu and season with the salt, stir-fry everything together for 2 minutes.

Turn off the heat, sprinkle with the chopped coriander leaves.

This is a very traditional and popular Japanese dish. Deep-fried tofu with dashi-based sauce.

Dashi means ‘Japanese soup stock’, and it’s the most important element of the authentic Japanese taste and many Japanese dishes include dashi.

Classic dashi is made using dried kelp and dried bonito flakes, and it’s not difficult to make, but I guess it quite difficult to get right ingredients for dashi in the UK.

Ummm, let’s take it easy, and get instant dashi powder this time! (I’ll write how to make authentic dashi another day)

Instant dashi powder is available in most oriental grocery shops, and if you are vegan “konbu dashi” is also available (konbu means kelp seaweed).

Usually, 1 teaspoon of dashi powder is used for 2-3 cups (400ml to 600ml) of hot water.

So, if you know what is dashi, then you can make miso soups and so many kind of Japanese dishes.

Itadakimasu (“bon appetit” in Japanese).

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— Agedashi Tofu (serves 2) —

1 pack of medium firm tofu (about 300g)

2 tablespoons corn flour

Oil for frying

Some chives, finely chopped

Some ginger, grated

Some mooli (daikon) radish, grated

*****

— for the sauce —

100ml dashi

2 tablespoons soya sauce

2 tablespoons mirin* (*sweet cooking alcohol; available in oriental grocery shops)

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Wrap the tofu in a clean tea towel or some layer of kitchen papers, and place a heavy thing (such as a pan) on top of it to force out excess water, then leave it for about 20 minutes.

To make the sauce: place the dashi, soya sauce, mirin in a small pan and heat gently. Keep the sauce warm until ready to serve.

Cut the tofu into 6 even blocks and coat them with the corn flour.

Heat the oil to 340F, and deep-fry the tofu until light golden, place it on kitchen paper to remove excess oil.

Place the deep fried tofu on a plate and pour the sauce over and garnish with finely chopped chives, grated mooli radish and grated ginger.

Light up Japan recipe –No.4

This unique appetizer has a cheese-like flavour and texture.

Just put a tofu into miso paste (fermented soya beans paste) and then miso does all the remaining work.

You can use any kind of tofu as you prefer. Firm tofu will be something like soft cheddar and soft tofu will be creamier. Also any kind of miso paste. Usually the light coloured miso has sweet and light flavour and dark coloured miso has strong mature flavour.

Very easy to make this rich and savory flavoured healthy snack. Suitable for vegans too.

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— Miso Marinated Tofu —

400g tofu

150g white miso paste

150g dark or aka miso paste

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Wrap the tofu in a clean tea towel or some layer of kitchen papers, and place a heavy thing (such as a pan) on top of it to force out excess water, then leave it for about 30 minutes.

Mix the white miso and the dark miso in a bowl.

Spread the 1/3 of the miso mixture into a container, place the dried tofu, and coat all side with the miso mixture, cover and refrigerate for overnight. You can marinate it up to 5 days. The longer marinate the tofu will be saltier.

Lightly wipe off any excess miso mixture, cut into bite sized pieces and serve.

* The miso mixture can be used 3 times for the marinade.

This is my pancake day recipe.

I added blueberries and mushed tofu in the pancake butter for my diet, because I decided to eat a lot of pancakes today (it’s pancake day!).

The pancakes are fluty and fluffy, not overly sweet and I love the fragrant of maple syrup.

It was a great afternoon treat.

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— Tofu and Blueberry Pancakes (about 5 pancakes, 4 inch size) —

150g blueberry (keep some berries for garnish)

200g plain flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

150g tofu (soft)

200ml milk

3 tablespoon sugar

A pinch of salt

Some butter for frying

Some maple syrup

Some vanilla ice cream

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Place the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl and whisk together.

Mush the tofu in a separate bowl, add the egg and milk, whisk together.

Add the flour mixture in the egg mixture, and whisk just until combined. Add the blueberry and gently mix with the butter.

Heat the frying-pan, melt a little butter over low heat, pour the butter onto the pan spacing the pancake a few inches from each other. Cook them until the bottom of the pancakes are golden and bubbles start to appear on the top surfaces, then turn and cook another 3 minute until golden. Repeat with remaining batter.

Serve with the maple syrup, garnish with the rest of blueberry and vanilla ice cream.

I had a very busy weekend and had strange dreams all night long. Dream brings me to the different world and it’s fun even if it was a nightmare but I was exhausted when I woke up this morning and my skin looks tired.

I need to eat a quick and easy nutritious dish for my tired body and skin today. So I decided to cook my favorite healthy ingredients ‘tofu’.

This is very easy & tasty tofu steak, and it’s suitable for vegetarians too.

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— Teriyaki Tofu Steak (serves 2) —

350g tofu (firm, 1 standard size block)

1 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon corn flour

some chives, finely chopped

*****

— for the teriyaki sauce —

1 & 1/2 tablespoon soya sauce

2 tablespoons rice wine (sake)

1 tablespoon sugar

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Wrap the tofu in a clean tea towel or some layer of kitchen papers, and place a heavy thing (such as a pan) on top of it to force out excess water, then leave it for about 10-15 minutes.

Mix all the teriyaki sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Cut the drained tofu block into 4-6 thin blocks.

Mix the flour and the corn flour, and then coat the tofu blocks.

Heat the oil in a frying-pan and fry the flour-coated tofu over medium heat on each side until golden.

Add the teriyaki sauce in the frying-pan and shaking the frying-pan gently and cook both side until the sauce has thickened.

Garnish with the finely chopped chives.

This tofu puff tart was a great success. I’m very happy.

Tofu (soya bean curd) has so many health benefits as I wrote before (Tofu Balls Recipe), it’s good for making clear skin, weight control and aid against heart diseases etc. I try to use these kind of nutritious ingredients for daily cooking in a natural way.

I don’t think I’m health-conscious person. I love chocolate, biscuit and crisps etc., they are great! But, maybe my basic idea of ‘eating food’ is still very Japanese. In Japan, “what is good things me to eat” is most important for everyday meals, because we believe that healthy food is also the most natural medicine, and the relationship between food, good health, nature and remedy is woven into our culture and life-style.

Anyway, we need to eat everyday to live, so, taking healthy ingredients without hard work is a good idea. And, sometimes need to eat chocolate cakes for pleasure too!

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— Tofu, Feta & Cherry Tomato Puff Tart —

300g tofu (firm)

200g cherry tomatoes

50g feta cheese

2 teaspoons fresh thyme, finely chopped

Some pettit black olives, stoned

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon salt

A pinch of black pepper

Some olive oil

Half of 375g pack ready-rolled puff pastry

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Wrap the tofu in a clean tea towel or some layer of kitchen papers, and place a heavy thing (such as a pan) on top of it to force out excess water, then leave it for about 20 minutes.

Place the drained tofu in a bowl and mash, add the chopped fresh thyme, minced garlic, salt and black pepper, mix everything together.

Cut the ready-rolled puff pastry approximately 11 inch x 7 inch and place the pastry on a baking sheet.

Spread the tofu mixture evenly over the centre of the pastry (leaving 1/2 inch border all around the edges)

Crumble the feta cheese over the tofu mixture, arrange the cherry tomatoes and black olives on top.

Drizzle some olive oil on the cherry tomatoes.

Bake in a preheated 190C/375F oven for 25-30 minutes until the pastry in crisp and golden.

When I was a child, my mum told me ‘Eat tofu, if you want to have soft smooth skin like tofu’.

So, that’s one of the reason why I keep eating tofu (of course I like the taste too!).

Tofu is made from soya beans, it obviously has many of the nutritional benefits; low-calorie, high protein, rich in vitamin B and cholesterol-free etc. Also it helps further absorption of vitamin E which is a very important vitamin for antioxidant and smooth skin.

This tofu balls have nice fluffy texture and perfect for a snack.

I ate it a lot this afternoon, and wishing my skin is becoming like tofu.

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— Tofu and Vegetable Balls (about 20 balls) —

400g tofu (firm)

50g carrot

50g fine beans

15 stalks chives

3 tablespoons corn flour

1 egg, beaten

1 tablespoon soya sauce

A pinch of salt and pepper

Oil for deep frying

*****

— for the creamy wasabi dip —

1/2 teaspoon wasabi paste

2 tablespoons sour cream

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

A touch of salt

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Wrap the tofu in a clean tea towel or some layer of kitchen papers, and place a heavy thing (such as a pan) on top of it to force out excess water, then leave it for about 20 minutes.

Put the drained tofu in a bowl and mash. Add the corn flour, beaten egg, soya sauce and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix them well.

Chop the carrot, fine beans and chives finely and add them into the tofu mixture and mix all together.

Roll the tofu mixture into small balls.

Heat the oil to 170C/340F and deep-fry the tofu balls until golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper.

To make the wasabi dip, place the wasabi paste, sour cream and lemon juice and mix well. adjust the seasoning with a touch of salt.

Serve the tofu balls with the wasabi dip (or any kind of your favourite dip for chips).