Comments on: Yum of the Week: Toofu for Me http://www.bookofyum.com/blog/yum-of-the-week-toofu-for-me-326.html Yummy Adventures in Gluten Free Cuisine Fri, 21 Nov 2008 03:41:33 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Book of Yum - Blog http://www.bookofyum.com/blog/yum-of-the-week-toofu-for-me-326.html#comment-871 Book of Yum - Blog Fri, 29 Jun 2007 19:25:29 +0000 http://www.bookofyum.com/blog/?p=326#comment-871 [...] There are two really cool things about my DH. One is that he is willing to try almost any food once, and even if he doesn’t like it the first time, he’ll try it a few more times to make sure. The other thing is that when he found out I was Gluten Intolerant (Celiac, actually), he didn’t even blink and continued with his efforts to sweep me off my feet- with gluten free foods instead of gluten foods. As I got to know him better, I found out that his favorite thing in the entire universe is actually Chinese food, which was rather sad as I rarely have success dining at most Chinese places. Even when friends have tried ordering for me (in Cantonese, no less), simple things like vegetables stir fried in salt and oil somehow don’t escape the contamination monster, resulting in me feeling icky all evening. Boo. In recent years I’ve discovered the joys of Chinese American Restaurants like P.F. Chang and their sister restaurant, Pei Wei with their gluten free menus, but when DH and I were first dating I didn’t know of anywhere where I could eat Chinese food safely. So, when DH had a craving for Chinese food, I’d drink tea and eat plain rice and, let’s be honest, mope a little bit. When DH proposed and I suddenly had a fiancee facing years of Chinese food deprivation, I decided that it was high time that I learn how to prepare Chinese food properly. I started experimenting with a book by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo, who wrote what in my opinion is the best Chinese Vegetarian Cookbook ever, (out of print) book, From the Earth: Chinese Vegetarian Cooking. I learned new techniques like blanching vegetables and incorporating them in corn starch thickened sauces to avoid blandness- I learned how to season oil with scallions or fresh garlic clove- and I learned how healthful and delicious Chinese vegetarian food could be, and grew to love it as much as DH. There have been some failures. I can’t help but think of my first time steaming bok choy, when I misread the directions and steamed the life out of that poor baby green for 30 minutes, resulting in slime that could possibly have been used in a horror movie as a stand in for gelatinous goo trailed by some nightmarish creature. It also took several times working with a recipe to perfect the steaming time and balance of sauce to ingredients, but once I mastered each recipe we’d have another regular favorite for our Chinese meals. One of the first recipe I mastered is this recipe for Broccoli and Mushrooms. The freshness of the mushrooms are key, and I prefer to use whole broccoli stalks, cutting my own florets, as the ones you buy precut are usually slightly wilted and mopey by the time you get them to your fridge at home, while the whole broccoli remains more robust. We often increase the sauce by about 1/3rd or so, as DH likes a lot of yummy sauce with his vegetables. I just love this dish, as it incorporates two of my favorite veggies. I made a P.F. Chang Style tofu recipe to accompany it, of course using fresh, delicious toofu from the farmer’s market. What delicious Chinese foods do you prepare at home? [...] [...] There are two really cool things about my DH. One is that he is willing to try almost any food once, and even if he doesn’t like it the first time, he’ll try it a few more times to make sure. The other thing is that when he found out I was Gluten Intolerant (Celiac, actually), he didn’t even blink and continued with his efforts to sweep me off my feet- with gluten free foods instead of gluten foods. As I got to know him better, I found out that his favorite thing in the entire universe is actually Chinese food, which was rather sad as I rarely have success dining at most Chinese places. Even when friends have tried ordering for me (in Cantonese, no less), simple things like vegetables stir fried in salt and oil somehow don’t escape the contamination monster, resulting in me feeling icky all evening. Boo. In recent years I’ve discovered the joys of Chinese American Restaurants like P.F. Chang and their sister restaurant, Pei Wei with their gluten free menus, but when DH and I were first dating I didn’t know of anywhere where I could eat Chinese food safely. So, when DH had a craving for Chinese food, I’d drink tea and eat plain rice and, let’s be honest, mope a little bit. When DH proposed and I suddenly had a fiancee facing years of Chinese food deprivation, I decided that it was high time that I learn how to prepare Chinese food properly. I started experimenting with a book by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo, who wrote what in my opinion is the best Chinese Vegetarian Cookbook ever, (out of print) book, From the Earth: Chinese Vegetarian Cooking. I learned new techniques like blanching vegetables and incorporating them in corn starch thickened sauces to avoid blandness- I learned how to season oil with scallions or fresh garlic clove- and I learned how healthful and delicious Chinese vegetarian food could be, and grew to love it as much as DH. There have been some failures. I can’t help but think of my first time steaming bok choy, when I misread the directions and steamed the life out of that poor baby green for 30 minutes, resulting in slime that could possibly have been used in a horror movie as a stand in for gelatinous goo trailed by some nightmarish creature. It also took several times working with a recipe to perfect the steaming time and balance of sauce to ingredients, but once I mastered each recipe we’d have another regular favorite for our Chinese meals. One of the first recipe I mastered is this recipe for Broccoli and Mushrooms. The freshness of the mushrooms are key, and I prefer to use whole broccoli stalks, cutting my own florets, as the ones you buy precut are usually slightly wilted and mopey by the time you get them to your fridge at home, while the whole broccoli remains more robust. We often increase the sauce by about 1/3rd or so, as DH likes a lot of yummy sauce with his vegetables. I just love this dish, as it incorporates two of my favorite veggies. I made a P.F. Chang Style tofu recipe to accompany it, of course using fresh, delicious toofu from the farmer’s market. What delicious Chinese foods do you prepare at home? [...]

]]> By: Jay http://www.bookofyum.com/blog/yum-of-the-week-toofu-for-me-326.html#comment-177 Jay Wed, 18 Apr 2007 11:50:54 +0000 http://www.bookofyum.com/blog/?p=326#comment-177 ...and now i know whats for dinner tonight. Looks awesome! And my kids love fried tofu so this one is a win-win. …and now i know whats for dinner tonight. Looks awesome! And my kids love fried tofu so this one is a win-win.

]]> By: yum http://www.bookofyum.com/blog/yum-of-the-week-toofu-for-me-326.html#comment-174 yum Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:19:33 +0000 http://www.bookofyum.com/blog/?p=326#comment-174 The spiciness is actually balanced out by the sugar- my DH is very sensitive to spicy food *sigh* so I have to tone things down for him pretty heavily. I use a chili garlic sauce as well, which has a vinegar base and so isn't as spicy as, say, those Thai spicy curry pastes. I'm afraid without it the dish might be a bit bland... but you can also add more hoisin etc. I'll add some info about GF hoisin sauce to the original post, so look up for links to the gluten free hoisin sauce. :) -Sea The spiciness is actually balanced out by the sugar- my DH is very sensitive to spicy food *sigh* so I have to tone things down for him pretty heavily. I use a chili garlic sauce as well, which has a vinegar base and so isn’t as spicy as, say, those Thai spicy curry pastes. I’m afraid without it the dish might be a bit bland… but you can also add more hoisin etc.

I’ll add some info about GF hoisin sauce to the original post, so look up for links to the gluten free hoisin sauce. :)
-Sea

]]> By: Faye http://www.bookofyum.com/blog/yum-of-the-week-toofu-for-me-326.html#comment-173 Faye Tue, 17 Apr 2007 23:47:23 +0000 http://www.bookofyum.com/blog/?p=326#comment-173 This looks so good. I want to make it minus the spicy paste. Otherwise, where did you find gluten free hoisin? I love hoisin and didn't know gf existed. Thanks for the recipe! This looks so good. I want to make it minus the spicy paste. Otherwise, where did you find gluten free hoisin? I love hoisin and didn’t know gf existed. Thanks for the recipe!

]]> By: Slacker Mom http://www.bookofyum.com/blog/yum-of-the-week-toofu-for-me-326.html#comment-172 Slacker Mom Tue, 17 Apr 2007 20:40:22 +0000 http://www.bookofyum.com/blog/?p=326#comment-172 Umm..so good!! I need to try this. :) Umm..so good!! I need to try this.

:)

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