Tofu and wakame salad

Tofu has been my favourite food since it saved me when I got sick from stress working in US. It made me realize that I was Japanese!

You can buy tofu outside the original places now but it's a little harder to find a Japanese fresh tofu. I only found Chinese tofu at an Asian supermarket in Australia and it surprised me that there were many more types than Japanese tofu.

I like eating tofu just with a bit of soy sauce, then feel the kind taste of soy beans and the softness in my mouth. It also refreshes you when you eat with a strong tasting food. I often make a salad. Tofu can suit any type of taste even for Italian or French style salads. If you enjoy tomatoes and tofu with olive oil, basil and pepper, then you can feel it as a ricotta cheese.

Ingredients;

tofu

bean vermicelli

wakame seaweed*

oil

vinegar

soy sauce

red chili powder

*Wakame is explained here.

1- Keep the bean vermicelli in the warm water until it becomes soft. Cut wakame into 3cm pieces.

2- Make a dressing with oil, vinegar, soy sauce and red chilli.

3- Break the tofu and stir it with 1 and 2.

Itadakimasu.

Miso soup on a cold day

Hi! Hajimemashite, people. Today is about 15 degrees in Tokyo. Warm, but cold!

The temperature lately is the coldest season in Tokyo (Jan-Feb.) varies from around 0 to 10 degrees which is not comparable with coldness found in Seoul, NY or Berlin, but I feel SO cold here because of houses built without proper insulation. The heat in a room escapes easily which is a complete waste of energy.

So let's cook something warm on a cold day....

Miso soup is probably one of the most familiar foods for Japanese people because the basic Japanese meal usually is rice, some other dishes and miso soup. Also it's very easy. You can boil any seasonal ingredients in a soup then add miso paste. Here you are..

Ingredients for 2 people:

cabbage*

tofu*

miso (1+1/2 tbsps)

soup stock (2 cups)

*whatever you like

1- Boil the soup.

You can make the soup stock with dried kelp (konbu) or dried sardines (niboshi) or dried bonito fish (katsuo). If you can't find any of them, then try fish powder stock or even other stocks are OK.

2- Put cabbage and tofu in the soup.

3- Dissolve the miso in the soup when the tofu and the cabbage are cooked. (Better to dissolve with a strainer)

Finished! If you feel unhealthy by eating too much meat, cream, and butter. Why not try miso soup with a lot of vegetables, seaweed or mushrooms!

Itadakimasu.