Spicy Sesame Soba Salad with Tofu

Let's talk about salad bars for a minute. 

My family has always steered clear of salad bars. Of course there's the whole gross-out factor of everyone being able to touch the food with grubby unwashed hands. There's that. But there's more, too. The town where my sister and I were born was the location of a giant bioterrorism attack… and it happened the summer before I was born, when Amanda was a baby. Several salad bars in town were deliberately contaminated with salmonella. Over 700 people were harmed, in an attempt to control an election. You can read about it here… and you should, the whole thing is really interesting. It's also crazy to hear my parents talk about what it was like living there at that time, how no one wore the same colors as the group responsible, the Rajneeshees, for fear of being associated with them. And how everyone was scared and on edge and basically preparing for battle. 

But anyway, salad bars. My parents weren't harmed by the attack, but it did make them very anti salad bar. So, needless to say, I grew up fearing salad bars, buffets, potlucks, and most self-serve public eateries. Even though I'm still a bit wary, I've become more lax in my old age (speaking of age… Evan just turned 28! We're nearing 30, folks!). I occasionally visit the salad bar near my office for lunch. John and Mel would be appalled. 

My typical salad bar salad is a weird combo of spring greens, cold sesame noodles, cold fried tofu, purple cabbage, and sesame-soy dressing. Ok, that combo doesn't sound very weird. The weird part is that I usually add a dollop of bleu cheese dressing too. Seriously, try it. This soba noodle salad here, fresh and lightly dressed, full of cabbage, carrots, green onions, noodles, and baked tofu is inspired by my go-to salad bar creation and another salad bar favorite, the spelt berry and tofu salad from PCC. And, since you make it yourself, you can avoid all salad bar threats, grubby hands or otherwise. 

Spicy Sesame Soba Salad with Tofu

Adapted from this recipe

Serves 2-4 as a meal, 4-6 as a side

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1/2 teaspoon cayenne 

2 tablespoons sesame oil

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 package extra firm tofu

3 ounces soba noodles

4 green onions, sliced

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

2 cups finely shredded purple cabbage

1 carrot, shredded

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 325°

Stir together soy sauce, ginger, garlic, rice vinegar, cayenne, sesame oil, and olive oil. Cut tofu into 1-inch cubes, and add to a baking dish. Pour half of sauce over tofu and bake for 15 minutes. Gently stir and cook another 10-15 minutes. Cool.

Meanwhile, boil soba noodles until al dente, drain, and rinse with cold water. 

Gently toss cold noodles, cooked, cooled tofu (with any sauce still in baking dish), cabbage, carrot, green onion, cilantro, sesame seeds, and remaining half of sauce until combined. 

Warming the House

Well, we’re finally all settled in. Sort of. Basically, I planned a housewarming party, complete with evite and hors d'oeuvre menu… before we actually had things unpacked and settled. The bad part was that we rushed and drove each other nuts trying to get everything done in such a short amount of time, amidst other craziness like Brit’s wedding. The good part was that we actually got a kick in the pants to get our place put together, which maybe would have never happened otherwise. The great part is that I got to host a housewarming party in our new apartment, and prepare an awesome menu of Asian inspired hors d'oeuvres for our friends to enjoy (and praise).

My hors d'oeuvres were by no means authentically Asian, yet they followed an Asian theme, using pan-Asian flavors. The first thing I knew I absolutely had to make was Rumaki. Mel and John used to make Rumaki all the time when I was a kid- much to my pleasure and Amanda’s disgust. Rumaki is basically a mock-Polynesian hors d'oeuvre, consisting of soy-marinated chicken liver and water chestnuts wrapped with bacon. DELISH! While my mouth watered at the thought of Rumaki, in all its livery glory, I wasn’t so sure my guests would feel the same way. Therefore…Mock-Rumaki with chicken breast pieces in place of the liver was born… or Rumocki, if you will.

Next came the fresh Vietnamese-style spring rolls. I remember first trying these little diddies in high school. Amanda loved them so much she immediately went home and learned how to make them. I, on the other hand, didn’t care much for them (what…where’s all the fried awesomeness of an eggroll!?). Years later, with a more mature palate (and a more mature metabolism) I’ve come to love fresh spring rolls, preferring them over their greasy, hip-widening counterpart. My favorites have fresh veggies and tofu… but for the party I stuck with just veggies, filling my tapioca wrappers with a schmear of hoison, leafy lettuce, matchstick carrots, green onions, basil, cilantro, and rice noodles. The spring rolls were a total hit, the freshness and simplicity of them countering the bacony Rumocki.

I wanted a little something for the carnivores and herbivores to nosh on, so in addition to the Rumocki, I made ginger beef skewers with peanut dipping sauce, and in addition to the spring rolls I made teriyaki sautéed mushrooms and broiled tofu.

The final item on the menu, thrown together at the last moment, ended up being the belle of the ball. I had planned to make mini cabbage egg rolls, but the rolling wasn’t going so hot. After failed attempts and a small temper tantrum, I pulled out my mini cupcake pan. I cut the egg roll wrappers in squares, pushed them into the cupcake pan, forming little cups, filled them with cream cheese and sautéed cabbage, and popped them into oven until the wrappers were browned. I then mixed some sweet chili sauce (which I had purchased to dip the eggrolls in) with cut up mango and green onions, and spooned that on top of the cabbage filled cups. It was a pretty simple last minute improvisation, but everyone gave it the thumbs up.

All in all, the housewarming was a success. Amanda and Jim brought cookies, and Vanessa brought brownies. We also got a LOT of wine, and had a great time. With all our friends, and some awesome food, the party was a perfect way to celebrate our new place!

Digging a Hole to China

Evan’s in China! Sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, but as you can see, I’m a little behind (considering I posted the Bastille Day Feast a full week after Bastille Day). Anyway, he’s there on a ‘business trip’ (I’m putting that in quotes, since so far all I’ve heard about is him teaching the Chinese people how to play beer pong, and the amazing food he’s been eating). Evan works for Tonkin Replicas, a replica truck company (not Tonka Trucks...completely different), and he’s visiting the factory and the employees in China! Crazy! I wish I was there with him. Of course, I miss him like crazy… but I can’t wait to hear about his adventures (especially those involving food). I told him he’ll have to recreate his meals for me. He laughed. So did I. Below are a couple of pictures he sent me! The Hong Kong harbor:

A steamed fish dish called Yu:

Anyway, back to the states...the other night, while I was sitting at home missing him, unable to call, I channeled my inner Asia and made the best-damned-tofu-ever. I don’t think what I made could really qualify as Chinese (the dish's inspiration is actually a Japanese recipe), but it was Asian-fusion… at least that’s what we’ll call it.

I love tofu, but whenever I prepare it at home, it just isn’t the same. I’m a little bit afraid of deep frying (the process and the resulting calories are both pretty scary), and as far as I could tell, that’s the only way to prepare kick-ass tofu. I always want to throw it into stir-fries and the like, but whenever I sauté or fry it, I’m disappointed. Until now! Thanks to Gourmet!

A few issues ago there was a recipe for Miso Glazed Tofu…BROILED! Ah! Why didn’t I think of that!? I didn’t have any miso on hand, so instead I made a glaze of hoison, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, and green curry paste (see, that’s where the Asian Fusion part comes in). The recipe said to make sure the glaze was ‘the consistency of ketchup,’ so I made sure my on-the-fly glaze was just that. I followed the steps in the recipe for draining and firming up the tofu, and then double broiled it- once unglazed, once glazed, and the results were amazing! The tofu squares were chewy and gooey on the outside, soft on the inside. Exactly what I was looking for. I served them atop a quick prep dish of peanut green beans: sautéed onions and garlic, frozen green beans, sesame oil, a drop of sriracha, and a spoonful of peanut butter, topped with toasted sesame seeds.
I’m sure it’s nothing like what Evan’s eating over there in China (yu), but it did make me feel a little bit better… and I finally know how to cook tofu! When Evan gets back, we'll do tofu and yu for two. Until then…

Miso Glazed Broiled Tofu
(From Gourmet magazine)

This recipe calls for a miso glaze, but I just made up my own hoison glaze. I think whatever you do will work just fine, as long as it tastes good and has the consistency of ketchup! It also recommends skewering the tasty morsels and serving as appetizers.

1 (14-to 16-ounces) block firm tofu, drained
1/3 cup red (dark) miso
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons sake, dry Sherry, or dry white wine
1 teaspoon sesame seeds, toasted
Equipment: 12 two-pronged wooden picks or 24 (2 1/2-to 31/2-inch) straight wooden picks

Pat tofu dry with paper towels, then wrap in fresh paper towels and put in a microwave-safe dish (see cooks' note, below). Microwave at high power 30 seconds. Pour off any liquid and wrap tofu in fresh paper towels. Microwave 1 or 2 more times for 30 seconds each time, pouring off any liquid, until tofu feels firmer.

Preheat broiler.

Stir together miso, sugar, and sake in a small saucepan. (If miso mixture is very thick, stir in 1 tablespoon water.) Cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until bubbling, glossy, and the consistency of ketchup, 1 to 3 minutes.

Cut tofu in half horizontally and arrange, cut sides up, on a cutting board. Cut each half into 6 squares (pieces might not be perfectly square).

Arrange tofu on a foil-lined broiler pan, cut sides up, and broil about 2 inches from heat until a crust just forms, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from oven and spread crusted side of each square with about 3/4 teaspoon miso mixture. Broil until tops are just bubbling and starting to color, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Skewer each square with 1 two-pronged pick or 2 parallel straight picks. Sprinkle with seeds.