Mabodofu

Looking at the recipe book I've put together over the past couple of months, I see I've made a fair number of dishes. Some have been good, some great, and some were terrible. My favorite so far, a dish I make at least once a week, is Mabodofu. It comes from China, and is traditionally served with pork, but I like it better without.

The recipe I have is adapted and translated from Macrobiotic Start Book, a great, full color guide to macrobiotic philosophy with 200 recipes. It is a compendium of recipe books published by Orange Page and is largely to blame for my current vegan tendencies.

First--a note about kinds of tofu.

The recommended tofu for this recipe is Momen, a medium-firm tofu that I didn't really like much before I started making this recipe. It is in contrast with the two tofus most westerners know--"Silk" tofu (kinu in Japanese) and the very firm tofu that is preferred in western groceries and restaurants (this kind is rare in Japan, but I've found a version called "kara kara," "very dry," in a few stores). I've come over to the momen camp, at least for mabodofu: though it crumbles easily and can make things a bit mucky, it absorbs the other ingredients much better than hard tofu, which tends to taste "tofuey" at its core even after cooking in sauces. It is also much better for this than silken tofu, which falls apart in a slight breeze.

I also recommend Koyadofu, or freeze dried tofu, for this recipe; though it has an odd texture, it is overflowing with protein and sucks up the flavorful sauce like the sponge it is. Make sure to soak Koyadofu in hot water for a few minutes, then squeeze the water out, soak and repeat a few times before adding to the dish as per this recipe. Apparently ammonia is often added to Koyadofu and will come out in water as a whitish liquid. Also note that Koyadofu has more calories than Momen. Good for exercising.

Mabodofu
300 g Momen or 2 thick or 4 thin squares rehydrated koyadofu
100 g, or half a medium onion
10 g ginger
5 pieces shiitake mushrooms (dried shiitake works best, soak first and save soaking water!)
1 cup kombu dashi (add 1/2-1 cup extra if using Koyadofu)
1-2 tbsp miso (I use mixed miso, though 1 tsp barley miso + 1 tbsp soy miso is recommended; add 2 tsp extra if making with koyadofu)
1 tbsp kudzu, or arrowroot, powder
1-2 peppers (in Japan, use togarashi, a dried chili)
20 g leek
1 tsp soy sauce
sesame oil, salt

optional:1-2 cloves garlic

1 Cut tofu into 5 cm squares.
2 Finely chop ginger, onion, pepper, mushroom, and garlic.
3 Cut leek into 1 cm pieces.
4 Heat a frying pan and add 1 tbsp sesame oil and fry. ingredients from 2. Add misos, dashi, and soy sauce. Turn down heat and cook until vegetables become soft.
5 Add tofu and add salt and miso to taste.
6 Dissolve kudzu in an equal amount of water and slowly mix in. If cooking with momen tofu, be careful not to disturb tofu too much or it will begin to disintegrate.
7 Remove from heat, add leek, and serve over rice.

It is important to cook the ingredients well in step 4: the longer you cook, the stronger the flavor of the sauce will be. I prefer to cook the sauce a little longer to boil off some of the dashi and have a slightly saltier tasting result. However, it might be too salty if you don't mix with rice.