TammyM > wrote:

>"Gregory Morrow" > wrote in message


>> Dawn wrote:

>>> I've cooked with it in the past, but can't say there's
>>> enough flavor to like or dislike. If I cook with it again it
>>> will be for the sole purpose of having little white cubes of
>>> nothing in whatever soup or stir-fry I make. It's not much more
>>> than bulk filler to stretch a meal.

Seasoning tofu and frying it a little helps alot. (But adds
some fat.) And certain fresh/botique tofus are much tastier
than the standard stuff.

>> For "meatless" I much prefer seitan, it's available in
>> many flavors at yer local Asian market, health food store,
>> etc....you can make yer own but it seems to be a PITA.

>> A poster above mentioned "Buddhist duck", IIRC the Buddhist monks
>> developed seitan as a meatless alternative. Done well, it's very,
>> very good...

It is good, but it's worth remembering the protein quality of
seitan is far below tofu, and even below that of whole wheat (since
it's made from just some of the proteins in wheat). Some
commercial seitans combat this by adding e.g. garbanzo flour.

An alternative is tempeh, which has some of the texture/flavor
advantages of seitan, but is still a soybean product.

Steve

On Thu, 22 Feb 2007 11:42:58 -0800, "TammyM" >
wrote:

>
>"Gregory Morrow" > wrote in message

>> A poster above mentioned "Buddhist duck", IIRC the Buddhist monks
>> developed seitan as a meatless alternative. Done well, it's very,
>> very good...
>
>I second this recommendation. I like tofu quite a lot, but seitan is also
>very good.
>
>TammyM
>

Okay, I have never ever tried seitan. Got any recipes,
recommendations?

Christine

Christine wrote on Thu, 22 Feb 2007 14:00:58 -0700:

??>> "Gregory Morrow" > wrote in
??>> message

??>>> A poster above mentioned "Buddhist duck", IIRC the
??>>> Buddhist monks developed seitan as a meatless
??>>> alternative. Done well, it's very, very good...
??>>
??>> I second this recommendation. I like tofu quite a lot,
??>> but seitan is also very good.
??>>
??>> TammyM
??>>
CD> Okay, I have never ever tried seitan. Got any recipes,
CD> recommendations?

Tried it once or twice; it's flavor approaches that of tofu :-)

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not

Chatty Cathy wrote:
> Goomba38 wrote:
>
>> I doubt you'd even know it was in there. I'm almost positive you
>> wouldn't.
>
> No offense goomba, but what is the point of putting tofu into a dish if
> you "don't even know its in there"? I am sure there are other
> "binders" that would work just as well in that case?

I dunno.. as a binder if is as good as any other, I guess? Adds protein,
cheap, takes on the flavor of whatever it is with. I can't imagine
someone who finds tofu offensive would really know it was in there. And
as I said before, because the Korean woman who taught me used it.. I'm
all for tradition.

Goomba38 wrote:
> Chatty Cathy wrote:
>> Goomba38 wrote:
>>
>>> I doubt you'd even know it was in there. I'm almost positive you
>>> wouldn't.
>>
>> No offense goomba, but what is the point of putting tofu into a dish
>> if you "don't even know its in there"? I am sure there are other
>> "binders" that would work just as well in that case?
>
> I dunno.. as a binder if is as good as any other, I guess? Adds protein,
> cheap, takes on the flavor of whatever it is with. I can't imagine
> someone who finds tofu offensive would really know it was in there. And
> as I said before, because the Korean woman who taught me used it.. I'm
> all for tradition.

Okay I see your point. You got a recipe for your yaki mondu? I am no big
tofu fan (!) but I am prepared to give it a shot...Who knows, maybe you
can "convert" me?
--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy

"Goomba38" > wrote in message
. ..
> MG wrote:
>> "Goomba38" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> John Kane wrote:
>>>
>>>> Actually tofu is pretty good in a lot of dishes.
>>>>
>>>> John Kane, Kingston ON Canada
>>>>
>>> I often add soft tofu as a "binder" to the ingredients in my yaki mondu.
>>> That was how the Korean woman who taught me made hers, and I carry on
>>> the same because they taste so damn good
>>
>> sorry, never met a tofu (dish) I didn't hate .
> I doubt you'd even know it was in there. I'm almost positive you wouldn't.


oh I know it's there...it's the stuff with the terrible texture that tastes
of nothing

Goomba38 > wrote:

> I often add soft tofu as a "binder" to the ingredients in my yaki mondu.
> That was how the Korean woman who taught me made hers, and I carry on
> the same because they taste so damn good.

I wonder why that Korean woman used such a strange,
half-Japanese/half-Korean name for the dish? If the name was supposed
to be Japanese, it should have been yaki-gyoza; if it was supposed to be
Korean, it should have been gun mandu.

Victor

Victor Sack wrote:
> Goomba38 > wrote:
>
>> I often add soft tofu as a "binder" to the ingredients in my yaki mondu.
>> That was how the Korean woman who taught me made hers, and I carry on
>> the same because they taste so damn good.
>
> I wonder why that Korean woman used such a strange,
> half-Japanese/half-Korean name for the dish? If the name was supposed
> to be Japanese, it should have been yaki-gyoza; if it was supposed to be
> Korean, it should have been gun mandu.
>
> Victor

My understanding is that there are some foods enjoyed by Koreans that
were probably hold overs or introduced why Korea was occupied by other
countries. Yaki mondu being one of them.

Victor wrote:

> I wonder why that Korean woman used such a strange,
> half-Japanese/half-Korean name for the dish? If the name was supposed
> to be Japanese, it should have been yaki-gyoza; if it was supposed to be
> Korean, it should have been gun mandu.


I think it's a different "yaki." It's my impression that "yaki" is Japanese
for "chicken." I don't think the Korean yaki-mandu is necessarily made with
chicken.

I should mention that Korean street vendors also make a kind of tempura
called yaki-mandu; it's generally made with sweet potatoes, shrimp, carrots,
or green beans.

Bob

Goomba38 > wrote:

> My understanding is that there are some foods enjoyed by Koreans that
> were probably hold overs or introduced why Korea was occupied by other
> countries. Yaki mondu being one of them.

This doesn't explain the mix of the languages in this case, especially
considering that respectively "yaki-gyoza" and "gun mandu" are really
the default names of the dish - in practice, not just in theory. "Yaki"
and "gun" both mean "(pan-)fried" in the context. Mind you, I do not
necessarily question that Korean woman's usage, especially as there are
some other such examples to be founbd if one makes a search, I just
wonder about it, because it is very strange, linguistically.

The Japanese word "gyoza" is a direct borrowing from the Chinese
"jiaozi", "dumpling". The Korean word "mandu" is either a borrowing
from the Chinese "mantou", something like "steamed bread", or, rather
more likely, from the Turkic (and generally Central Asian) "manti" or
"manty", "dumplings", from which the Chinese word probably also derives,
having changed its meaning, however. Koreans are, after all, originally
Central Asian migrants. The dishes, jiaozi, gyoza and mandu, are very
similar, whether they are steamed, boiled, pan-fried, or deep-fried
versions. In any case, it seems probable that the borrowings, in the
linguistic sense at least, have been made independently of each other.
In any case, both gyoza and mandu have long become respectively Japanese
and Korean words and dishes, and are logically called by their
respective Japanese or Korean names. If the modifier, "pan-fried", is
borrowed from, in this case, an unrelated language, i.e. not from
Chinese or a Turkic one, it seems very strange.

Victor
who, BTW, lives in what could be called "Little Korea", with no fewer
than four Korean restaurants within less than one-minute walk and two
more within five-minute walk... "Little Japan" - Düsseldorf houses one
of the largest Japanese communities in Europe - is within five-minute
walk, too... One of the two authentic Sichuan and all three authentic
Cantonese restaurants in the town are also about five-minute walk
away...

Bob Terwilliger > wrote:

> Victor wrote:
>
> > I wonder why that Korean woman used such a strange,
> > half-Japanese/half-Korean name for the dish? If the name was supposed
> > to be Japanese, it should have been yaki-gyoza; if it was supposed to be
> > Korean, it should have been gun mandu.
>
> I think it's a different "yaki." It's my impression that "yaki" is Japanese
> for "chicken.

Nope, Japanese for "chicken" is "tori"; "yaki" is "fried".

> I should mention that Korean street vendors also make a kind of tempura
> called yaki-mandu; it's generally made with sweet potatoes, shrimp, carrots,
> or green beans.

This is very interesting, very strange and makes me wonder even more...

"Tempura", i.e. batter-dipped deep-fried items, is called "twigim" in
Korean. Now I wonder if those vendors are really Korean and, if so, why
they call those things those names. Tempura/twigim usually has nothing
at all to do with mandu, unless mandu (dumplings) are deep-fried, which,
AFAIK, is unusual in Korea but is usual in Japan, where the result is
called age-gyoza.

Is this all perhaps some kind of American-fusion thing?

Victor

Victor wrote on Sat, 24 Feb 2007 23:42:12 +0100:

??>> Victor wrote:
??>>
??>>> I wonder why that Korean woman used such a strange,
??>>> half-Japanese/half-Korean name for the dish? If the name
??>>> was supposed to be Japanese, it should have been
??>>> yaki-gyoza; if it was supposed to be Korean, it should
??>>> have been gun mandu.
??>>
??>> I think it's a different "yaki." It's my impression that
??>> "yaki" is Japanese for "chicken.

VS> Nope, Japanese for "chicken" is "tori"; "yaki" is "fried".

??>> I should mention that Korean street vendors also make a
??>> kind of tempura called yaki-mandu; it's generally made
??>> with sweet potatoes, shrimp, carrots, or green beans.

VS> This is very interesting, very strange and makes me wonder
VS> even more...

VS> "Tempura", i.e. batter-dipped deep-fried items, is called
VS> "twigim" in Korean. Now I wonder if those vendors are
VS> really Korean and, if so, why they call those things those
VS> names. Tempura/twigim usually has nothing at all to do
VS> with mandu, unless mandu (dumplings) are deep-fried, which,
VS> AFAIK, is unusual in Korea but is usual in Japan, where the
VS> result is called age-gyoza.

VS> Is this all perhaps some kind of American-fusion thing?

Fusion has being going on for a long time. I think the Japanese
got the idea for tempura (and vastly improved on it!) from the
Portuguese in the 17th century. I recently discovered that deep
fried chicken is often called Chikin despite the information
above.

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not

James Silverton <not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not> wrote:

> I recently discovered that deep
> fried chicken is often called Chikin despite the information
> above.

Any chicken preparation is occasionally called that in Japan. It is
just language pollution but, in this case, an easily explained one. It
comes from the "Chikin Ramen" brand, the very first one, introduced by
the recently deceased Momofuku Ando back in 1958.

Victor