I was at a Korean grocery and they had a person behind a table with
samples of tofu. The woman said that it was fried (It was in big dice
squares). They also had a dip that I put the tofu in and it was greet.

The tofu was sold in a pretty good sized cube and was in a pan in about
an inch of water.

I bought the tofu and the sauce and now I want to make the same thing.
How to I do this and
how long can I keep either the uncooked or fried tofu.

Thanks

I promise next time I post to carefully check my message before sending
wrote:
> I was at a Korean grocery and they had a person behind a table with
> samples of tofu. The woman said that it was fried (It was in big dice
> sized squares). They also had a dip that I put the tofu in and it was great.!
>
> The tofu was sold in a pretty good sized cube and was in a pan in about
> an inch of water.
>
> I bought the tofu and the sauce and now I want to make the same thing.
> How to I do this and
> how long can I keep either the uncooked or fried tofu. And/or can I freeze either??
>
> Thanks

wrote:
> I was at a Korean grocery and they had a person behind a table with
> samples of tofu. The woman said that it was fried (It was in big dice
> squares). They also had a dip that I put the tofu in and it was greet.
>
> The tofu was sold in a pretty good sized cube and was in a pan in about
> an inch of water.
>
> I bought the tofu and the sauce and now I want to make the same thing.
> How to I do this and
> how long can I keep either the uncooked or fried tofu.


Store your tofu in the refrigerator and in a container of water. Change
the water if it becomes cloudy. Use the tofu in a few days anyway.


I'm no expert on Korean cooking. My information comes from the health
world so if someone with specific Korean cuisine info answers your
question, listen to them before listening to me. (You didn't think to
ask the woman giving out the samples?)


Without having tasted the dish, I'm going to guess it was prepared like
this:


Something was done to remove some of the moisture from the tofu. That
might have been done by freezing it in a solid block, defrosting, then
squeezing out water. I've also cut the tofu into slabs, placed it on
several layers of paper towels, then put a heavy object on top. A stock
pot filled with water is the most convenient heavy object in my kitchen.
But it is possible that this step was skipped. It could have been
plain cut into small cubes and fried.


Then cut into cubes and fry in hot oil. Peanut oil or soy oil-- NOT the
toasted variety. Look for a nice light brown color before removing from
the oil with a slotted spoon or spatula to paper towels which will
absorb the extra oil.


Then serve with your bottled sauce.


Now look on the label of the sauce and tell me the ingredients. I'm
curious.


--Lia

The sauce was in a little "take out" container. I seemed to have soy
sauce some sesame seeds and I think a little hot stuff. It looked like
soy sauce only.

Thanks for the response
Julia Altshuler wrote:
> wrote:
> > I was at a Korean grocery and they had a person behind a table with
> > samples of tofu. The woman said that it was fried (It was in big dice
> > squares). They also had a dip that I put the tofu in and it was greet.
> >
> > The tofu was sold in a pretty good sized cube and was in a pan in about
> > an inch of water.
> >
> > I bought the tofu and the sauce and now I want to make the same thing.
> > How to I do this and
> > how long can I keep either the uncooked or fried tofu.
>
>
> Store your tofu in the refrigerator and in a container of water. Change
> the water if it becomes cloudy. Use the tofu in a few days anyway.
>
>
> I'm no expert on Korean cooking. My information comes from the health
> world so if someone with specific Korean cuisine info answers your
> question, listen to them before listening to me. (You didn't think to
> ask the woman giving out the samples?)
>
>
> Without having tasted the dish, I'm going to guess it was prepared like
> this:
>
>
> Something was done to remove some of the moisture from the tofu. That
> might have been done by freezing it in a solid block, defrosting, then
> squeezing out water. I've also cut the tofu into slabs, placed it on
> several layers of paper towels, then put a heavy object on top. A stock
> pot filled with water is the most convenient heavy object in my kitchen.
> But it is possible that this step was skipped. It could have been
> plain cut into small cubes and fried.
>
>
> Then cut into cubes and fry in hot oil. Peanut oil or soy oil-- NOT the
> toasted variety. Look for a nice light brown color before removing from
> the oil with a slotted spoon or spatula to paper towels which will
> absorb the extra oil.
>
>
> Then serve with your bottled sauce.
>
>
> Now look on the label of the sauce and tell me the ingredients. I'm
> curious.
>
>
> --Lia

wrote:
> The sauce was in a little "take out" container. I seemed to have soy
> sauce some sesame seeds and I think a little hot stuff. It looked like
> soy sauce only.

Perhaps soy sauce, sesame oil, a few sesame seeds and a touch of sherry
and ginger?
Goomba

Goomba38 wrote:
> wrote:
>
>> The sauce was in a little "take out" container. I seemed to have soy
>> sauce some sesame seeds and I think a little hot stuff. It looked like
>> soy sauce only.
>
>
> Perhaps soy sauce, sesame oil, a few sesame seeds and a touch of sherry
> and ginger?


If it is Korean, there's some sort of hot sauce in there too, and
probably no sherry or rice wine. Also, maybe fish oil and/or a hot mustard?


I'm thinking:

soy sauce
toasted sesame oil and/or sesame seeds
hot sauce like Tobasco or chili sauce or hot peppers or hot chili oil
mustard or horseradish
ginger or no ginger, hard to say
fish oil or no, again, hard to say


The original poster will have to experiment and get back to us. I want
this to be the next thing in fast food. Call it KFT.


--Lia

In article . com>,
says...
> I was at a Korean grocery and they had a person behind a table with
> samples of tofu. The woman said that it was fried (It was in big dice
> squares). They also had a dip that I put the tofu in and it was greet.
>
> The tofu was sold in a pretty good sized cube and was in a pan in about
> an inch of water.
>
> I bought the tofu and the sauce and now I want to make the same thing.
> How to I do this and
> how long can I keep either the uncooked or fried tofu.
>
> Thanks
>
>

So, there you are in the store with the real, certified experts and you
don't ask them.

Duuuh!

--
Peter Aitken
Visit my recipe and kitchen myths pages at www.pgacon.com/cooking.htm

I agree, when I got home, I thought - "Gosh - I have this feeling that
there is more to tofu then just frying. I hit Google and there was all
kinds of info about, freezing, thawing, draining, pressing etc and I
thought - maybe I need more info"
Peter A wrote:
> In article . com>,
> says...
> > I was at a Korean grocery and they had a person behind a table with
> > samples of tofu. The woman said that it was fried (It was in big dice
> > squares). They also had a dip that I put the tofu in and it was greet.
> >
> > The tofu was sold in a pretty good sized cube and was in a pan in about
> > an inch of water.
> >
> > I bought the tofu and the sauce and now I want to make the same thing.
> > How to I do this and
> > how long can I keep either the uncooked or fried tofu.
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> >
>
> So, there you are in the store with the real, certified experts and you
> don't ask them.
>
> Duuuh!
>
> --
> Peter Aitken
> Visit my recipe and kitchen myths pages at www.pgacon.com/cooking.htm

On 22 Aug 2006 16:32:56 -0700, wrote:

>I agree, when I got home, I thought - "Gosh - I have this feeling that
>there is more to tofu then just frying. I hit Google and there was all
>kinds of info about, freezing, thawing, draining, pressing etc and I
>thought - maybe I need more info"

Here's my *******ization of a recipe for Ma-Po Tofu:

* Exported from MasterCook *

Pork and Tofu Stir-Fry

Recipe By :Carol Peterson (Damsel)
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Pork Stir-Fry

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
---Sauce---
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons hot bean paste
2 tablespoons soy sauce
-- Stir-Fry Pork --
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 pound ground pork -- (75% lean)
4 teaspoons finely minced garlic
4 teaspoons finely minced ginger
-- Finish Stir-Fry --
1 pound firm tofu -- prepared as directed below
1 cup frozen peas -- thawed
1 tablespoon cornstarch -- dissolved in...
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil
3 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions
roughly chopped cashews -- for garnish
steamed rice -- as accompaniment

Prepare tofu:
Freeze block of tofu in its package. Thaw, and press liquid out by
setting a plate on the tofu, and a heavy can on the plate. Squeeze
the tofu gently to remove even more water. Cut tofu into 1/2-inch
cubes.

Make sauce:
Stir together broth, bean paste, and soy sauce. Set aside.

Stir-fry pork:
Heat a wok or large heavy skillet over high heat until hot and add 1
1/2 tablespoons corn oil, swirling to coat. Add pork and stir-fry,
breaking up lumps and adding remaining 1/2 tablespoon corn oil if meat
sticks, until no longer pink. Add garlic and ginger and stir-fry over
moderate heat until very fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Finish stir-fry:
Stir reserved sauce, then add to pork and bring to a simmer. Slide
tofu and peas into sauce, stirring gently.

Stir cornstarch mixture and add to stir-fry. Bring to a boil, stirring
gently, and cook until thickened and glossy, about 15 seconds.

Turn off heat and sprinkle with sesame oil and 2 tablespoons green
onion. Stir once or twice, then serve sprinkled with remaining
tablespoon green onion and cashews.



Source:
"adapted from a recipe in Gourmet magazine, June 2000"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

If you are using the "Brick" style of tofu, it should be the Chinese firm
or extra firm. Take the Tofu out of the container with the water it was
in. Horizontally slice it in half and then cube it to the desired sizes,
allow to drain, really drain, 4-6 hours if you can, longer is better.
Probably take the same amount of time for those that freeze and thaw it,
what ever that does to it.
Does someone know for certain this work to get water out better than just
draining?

Then you fry it up in hot oil, deep fry it if you can to save some time and
getting all the sides. If you can fry it right it is nice chewy texture.

Toss it in with any of your foods

For a nice side dish, open a jar of Spicy Kim Chee (the marinated Cabbage
style not the Radish) and fry it up with the Tofu

a Korean Dipping Sauce:

3 Tblspns Soy
2 Tblspns H20
2 Tblspns Dry Sherry
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp toasted Sesame seeds
1 thinly sliced green onion
Hot sauce to taste, Little goes a long way here. I like Sriracha Chilli
sauce or a Sambal, availible in most Asian Aisle of your Supermarket, or
you can use that leftover Franks Hot sauce from making the Buffolo wings at
SuperBowl

Julia, Koreans people I knew in the southern 2/3ds of Korean (Taegu and
south) did use Sherry and rice wine and of course, lots of pepper flakes

Oh but slightly freezing meat is an excellent way to thinly slice it before
marinating it

Gunner wrote:
> If you are using the "Brick" style of tofu, it should be the Chinese firm
> or extra firm. Take the Tofu out of the container with the water it was
> in. Horizontally slice it in half and then cube it to the desired sizes,
> allow to drain, really drain, 4-6 hours if you can, longer is better.
> Probably take the same amount of time for those that freeze and thaw it,
> what ever that does to it.
> Does someone know for certain this work to get water out better than just
> draining?


Freezing, thawing, and squeezing tofu gives it a totally different
texture than simply draining it. It comes out pourous and drier, far
better able to absorb the flavors in a marinade or sauce.


Thanks for the info on Korean cuisine and sherry and rice wine. My
guess was based on taste. I could never taste the sherry through the
hot stuff.


--Lia

Gunner wrote:

> a Korean Dipping Sauce:

I lived with a Korean family, and Mrs Kim showed me how to make her
version of this dish. She fried the sliced tofu in sesame oil. The
sauce you listed looks very close to hers, but instead of dipping, it
was heated in the pan. You can add chili threads to it. We ate the
tofu with steamed rice, raw cloves of garlic and kochu jang. It is one
of my favourite ways to prepare tofu.

Here's a relevant recipe I found on the net:

Kochujang Sauce

Kochujang is a thick, miso-like paste made of soybean paste, red pepper
powder,and glutinous rice flour. It keeps forever in the refrigerator.
Some brands are hotter than others.

The following can be used as a dip for vegetables, a flavoring for
soups and stirfrys, or a marinade for barbequed or grilled tofu or
tempeh.

It's a bit sweet, so decrease the sugar if desired. The recipe
multiplies well.

2 T. kochujang
2 small garlic cloves, peeled and pressed or grated finely
1 T. rice or cider vinegar
1 T. soy sauce
1 t. sesame oil
2 t. toasted sesame seeds
2 scallions (green onions), shredded finely on the diagonal
2 t. sugar or other sweetener

Mix all ingredients well. Keeps a long time in the refrigerator.

From: Flavours of Korea, by Marc and Kim Millon (London: Andre Deutsch
Ltd., 1991)

Derek Juhl