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Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Rock Out With Your Crock Out.

I followed the strict macrobiotic recipes for about five days, and cried into my dinner several times.

It was so difficult and I was feeling so disheartened that I decided to do a meal that combined good macrobiotic practice with an awareness of my feelings.

I decided that since the thought of modifying my food shopping was literally driving me to distraction, I would make a meal that had lots of wonderful associations for me, but incorporated elements that I had previously been neglecting.

Yudofu is a GREAT dish for entertaining! It's a crowd pleaser because it's interactive. I like to serve it at parties because the vegetable combinations are endless, the presentation is beautiful, and the cooking is entertaining. When I was living in Japan, we went to a Yudofu restaurant where we sat at one long wooden table in a beautiful and simple wooden house in the mountains. It was such a warm and amazing experience, kind of like the Japanese equivalent of breaking bread. I knew that eating yudofu would calm the anxieties that I had about making macrobiotics my own. I really believe that as much as a meal eaten in sickness causes aversion, a meal once eaten surrounded by loved ones will always be a healing meal.

RECIPE TIPS: This recipe is a fusion of one I made from scratch in Japan, as well as the macrobiotic dashi soup stock. For the true yudofu flavor, you really DO need bonito... I don't care what anybody says. But if you're looking to make an awesome vegan yudofu, just double the shiitakes.

YUDOFU: Japanese Crock Pot!

INGREDIENTS:
12 shiitake mushrooms, dried (this is important!)
2 3-4 inch strips of dried kombu
Silken/Soft Tofu cut into 1"x2" cubes
Scallions
Onions
Carrots
Enoki Mushrooms (these are a must!! they're so delicious!)
Mountain Vegetables (if available... check your local Chinese grocery store. They come bagged)
Sprouts
Vermicelli noodles
Napa Cabbage
Other veggies to taste!

Rehydrate the shiitake mushrooms. Save this water. Pour this water plus an additional 3-4 cups cold water into a deep crock pot, and begin simmering over a bunsen burner or a plug-in crock pot over a long table. This is important because cooking it over the stove like I did sucks. Let the shiitake mushrooms and kombu simmer for about 20-30 minutes. Add more water if needed, but try to keep this soup stock strong.

Remove kombu strips. Begin to add your ingredients. I like to start with the carrots and tofu because they take the longest to cook. Here's a picture of some of my ingredients:

While these ingredients cook, I quickly whip together my sauce.


It's mirin (which I didn't have so I used cheap Sauvignon, which was totally disgusting), tamari wheat-free soy sauce, and squeezed lemon juice. I also grated some ginger into mine, which made a big difference since I really skimped on the wine.

Here's a picture of my crock pot crocking.

Mmm... Delicious.

Here's a picture of the finished product! It looks lovely on the plate, and is about to be consumed by my right hand chef, May.



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