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Recipe: agedashi tofu

[A Fund for Jennie Raffle Update: Kaweah has done her job and picked two winners. I’m waiting to get confirmation that the winners made donations. I’ll announce the winners in my next post! And again, my sincerest thanks for your support and generosity to help Jennie.]

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While most people who maintain a blog fancy themselves writers and/or photographers, I don’t necessarily equate blogger with writer or photographer. I’ve never considered myself a writer, just someone who never shuts up. And even though I am not any flavor of good writer, I know what I like to read. A favorite blog of mine happens to belong to one of my favorite people. Certainly you’ve heard of Tea & Cookies? Tea (Tara) is a friend of mine and she paints scenes, feelings, stories with her words that flow so naturally. I’m there with her in her writing, or at least wishing I was. She recently released an ebook on her time spent in Japan – a country, culture, and people so dear to her:

I’m sending the little book I’ve written out into the world. It’s not the full story of my five years in Japan—just the first part (if there is interest, I will continue it). I’m selling it as a fundraiser, to raise money to continue supporting people who have had their lives shattered. A portion of the money will be donated directly to organizations doing work in the earthquake zone, a portion I may use to put in place some morale boosting efforts. There will be more information about that in the next month or so, along with some creative ways you may be able to participate (this could be fun!). They have to do the hard work of rebuilding, but we can cheer them along, remind them of hope and kindness.

you can read tea’s entire post here

You can purchase Tales from High Mountain in PDF or for Kindle. The price? A mere $3.99. Funds go to Japan and so do you. You travel with Tea to the mountains and explore a wholly different way of life through her young and curious eyes. I’m pretty sure this is going to cost me more than the $3.99 I spent on the ebook because now I want to go to there. It’s a beautiful account of her first months in Japan after college: honest, sincere, naive, respectful. Tea has a way of putting you right there – like a first person shooter game without the artillery. And of course there are the foods, traditions, celebrations, rituals, and several recipes she includes at the end. A truly delightful read that transported me across the Pacific. I highly recommend it.

In honor of Tea’s book, I’m sharing one of my favorite Japanese dishes with you today. Whenever I would see my late grandma, I would often take her out for sushi at least once during each visit. Knowing that she loved tofu, I’d order the agedashi tofu appetizer from the kitchen for us to enjoy together. It’s a tender, silky tofu with a crisp fried coating in a small pool of dashi-based broth. There would be grated ginger, daikon radish, and bonito flakes served on top. It usually arrived steaming hot and was especially welcome on those cooler winter nights in California.

cornstarch, silken tofu, green onion, daikon radish, ginger, bonito flakes

grate the ginger and the daikon radish

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Recipe: curry laksa

The heat is on. I believe they are going to be flirting with triple digits down on the flats (in Denver) soon. But it’s a dry heat. Whatever that means.

Actually, I know full well what it means. It means the difference between feeling hot and cranky (dry heat) and feeling homicidal (humid heat). There are places I have avoided visiting because everyone has warned me about the heat and humidity. Diane once told me that I should visit Vietnam. “Sounds great!” I said, “when are the cool months?” There was a long pause and Diane informed me that there aren’t any “cool” months, just hot and really hot months.

Oh…

I am drawn to Southeast Asian food with its exotic ingredients, tropical influence, and spice. I love it. What intrigues me is how so many hot climate cuisines have so many spicy dishes. Sweat will pour from my brow when I indulge in a bowl of spicy noodles in winter. Imagine having a bowl of hot and spicy something or other in summer. That’s just Crazytown!

fish sauce, pepper, shallots, garlic, lemon grass, galangal, curry, turmeric, chiles

let’s get our spicy on

But you know what? It’s addictive. Spicy is addictive. Yes, even in summer. I’ll turn down a bowl of perfectly tender beef stew while we’re in the throes of summer, but I will crave curry laksa like nobody’s business. We used to enjoy a bowl of this spicy broth filled with noodles, shrimp, vegetables, and tofu puffs when we lived in Southern California and frequented wonderful ethnic restaurants. Which is why I had to learn to make my own now that we live in a bit of an Asian food vacuum. To quell the beast, you know. I am a noodle girl. In the past I would make laksa the cheater way. I would buy a jar of some spicy curry, add chicken broth, other ingredients, and call it good.

i like to add sprouts, tofu puffs, egg noodles, rice vermicelli, and shrimp

the spice paste in all its glory

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Recipe: sichuan tofu celery salad

Oh my word, it’s nearly December. By the time most of you read this it will *be* December. I was telling Erin the other day that when I was a little kid a year felt like an eternity. And now… now the days and weeks and months and years are gone before you know it. She said that was a sign of well-lived life. I think it’s the sign of me not being able to keep track of everything I need to get done, but Erin is always kind about giving me the benefit of the doubt. So it reminded me that sometimes we need to stop and walk through those familiar places, to appreciate how they change with the seasons and how we too have changed.

once green, upright, and riddled with blackbirds

now frozen in place

Kaweah is going to turn twelve this month. She looks great for her age, but she’s physically unable to clamber up rocks, leap from tall buildings, and go tear-assing around in the snow anymore. For all intents and purposes, she has entered her golden years. Not long ago she’d bolt across the frozen lake, wipe out while doing the Scooby Doo running-in-place routine, and then butt-scoot all the way back. In her tiny brain, she wants to come with us on hikes and skis – she is all enthusiasm. But it took a lot of coaxing to get her onto the ice the other day. She stood with her paws firmly planted in the dirt, head tilted to the side and down. When we finally got her out there, she was cautious – nothing like the crazy pup we’ve known for over a decade. But she was a good sport and once off the ice, she was happy to finish out her walkie.

a little nervous

maybe this guy has a treat

Winter is my season of reflection more than any other. I think intently about my life, the people in it, decisions, actions, goals, happiness. Perhaps I’m just too distracted by wildflowers, wildlife, waterfalls, autumn colors, or the sprouting of baby green leaves in the other seasons? Winter around here is sublime when the winds aren’t howling. Walking or gliding through a world of cold, silent white has a way of focusing your mind on the important things. While December can be a time of maximum insanity for some, it’s the time of maximum simplicity for me – at least that is what I try to achieve. Lately, I’ve been enjoying this salad recipe that Kitt pointed me to several months ago. It’s mostly tofu and celery.

and all of these flavors

infused in some oil

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