#FoodTuesday #writingprompt

Look at this. Just look at this.

You see that on top? You know what that is? That’s tofu — but not just any tofu. That’s tofu that I made myself! As one of my kids used to say, I made it by hand.

I got the recipe for the tofu from my beloved Maangchi, and the recipe for the stir fry from my beloved #4 Daughter, the amazing Sara Marian.

For tofu, you just heat soy milk to before it’s boiling, then add a coagulant, like lemon juice or, in my case nigari. Take it off the heat and let it sit for a bit, then strain it through cheesecloth, run cold water over it until it’s cool enough to handle, then squeeze as much water out of it as you can. Put it in a mold and squish it. I squish it REALLY HARD because I like firm tofu.

For the stir fry, I cooked mushrooms, green onions, garlic, and ginger, then added some carrot curls (I peeled the carrots, then used the peeler to scrape off curls). Then I took that out and fried the tofu chunks in sesame oil until they were crispy on the outside. I took the tofu out and put the rest of the stuff back in and added two cups of water, and, when the water boiled, a packet of busted-up ramen noodles and the seasoning packet (soy flavoring), some ume plum vinegar, some sherry, and some soy sauce. Oh, also a can of pineapple chunks, undrained. I cooked all that until most of the liquid was gone. I could have added some cornstarch to the water to make a sauce, but I didn’t. I put the tofu on top and ATE IT!

OMG, it was SO GOOD! There’s nothing I wish I had done differently. No regrets.

A WRITING PROMPT FROM ME TO YOU: Food without regrets

MA