araiya tofu shop

Been wanting to check out Araiya Tofu Shop ever since seeing it on a television show. (photo from the internet)

Finally got a chance when I went to return the pudding bottles.
 

Picked up their soy de queijo (which is inspired by pao de queijo, the Brazlian cheese bread)

Not sure if these actually had cheese in them but they were super airy.

I tried their black bean and margherita flavors...160 yen each (tax included)

The black bean used the sweet black bean that we often see at New Years.

And the margherita flavor had sun dried tomato and fresh basil in it.

Both were different but delicious.

Another thing I tried was their shumai...160 yen each (tax included)

The wrappers were filled with fishcake then fried, so ono!

We also tried their oden...580 yen (tax included)

So good with yuba and it was my first time using yuzu kosho (citron pepper) with oden

I'll be back to try other items.

Araiya Tofu Shop

2-11-19 Minamiyukigaya

Ota, Tokyo

Closed: Sundays

Hours: 11:00-18:00

ps it’s the start of a 3-day weekend, have a safe one!

making marinated “feta"

I wanted to make watermelon feta salad but didn't want to pay the price for the marinated feta that I usually use for this salad 

So instead, I soaked some tofu in olive oil and spices, to make my own "feta".

Adapted from the Sateto website, makes 1 cup

150 grams momen tofu (firm)

50 milliliters olive oil (1/4 cup)

1/2 teaspoon salt

dry herbs/spices

1.5 teaspoons lemon juice

Take the tofu out of the container and put a weight on it for about 30 minutes to take out some of the water (the longer you keep the weight on the tofu the more crumbly it will get)

Cut up the tofu into squares and put into a bottle.

Mix the olive oil, spices and lemon juice, put into the bottle.

Let soak for at least two days.

NOTES: The original recipe said to add some lemon juice, to make it more "cheese" like, but since I didn't have that on hand, I left it out.

Since I was using tofu, I also used shiso in place of the basil.

(Plus, shiso was cheaper than basil)

Both the tofu and shiso were delicious in this salad.

I'm glad I tried it this way.

The recipe also suggested that you could use different spices and oils like sesame oil or chili oil, I want to try these variations in the future.

tofuya ukai

Located near the base of Tokyo Tower, Tofuya Ukai is a beautiful restaurant that serves everything soy.

Saturday, V invited us to have dinner with her and her daughter here.

The grounds are beautiful and you could easily forget you were in a big city...

And the food was delicious and beautifully presented.

Hassun: peanut tofu with miso (kind of reminded me of the Okinawan jimami tofu which is also made from peanuts), salmon roe with pickled root vegetables and yuzu (similar to namasu), kelp cured trout sushi, arrowhead chips and roast duck with kujo onion (hard to maneuver out of the dish and kind of tasted like pork to me)

Age Dengaku: deep fried tofu topped with a dengaku (sweet-salty) miso and fresh negi (leeks)...so delicious, deep fried and thin like a cracker! want to re-create this!

This was also served with some blanched spinach topped with katsuo bushi 

Today's sashimi: maguro (tuna), hirame (flounder/halibut), kanpachi (amberjack)..we think…we couldn't remember the types of fish that the staff had mentioned...

Ebi imo Fukumenni: ebi imo (type of taro root found mostly in Kyoto shaped like raw shrimp) that is simmered in stock then fried so that the outside is super crispy while the inside is super tender, there was also some ginkgo nuts and the sauce that was drizzle over had a little yuzu flavor

Tousui Tofu: Fresh tofu simmered in a seasoned soy milk broth

Having eaten here before, this is the dish that V said she loved and the reason why she wanted to eat here again.

Eat as is first to enjoy the flavors of the tofu and broth, then add some sansho konbu and/or shoyu

Really simple and flavorful.

Tokusen wagyu tataki: Seared premium wagyu roast beef

Roast beef so tender that your chopsticks could cut through the meat and you didn't need any teeth to eat it either! talk about melt in your mouth.

There was a shoyu based sauce and the roast beef was coated with pepper, eaten with the fresh veggies matched nicely.

Freshly ground pepper or wasabi was also served to change up the flavors, but the shoyu sauce was enough flavor for me.

Taigohan: Grilled red snapper mixed into takikomi rice

Thank goodness it wasn't a lot as we were all getting full at this point.

Dessert: Poached apple with a wine jellied sauce served with a green apple sorbet

Thank you for generously treating us to dinner V, we hope you had a nice birthday and we’re honored that you let us be a part of your special day.

Tofuya Ukai

4-4-13 Shibakoen

Minato, Tokyo

Phone: 03.3436.1028

atsuage kabayaki

Tried making atsuage kabayaki with this and some leftover kabayaki sauce.

There were only 6 pieces and they looked tiny.

I poured hot water over the atsuage then in a non-stick pan I put a little oil and heated it up.

Then I put the atsuage in and flipped it several times to heat it up.

I drizzled the sauce but I only had a teaspoon, so it wasn’t enough.

It was delicious but would’ve been better had I had at least a teaspoon more of the the sauce.

I loved this brand of atsuage, the middle was soft, not firm like most atsuage I’ve tried before.

I am going to try making this again.

tofu "cheese"

Tried a new (to me) recipe that turns tofu into "cheese"

Recipe from Asajikan

200 grams firm tofu

2 chili peppers

2 cups olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

dried herbs: parsley, oregano, basil, rosemary

Set the tofu onto a paper towel with a weight on top to drain (at least 2 hours)

Cut into 1 centimeter squares and put into a 500 milliliter glass jar.

Add the chili peppers

Add the oil, salt and herbs.

Soak in refrigerator for at least 2 days.

Keeps for 5 days.

NOTES: I have a tofu container that has a removable strainer basket within the container, (which I bought at the 100 yen store many moons ago), so I put my tofu into this with some paper towel and a weight on top and had it in the refrigerator for about 2 hours.

Then I cut the tofu into cubes and put it into jars.

I filled each one using only a total of 3/4 cup olive oil.

Then I added 3 shakes of this herb mix into each jar and used a total of 1/2 teaspoons of salt.

It is not as firm as the marinated feta I have bought in the past and doesn’t taste like cheese, but it is a very inexpensive way to make this salad 

Also, if you cannot have dairy I think this is a nice substitute.

With the leftover oil, I will mix it with vinegar to make dressing and/or use the oil whenever I cook.

Next time, I would mix the salt, herbs and oil before adding to the tofu.

I would definitely make this again.

curry mayo tofu fry

Tried another curry mayo recipe.

This time using fried tofu which is sometimes called atsuage or namaage,

I think they call it namaage because the insides are still "raw" tofu.

Curry Mayo Tofu Fry : 2 servings from "Masakichi's Bento no Hon"

2 pieces atsuage, cut into bite sized pieces, pour some hot water over to get rid of some of the oil
2 leaves cabbage, broken into bite sized pieces
1 tablespoon oil

Sauce: 1 tablespoon curry
3 tablespoons mayo
2 teaspoons shoyu
1 tablespoon sake
1 teaspoon mirin

Heat the oil and cook the tofu until it browns
Add the cabbage and sauce
When the cabbage wilts, it's done.

NOTES: I made this for Satoshi bento yesterday.

It was fast and easy, my kind of cooking.

I left out the oil since I forgot to pour hot water over the atsuage.

Similar to this recipe, the sauce measurements are a little different...also, this recipe is for 2 servings not 1.

Hope you like it if you try it.

kondo tofu

Bought some items from Kondo Tofu the other day...Oboro tofu (round container)...250 yen, a cup of freshly pressed soy milk...140 yen and 1 piece of aburaage...90 yen.

Everything was so cheap and delicious!

The cup of freshly pressed soy milk was their last one for the day, was glad to be able to try it! definitely different from the soy milk the markets sell.

The oboro tofu was so huge that I made two batches of kim chee miso soup (recipe below).

For the soup, super easy recipe (for 2 servings)
300 milliliters water
2 teaspoons miso
25 grams kim chee
1/2 oboro tofu (about 150 grams)

In two bowls, put a teaspoon miso in each
In a pot, heat the water and put the tofu in to heat
Divide the heated water between the two bowls and mix to dissolve the miso
Divide the tofu between the two bowls.
Top with kim chee.

NOTES: you could substitute dashi (stock) in place of the water, but since I didn't make dashi ahead of time, I just used water and it still had a lot of flavor.

The weather is getting cooler, some areas of Japan already have snow.

Hope the weather is nice where you are.

tofu poke

If you don't eat raw fish or can't get your hands on fresh raw fish, using tofu in poke is a nice substitution.

I used 150 grams of firm tofu, half a packet of the NOH poke mix (a teaspoon of the Hawaiian salt and chili peppers), a teaspoon of sesame oil and added some green onions.

Mix well.

Make this ahead of time, so that the Hawaiian salt will melt.

NOTES: super easy and tasty. I plan to make this more often this summer.

kondo tofu

I stumbled upon Kondo Tofu and have been wanting to try them for some time now.

I think one of the owners may have been ill, because they were closed for over 2 months!

I finally got to try their oboro tofu recently.

250 yen (tax included), this is a pretty hefty sized tofu.

Loved the freshness and creaminess of the tofu and it was delicious in Taiwan Mushi.

Kondo Tofu's oboro was softer than Gen's.

I hope to try more of their items soon, I'll be back.

Kondo Tofu (UPDATE: 6/2020 out of business)
4-3-8 Ikegami
Ota, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3751.1848

tofuya gen-san

There is a small tofu shop on my way to Kamata station...Tofuya Gen-san.

Before going to Hawaii this summer, we tried their oboro tofu.

For 200 yen, this was huge!

At least 2 blocks worth and the texture seemed like firm tofu.

Then after coming back from Hawaii, we tried their yose tofu.

For 170 yen, this was smaller than the oboro, but it was creamy and almost like custard.

They don't always have the yose tofu, so I am glad we got to try this one.

Apparently there is no difference between oboro and yose tofu.

Hope to try their other items like aburaage (fried tofu) and yuba(bean curd skins).

Tofuya Gen-san (UPDATE: 2019 no longer in business)
7-14-3 Nishi-kamata
Ota, Tokyo
Closed Sundays
Hours: 7:30-19:30

saba tofu dry curry gyoza

The other day I made another batch of saba tofu dry curry, then for dinner, I stuffed the curry into gyoza wrappers.

I used 3/4 of the dry curry, placing 1/2 tablespoons of the filling into the 25 large gyoza wrappers.

Different but delicious.

Loved how the wrappers got really crispy.

Definitely making this again.

p.s. it's a holiday today, Culture Day and we're off to see MIL, have a nice weekend.

saba tofu dry curry

The other day I was surfing around and caught part of the many health programs they show here and one of the things they mentioned was how fish like saba (mackerel) can boost your good cholesterol.

They also gave an easy recipe so I tried it last night.

Saba Tofu Dry Curry : 4 servings (or less depending on your serving size) : adapted from television show

1/2 tofu (about 160 grams)
1 can saba (mackerel packed in water) (about 200 grams)
nub of ginger, grated
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce

Press water out of tofu and break up with your hands, press between paper towel again.

Drain the water from the can and break up the saba into a pan.

Add ginger, tomato paste, curry and worcestershire sauce.

Cook on medium-low until all liquid has evaporated.

NOTES: Super easy to make and tasty.

The ginger helps to mask any "fishiness".

The original recipe calls for ketchup but I used tomato paste instead to cut out some sugar.

Also, I didn't have any worcestershire sauce, so I used tonkatsu sauce.

This was good on rice but I am also thinking it might be good in gyoza wrappers, and hope to try this way soon.

We have another typhoon approaching over the next couple of days...hoping this one won't be as bad.

Have a nice weekend.

gokayama kunsei tofu

One thing we brought home with us from Toyama was Gokayama Kunsei Tofu.

Kunsei means smoked. This is seasoned with shoyu, and other condiments.

I sliced this up and we had this with beer.

It tastes like a semi-hard cheese more than anything. You can't really taste the shoyu.

It probably would go better with some wine.

I'm glad we got to try this and would buy this again.

It's Friday here, I hope you have a nice weekend!

UPDATE: we ate the other half with some wine...it was good!

naminori johnny

This caught my eye at the market recently.

Chocolate tofu.

Naminori Johnny means wave riding Johnny, a brand of tofu by Sanwatousuian.　Which is probably why the container looks like a surfboard.

The package says it is a "dessert tofu". In Hawaii, we have a pie that uses tofu, gelatin and whipped cream, so I thought it would taste similar.

It was more greyish than brownish.

I thought it could've been more chocolatey. Satoshi thought it was quite sweet.

By the way, they also have strawberry, cream cheese & pumpkin flavors...we agreed it was a bit too funky for us, but it was interesting to try.

meatless gyu suki ni

"Gyu suki ni" from what I can find on the internet is a dish that tastes similar to sukiyaki, but instead of being eaten from a hot pot, the ingredients are simmered in the sweet-salty sauce and served with rice.

If you know some Japanese, you'll know that "gyu" means beef, so the main ingredient should be that, but during the week, we try to eat meatless dinners, so I tried this recipe, minus the meat.

Meatless Gyu Suki Ni : 4 servings

1 package maitake (hen of wood), pulled apart
1 package eringi, sliced
1/4 orange bell pepper, diced
1/4 onion, sliced thin
1 block of konnyaku (devil's tongue jelly), the size of your palm, cubed
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
thinly sliced green onions

Sauce: adapted from NHK "Kyo no ryori"
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoon shoyu (soy sauce)
1 tablespoon mirin (sweet rice wine)
1 tablespoon sugar

Saute your veggies in the olive oil, when the onions become a little transparent, add the sauce.
Simmer in the sauce for at least 5 minutes.

Serve over rice, sprinkle with some green onions.

NOTES: the konnyaku and mushrooms have enough texture so that you don't miss the meat. I'm making this again.

Since I used only 2 servings of the 4, with the leftovers, I added some broccoli, a scrambled egg and an 85 gram piece of tofu when I heated the leftovers up for our dinner yesterday.

I again served this over rice....yum!

It's Friday here, hope you have a great weekend!

tofu egg

Recently, I re-vamped our egg salad...

1 hard boiled egg (medium size)
40 grams of tofu (drained on cheesecloth overnight)
some mayo
some dried dill
some ground pepper

2 slices of toast

Mix well and top toast.

Satoshi thought it was delicious. It was good, though the tofu was a little softer than the egg. Tastewise you really couldn't tell tofu was in there. I am making this again.

p.s. ooh and remember my motivator? well, I've been using it for a little over 2 years now and have hit 620 recorded miles!! whoo.

mar ten

Having been gone from Japan for about a month, many changes occurred, some food places shut down, while new ones opened. Some markets got renovated and houses got built.

On top of that, the weather has been weird, at first it was summery-ish and now, brr, wintry, rainy...dreary if you ask me.

On Saturday, we tried a new place for lunch before Satoshi's German language class called Mar Ten.

This shop specializes in Mabo Tofu and other spicy dishes.

Satoshi tried their mabo tofu set, which came with a cup of consomme, some tsa tsai (chinese pickles) and lots of rice.  He chose the least spicy of the three levels and said it was quite spicy for him. Luckily, they offer a free refill of rice.

The guy sitting at the table next to us ordered the most spicy version of the mabo tofu and it came out looking almost "black"...eep!

I tried their dan dan men (tan tan men). Most times you see this dish in a red soup, but this version was soup-less.

After it arrived at the table, the waitress told me to quickly mix it with the sauce below or risk the noodles getting hard.  It was spicy and the noodles chewy.  I really enjoyed this dish.

There was an icy mango dessert that we were also eyeing, so we'll definitely be back.

Mar Ten (UPDATE: 6/2015 this shop closed)
Yodobashi Camera Umeda 8F
Kita, Osaka
Phone: 06.6292.6523

yakidofu "agebitashi"

> Monday, there were flurries for most of the morning. Satoshi was bummed because he had to go to work, he wanted to stay in bed where it was warm.

By lunchtime, the sun had come out, but still the temps were down.

For some reason, I still had agebitashi on my mind from the other day.

I didn't want to do any type of frying though, so I took the easy way out.

I bought some yakidofu (grilled soy bean curd), it is sold in the refrigerated section. The tofu is firm and the outside of the tofu is slightly blackened.

For the veggies, I stir-fried eringi, carrots, spinach and red bell pepper in a non-stick pan using no oil.

Here is the recipe I used for the agebitashi sauce: adapted from the internet makes 4 servings

600 milliliters dashi
1 batch of ajishoyu*

*ajishoyu 2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons mirin (sweet rice wine)
3 tablespoons shoyu (soy sauce)
5 tablespoons sake (rice wine)
Bring ingredients to a boil then lower heat and simmer for 2 minutes, take off flame and cool.

To assemble, I heated the tofu in a pot with hot water for a couple of minutes.

Then I poured several ladles of the warmed sauce and then placed some of the veggies and sprinkled some sliced green onions.

NOTES: delicious and perfect on a cold evening. I'm making this again.

p.s. I want to thank Ana of www.ilovetortilladepatatas.com (her link no longer works) for the Liebster award she gave me. She has a great blog and is enjoying life in the Netherlands. Thanks Ana!

nikumiso ra-yu

This recently caught my eye at the supermarket.

Nikumiso ra-yu. Nikumiso is made by combining pork with miso and other condiments. I've seen it used in musubi or eaten as is.

This particular product is combined with ra-yu (chili oil).

It is similar to gu-iri ra-yu, but with some pork in there.

The weather is still a bit too cold for hiyayakko (cold tofu), but this is delicious.

mascot

Recently, I picked up the Szechuan sauce by Mascot. Unlike the curry paste, this sauce is not vegetarian.

To make the sauce you dilute the contents with 2 cups of water.

The directions on the bottle state for mabo tofu that you saute some minced pork, add the sauce and dilute with 2 cups of water.

Instead, I left out the meat, diluted the contents and added a couple of handfuls of chopped green onions, so it was more like a soup.

Then for one of our dinners, I sauteed some veggies in sesame oil.

Added some oboro tofu. (Oboro tofu is a very soft tofu which when made is not set in cheesecloth. It is quite creamy, and the texture like a custard.)

Since the tofu was so soft, it sort of melted when I combined it with the veggies.

I then added half of the diluted sauce. The "melted" tofu kind of thickened up the sauce.

This was nice, spicy and good on rice.

With the other half of the sauce, I sauteed some minced pork, carrots and onions and added some bi-fun (rice flour noodles) and green onions.

I actually should have used harusame (cellophane noodles) which would have replicated a dish I've picked up at the market.

Still, this version was delicious.

I would definitely use this sauce again.