Easy Tofu Burgers

I stopped at the Japanese market on Sunday evening and found this tofu burger mix. I was quite thrilled, the directions say to just add a block of crumbled tofu to the package and fry like patties. I was a bit disappointed when I opened the package, though. It was basically just panko bread crumbs and seasoning, and what's more the tofu burgers were mushy and didn't stick together well.

I decided to make my own version. Not only did this turn out better, but it's cheaper and just as easy. The water is removed from the tofu and eggs are added to give them a better consistency. When I gave one to my 4 year old today she was skeptical, but after eating it she said, "Mama I don't want one more. I want TWO more." so there you go.

Easy Tofu Burgers

Ingredients:

1 package of tofu, firm or extra firm
2 eggs or egg substitute
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp vegetarian chicken flavor
1/2 tsp cilantro
dash of pepper

Directions:

Take the tofu out of the package and slice into 1/2 inch slices. Put a paper towel on a plate, and put the slices onto the towel to drain out the water. Lightly salt the pieces and add two more towels on top. When the paper towels are thoroughly soaked the excess water has been removed. (Note: removing the water from tofu in this way makes it so that it absorbs flavor far better. I do this before adding it to stir fry and all sorts of cooking).

Mash the tofu in a bowl with your hands and add the rest of the ingredients, stir thoroughly. Cover and let it sit in the fridge for at least 45 min. Spray a pan with oil, shape into patties and lightly fry. Make sure your patties are not too large or they will be hard to flip. Garnish with ketchup, mustard and tomato like you would normally do for a hamburger.

Optional: If you'd like a crispier texture, try baking them at 350 for 20 minutes.

Vegetarian Meatloaf

Meatloaf gets a terrible rap. Mostly because it's mystery meat shaped like a loaf. This is a vegetarian version made from lentils, and it's a very good dish if you are tired of veggie burgers. The texture is surprisingly a lot like hamburger, just without the greasiness. Original recipe is here, but I found it to be mushy even after I baked it for an additional 10 min. I adapted it to be firmer and added some Indian spices.

Vegetarian Meatloaf

3/4 cup lentils, dry
1/2 cup barley, dry
1 tsp vegetarian chicken or veg soup flavor
1 tsp salt

1 tsp Garam Masala (opt)
1/2 cup spaghetti sauce
1 onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
2 slices bread, broken into small pieces
1/4 cup mozarella cheese (opt)
2 eggs
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 tbp soysauce

Cook the lentils and barley with soup seasoning and salt with 3 cups of water for 15-20 min, or until fully cooked. Add small amounts of water as needed, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. After cooking most of the water should be absorbed. Put the cooked lentils and barley in a food processor and mix until fully mashed.

Add the rest of the ingredients and bake at 350 for one hour in a greased breadpan. Garnish with ketchup and horseradish, if desired.

Don't Be Afraid of the Asian Market

I have a lot of non-Asian American friends who ask me how I make something, and when i tell them the ingredient came from an Asian food store they will reply with "I don't know how to shop there."

Sometimes they will venture in the store. They will do one of two things- head to the snack aisle where you can buy chips and cookies in interesting shapes, or buy overpriced exotic ingredients they will have no idea how to prepare. If the latter occurs, perhaps they asked a shopkeeper what to buy (remember they are salespeople and want you to spend money).

Since I live in the Chicago area, the Asian markets are huge and well priced. In more suburban areas you might need to head to a college town, which can be scary since you are sometimes the only one in the store with the owner watching you curiously. No one wants to look like they don't know what they are doing, so this is a basic guide to give you some good ideas of what to look for.

Of course, you can always buy "Asian" foods at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, but they are not authentic and the prices are crazy.

WHAT TO BUY


1. Ramen: The Japanese and Korean brands are excellent. To reduce the oil, boil the noodles until they are halfway done, empty the water and pour about 1.5 cups water with favor packet to finish cooking.


2. Fresh Noodles: Go to the refrigerated section, and you will find noodles that are made fresh. They taste chewy and are 1000 times better than dry, most of the packages will have instructions in English for cooking. Some good ones to try are Yaki Soba, Udon, Soba, and Kal Guk Soo. If there is no favor packet included, you can cook them by just making a basic soup broth with vegetables. Many go bad quickly, so if you don't cook it within a week stick it in the freezer (unless it's udon or yaki soba. The Japanese have instant noodles which last forever.)
Not only do they taste better, most seem to be lower in calories compared to their dry counterparts. This is probably because they contain more water.

3. Asian Brand Tofu: Obvious choice. The firm has less calories than extra firm, and sometimes the tofu will be made right in the store.

4. Japanese Curry: This is an interesting product. It tastes sweeter than Indian curry, and will come in blocks which melt like chocolate as you are cooking. Add it to a stew of vegetables and potatoes and you've got a very good meal. They come in mild to flaming hot, most have cooking instructions in English.

5. Produce: They oftentimes will carry fruits which are not easily found in the American markets. If you are in a Japanese market they will be priced higher but better quality. This is the time you want to ask someone working at the store for help, they'll be able to tell you what just came in and tastes best. Persimmons, tangerines, and Asian pears are all good choices.

6. Rice: Buy a small bag of both brown and white rice, mix them together to cook.

7. Dumplings: These are usually in the frozen food section. Most Americans know them as wontons, and the Korean version is Mandu. It isn't hard to find the vegetarian ones these days. You can lightly fry them after thawing, or put them in a soup like you would for the refrigerated noodles.

8. Fresh fish: If you eat it, this is where to buy it. If it's a larger market they will have shrimp or other seafood that hasn't been frozen and needs to be cooked within one day. Canned dark tuna is also a lot tastier here.

9. Other items such as soup base, miso and spices are great. But do your research. Make sure you have a recipe in mind before buying so it doesn't go to waste. If something looks interesting, write it down and look it up later on the net.

Pumpkin Cornbread

The Asians are huge fans of cornbread.

The problem with trying to make cornbread is as soon as I removed the butter and oil from the recipe it would taste awful. That's until I made this pumpkin version, which I've done countless times already. It comes out excellent, and I daresay it tastes better than regular cornbread.

I adapted it from Pumpkin Polenta Cake on this site. It's gluten free, sugar free with a low fat content. Lightly sweet and moist, it's almost a desert bread but would go well with a cream of asparagus or broccoli soup. Also because of the pumpkin, the calories are not too high. Enjoy on its own, or with some light butter or jam.

Ingredients:

1 cup cornmeal
2/3 cup splenda for baking
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp baking soda

1 can of canned pumpkin puree
2 eggs
1 tbsp butter, softened
1/2 cup light sour cream

Preheat oven to 350. Mix the dry ingredients first, then add the wet. Mix well and pour into an 8X10 baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 50 min, or until fork poked into the center comes out clean.

No white rice

I have a rule in our house. No white rice.

This doesn't mean I don't cook with white rice, I just mix it with something else to make it more nutritious. My daughter eats rice for breakfast, it's easy on her stomach and keeps her going. I just use a mixture of brown rice, barley, carrots, and sometimes beans.

The second picture shows a bag of mixed beans and brown rice I bought at the market the other day. It needs to be soaked for 5 hours, then I just cook it with the regular rice. I chopped the carrot and added a tsp of vegetarian chicken flavor.

I recommend starting with a mixture of:

1 cup white rice
1/4 cup of brown rice, barley, or bean mixture
1/4 cup chopped carrot

Throw it in the rice cooker, use the same percentage of water to the rice as you would normally. As you get used to the flavor you can increase the portion of mixed grains.


I enjoy making a stew out of the brown rice and bean mix. I put it in the slow cooker with vegetable broth, 1/2 can of light cream of celery soup, garlic and hot pepper. I also added some asparagus, carrots, spinach and onion. It was ready to be eaten after a 5 mile trail run on Sunday and was very satisfying.

Kat Po Kee

Ttok po kee is a dish served on the streets in Korea, and it's one of my favorite foods of all time. It cost around $2 to eat, and you would always look for the stalls with swarms of people waiting for the women working there to finish cooking. If they were crowded you knew it was good. It's a dish made with rice cake pasta, fish cake, veggies in a sweet yet spicy sauce. Once I was walking home from work and I was so hungry for it I stopped to eat it during a windstorm from a typhoon. I was almost done when an old man pulled me from the stand. I was annoyed, but a few seconds later a giant metal sign crashed into the stool I had been sitting upon. Risking my life for a good dish of ttappokee was just one of the rewards of living in Korea.

My version is pretty close but I add a lot of vegetables. Some people add 1/2 a package of ramen, but instead I use some Asian pasta such as udon or rice noodles.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup Japanese fish cake, sliced *
2/3 cup Ttok (Korean rice cake) **
1/2 cup dry udon or Asian noodles
1 tbs bonito fish soup flavoring (or veg soup base)
2 tbs splenda for baking
2 tsp Korean red pepper paste (gochu jang) ***
1 tbp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
2/3 cup vegetables (frozen corn, peas, california medley, or chopped cabbage all work well)
Sesame seeds (optional)

* Japanese fishcake is usually found in the freezer section, using frozen is fine. Sometimes you can find fishcake freshly made. It looks like this, and is called oden in Japanese and odang in Korean. If you are veg you can leave it out or use sliced tempeh.

** Ttok is Korean rice cake pasta, found in the refrigerated section of the market. You want to buy the type that is plain and unsweetened. It comes in long cylindrical or oval shapes. The oval shaped ttok looks like this. If it's brown it's made with unbleached rice powder and is best.

*** I had a friend who made this dish for her children but without red pepper paste since she didn't want to make it spicy. Instead she would use 3-4 tbsp of soy sauce.

Directions:

Spray pan with cooking spray and fry onions and garlic, then add the sliced fishcake and fry for a few minutes. Add water to the dish, around 3 cups. Separate the ricecakes and throw them into the boiling water one by one. Add the vegetables, soup flavor, splenda, and the noodles. Cook until the rice cakes and noodles are soft.

Add additional water if needed, this is not a soup but should have the consistency of stew. Add 1 tsp of red pepper paste. Taste it to see if it's hot enough, if you'd like more heat add the other tsp of red pepper paste. If the dish is too watery, mix 1 tbsp of cornstarch with a small amount of water and slowly pour it into the dish while stirring. Pour into bowls and garnish with a sprinkle of sesame seeds.