A favorite: ginger baked tofu stirfry on tofu noodles

This one isn't exactly new - i do baked tofu a fair amount - i am however trying to get over this strange aversion i have to ginger - so i thought i would try and use more ginger in the tofu in this version. I bought a brand of tofu i've very purchased, and it was supposed to be "extra firm" but i really found it quite crumbly, which was an added challenge. For the veggies, it was also the standard, except i got these adorable little eggplants - so cute!

I diced the tofu before baking it and made a soy/ginger marinade.

I used the microplaner as it allows for almost a liquidization of the ginger.

Overview of the operation

Tofu noodles

Dinner

John Carpenter and Cod

Sometimes i remember why Thursday is my favorite day of the week. This was one of those nights, and one of those meals that capped a pretty long four day week at school. This was an evening dedicated to fish and John Carpenter - plus it worked with fish week!

I've made this fish dish before, but i did it with basa. I didn't see any fresh, but cod was on sale so i figured that would work too.

Here is the cod in corn starch and sake. The sauce is a simple soy sauce blend also with corn starch.

I also made eric my new favorite rapini dish, since i just can't get enough of it.

Rice, rapini, cod and wine. Sounds good to me.

Baby Bok Choy in the Bamboo Steamer

So after pretty much eating dumplings for every meal, i thought i would investigate what other things my steamer could accomplish. I had some baby bok choy, which is one of my favorites and is an excellent source of calcium, and thought instead of stir frying it as i usually do- i would put it in the steamer. A lot of the online stuff i read about the steamer suggested using bok choy or lettuce on the bottom to prevent what you were cooking from sticking - as i mentioned i used parchment paper, so i wasn't concerned that the bok choy would stick.

I washed the bok choy, trimmed some of the tougher ends, and cut the larger bunches in half. I arranged them in the bamboo steamer. Now as much as i like healthy things, plain steamed bok choy sounded a little too healthy for me, so i thought i would make a sauce to dress the bok choy with once it was steamed. I wanted to make a bit of a thicker sauce, as i thought it would be better for the texture.

Not really having a plan, i just pulled out some of the usual suspects - soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, vegetarian oyster sauce (which is a bit thicker) and i minced some ginger, along with half of one of the deadly peppers!!! (i've learned my lesson). The sauce was a little thin and tart, so i added some honey which gave it the right consistency, and flavour.

The bok choy was really quick to steam, and once it was done, i drained it, then plated it and drizzled the dressing on top. I decided to add some sesame seeds at the last minute. This was a great side dish, and looked quite good too, i think it will become a regular staple.

Above:

Finished bok choy

Fresh out the steamer

Another finished

Long Beans in spicy black bean sauce

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On my visit to T&T i picked up some long beans, which i was certain i had a recipe for - in a black bean sauce. Of course when i got home i couldn't find the recipe anywhere, so after trolling the Internet, i couldn't find any recipes that were the type i wanted to make. A lot of them had you cutting the beans into smaller pieces, i didn't think that made any sense - why not just buy regular beans! I also discovered in my Internet research that its considered good luck to eat on long bean around Chinese New Year, as they will give you a long life.

I decided to just do it my own way, leaving the beans long while trimming the ends. I also added some diced ginger. For the sauce i know that black bean sauce can be very spicy, so i thought i would tone it down a little by also adding soy sauce, mushroom sauce, sesame oil and corn starch. (i have a box of it now, so i might as well throw it into everything). I mixed those things together, and hoped for the best.

I heated up my wok, then added some oil and the ginger. Once the ginger was fragrant i put in the beans and the sauce. From my reading on line some people recommended you blanch the beans first, and others mentioned having a cup of water handy so the sauce didn't dry out. I took the water advice, and added some at the beginning. The beans themselves took a lot longer to cook that i anticipated, and i had to add a bit of water a couple of time to keep the sauce going.

The dish was really tasty, if a little spicy even for my pallet. I always forget how spicy that black bean sauce was. I would definitely make them one again - its crispy and tasty.

Ginger and Scallion Basa Fish

Lately i've been seeing "basa fish" on menus, and really didn't have much idea of what kind of fish it was. I'm a little picky when it comes to fish, so i hadn't ordered it before, but recently i was online and saw a recipe for a ginger scallion fish dish. The sauce ingredients really appealed to me - soy, oyster sauce, corn starch, sugar, sesame oil and salt and pepper. I had never cooked with corn starch before, so i bought some.

It turns out, via my research that basa is a Vietnamese catfish. It actually reminded me a little of talapia, but it was a more meaty. I ended up going to my larger Loblaws thinking they would have it, but the teenaged boy behind the counter looked at me like i had seven heads! I did find some in the frozen section, and although it did involve me buying more fillets than i intended considering i didn't know if i'd like it, i bought it anyway.

This turned out to be a super easy very tasty recipe. You were supposed to serve it with rice, but in my tradition of ruining pots with burnt rice, i burned it. I had purchased some brown basmati, which takes 50 minutes to make - well somehow the rice was burnt to a crisp in 30 minutes. I don't know... Even riceless i would make this dish again!

Ginger and Scallion Basa Fish

10 oz basa fish cut into pieces
2 inch ginger, peeled and cut into thin slices
2 stalks scallion (they recommended 2 inch pieces, i would cut them smaller)
Oil

Marinate:

1 tsp corn starch
1 teasppon Shaoxing wine (i used sake)
Marinate the fish for at least 10 minutes

Sauce:

1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp oyster sauce (i used vegetarian oyster sauce)
1/2 tsp corn starch
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp sesame oil
3-4 tbsp warm water
s&p (i skipped salt as the other ingredients are salty)

Directions

Heat up the wok with oil. When it is very hot add the ginger, stir-fry until aromatic and add the fish. Stir-fry the fish until half cooked, add the sauce and cook until done. Then add the scallion and toss to coat. Serve hot.

Above:

The fish dish
Cooking the fish in the sauce
Fish marinate (corn starch and sake)
Fish, scallions, garlic and sauce
Ingredients