Viet World Kitchen

Tofu Misozuke: Q & A with Dang Vu of Rau Om Foods

Tofu is an extremely versatile food that can be manipulated in countless ways. A few months ago, Dang Vu emailed me about an unusual tofu product that he his wife, Oanh, had developed. The Vietnamese-American couple was selling tofu misozuke at Bay Area farmer’s markets, packaged under their company name, Rau Om (the name of a citrusy cuminy fresh herb also called ngo om; see the Viet herb primer for more info).

I’d read about the Japanese preserved “tofu cheese” in Elizabeth Andoh’s Washoku cookbook and seen it in Tofu Hyaku Chin, a 1782 bestseller in Japan. Alas, I hadn’t tasted it yet. It the world of Asian tofu, tofu no miso-zuke (how Elizabeth spelled it) is somewhat esoteric stuff. That is, a Japanese market or restaurant isn’t likely to have it.

I tried Rau Om’s tofu misozuke and found its meaty creaminess to be pleasant. Then I wondered why and how someone was introducing this rare tofu product to the Bay Area market. So I asked Dang, 32, to tell me a bit more about their background and endeavor.

Meatless Monday Tet Menu

I am a low meat eater and wouldn't venture to be a complete vegetarian – though the Chinese New Year candy display at See’s (photo above) may convince me. In fact, tonight on the Tet Eve, I am cooking a crab and will use its meat for a cellophane noodle and crab dish tomorrow; the gin and creme de menthe on the rocks (a "Double Dragon") was the meatless part. I’m saying that I’m not going meatless for Tet tomorrow. 

However, my friend Simon Bao has been contemplating how he and his partner will celebrate the Year of the Dragon without any ingredients from legged or finned animals. Vietnamese Buddhists who adhere to a strict vegetarian diet will be enjoying a vegetarian Tet menu. During Tet, it’s not good to take the life of another being, according to tradition. (For other Tet dos and don’ts, see this 2011 post from the People’s Army Newspaper in Hanoi; you know that it has to be officially sanctioned.)

This evening, Simon sent this message to relay what they’ll be eating tomorrow. My comments are in [brackets.] One of the cool things in Simon’s menu is how he thinks about delivering the savory umami-ness in foods. That’s among the flavors that make us feel satisfied during a meal. Simon’s meatless Tet menu:

Lucky Chinese New Year Dumplings

When Lunar New Year comes around, I like to pile on the Asian symbols of good luck – especially when it comes to food. Traditional Vietnamese Tet foods have certain cultural symbols. Foods like banh chung sticky rice cakes wrapped in banana leaves echo the modesty and resourcefulness of Vietnamese cooks. There are just a handful of ingredients that go into that sensational preparation.

Whereas Viet Tet foods are humble, Chinese New Year foods are loaded with promises of fortune. Next week when we celebrate Lunar New Year on January 23 and 24, I’m planning a menu of Vietnamese Tet foods and Chinese New Year dumplings. I haven’t narrowed down which ones to make but here are some candidates:

Jiaozi dumplings – I love these hearty dumplings (a sample is pictured above) this time of the year. They are little bundles of joy. Their shape resemble gold ingots so eating lots of them during Chinese New Year is suppose to invite good fortune. The term jiaozi (“gee-OW zeh”) generically applies to a broad category of dumplings in the Chinese repertoire.

It’s a northern Chinese tradition for families to gather and made a ton of jiaozi dumplings. Some people roll out the dough into individual skins while others fill and cook the dumplings. The hot dumplings get tumbled in a mess of soy sauce, vinegar and chile oil for a great warming snack. The filling can be meaty or vegetarian. I suppose you could even make gluten-free dumplings too!

Poached dumplings (think ravioli) are most traditional but heck, it’s the Year of the Dragon and you’re free to go crazy. Panfry the dumplings into pot stickers or deep-fry them into crisp pockets of joy. Or steam them. You could even make Tibetan momos or Japanese pot stickers as riffs. The first chapter of Asian Dumplings offers a whole host of options. You could even make a filling on the fly.

November 2011 Finds: Chinese Food Week, Online Asian Markets, Art & Humor

November began with Eater.com’s first ever Chinese Food Week, which included stories, insider’s favorite restaurants, and other foodie perspectives. Five American cities were featured. This content is good to keep in your back pocket:

San Francisco | New York | Los Angeles | Chicago | Washington DC

In contrast to that Chinese food lovefest was Bonnie Tsui’s article in the Atlantic, "The End of Chinatown." Yes, economics and migration shifts are some of the reasons behind the decline of traditional Chinatowns in America. Chinatowns are moving outside of the urban core to the suburbs. My strategy: Follow the Asian markets!

Chinese Food Week and Tsui’s piece made me think of Andrew Coe’s Chop Suey and Grace Young’s write up on the history of chop suey in Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge. Chinese-American food and history buffs should check out those books!

Online Asian Markets

If you can't explore nearby brick-and-mortar Asian markets, do it virtually. Some interesting ones I stumbled upon: (If you have experience with these or  others, do share!)

• An online Vietnamese market based in the heart of Little Saigon in Westminster, California. Among the goodies at Vietnamesesupermarket.com are pho kits.
• For lots of standard Japanese ingredients, Asianfoodgrocer.com, based in San Francisco, may do the trick.
• I have no idea where Asiansupermarket365.com operates from but they have a decent looking inventory.
• iShopIndian.com is well organized. There’s even a Chinese-Indian section and newsletter.

Food Art & Humor

Wondering about the photo at the top of this post? It is the clever work of Chinese artist Liu Bolin.  I discovered his pieces in a  slideshow on a Wall Street Journal site. Bolin gets painted up to melt into his surroundings. Aside from the slideshow, see his vanishing acts at the Eli Klein gallery.

Food, labor, and art converge in Sharon Lockhart’s compelling “Lunch Break” exhibit, currently at San Francisco’s Modern Museum of Art. Her photos and film record the daily life of workers at a historic Maine shipbuilding yard.  I was flattered and honored when the exhibit’s Lunch Break Times newspaper and blog invited me to contribute the banh mi recipe from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. Banh mi is working class fare that requires lots of work yet is often priced so low.

Michael Pollan’s appearance on The Colbert Report is funny and makes you think about not eating at your desk. Watch it here.

Yes, there are health food markets in East Los Angeles. Per Javier Cabral’s charming Spanglish-laden post on Zocalopublicsquare.org, there are folks in East LA who love la soya!

If you celebrated Thanksgiving, hope you had a good one.

Related post: October 2011 Finds: Young ginger, pho novel, Sriracha film project

Deep-Fried Apple Spring Rolls Recipe

Last year when I was in Beijing to do research for the tofu book, my friend Lillian Chou, food editor at Time Out Beijing, dragged me and stylist Karen Shinto to a McDonald’s. We were there to eat tofu but she insisted that we first try the fried fruit pies. “You can hardly get them anymore in the States so eat up girls!” Lillian said. I hadn’t been in a McDonald’s in years (primarily to use the rest room) yet there we were eating fried pineapple pies at McDonald’s in China.

It was surreal but truth be told, it was good. In fact, the fried pie took me back to my childhood, when my family would buy deep-fried fruit pies at the supermarket. We didn’t know they were bad for us. We got them on super duper sale along with the occasional Twinkies nearby. My favorite was the fried apple pie.

That experience in Beijing, my longing for fried apple pies, and a frozen package of spring roll skins leftover from the Chef’s special crunchy shrimp balls led me to create this spring roll. I should also mention that I have an abundance of apples right now – thanks to generous neighbors and my overbuying at the farmer’s market. I live in an apple farming area. You’ll be seeing another apple recipe or two later.