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.

Maggi Seasoning Sauce Substitutes: Mainstream, Gluten-Free, and MSG-Free Options

Maggi Seasoning Sauce has been a staple in many Asian kitchens for a long time. I grew up sprinkling the inky liquid on rice and dipping steamed bao into a pool of it. It’s the ‘secret’ ingredient in my garlic noodles. But the beloved condiment can be hard to locate outside of Chinese, Southeast Asian, and Latin markets. A few mainstream supermarkets stock it in the international or Asian food aisle.

Frustrated with not being able to find Maggi, Edie M. emailed this question: What are good substitutes for Maggi Seasoning Sauce?

I thought about it and realized that aside from availability issues, some people may have problems with Maggi’s ingredients: wheat, and in the case of the European version (in the fanciful smaller bottle), MSG. So Edie’s question morphed into one about accessibility and allergies: What to do if you can’t find or physically tolerate Maggi Seasoning Sauce?

Here are some alternatives to consider:

Maggi Masala Chilli Sauce: An Indian Sriracha?

Along with the Sriracha incidents that I recounted earlier this week was a neat new discovery. Last Thursday I found myself in a semi-downtrodden Indian market in Fremont, California, a Bay Area suburb with a sizeable Indian population. It was late afternoon and a storm was coming. The market occupied two shop spaces but its inventory filled only two-thirds of the area. The store’s sad state didn’t bother me much as I’ve been in plenty of strange Asian markets. I was chasing down an Indian ingredient and the cashier didn’t know what I was talking about.

It started to rain and get cold. The cashier grabbed his jacket but kept the doors wide open to make it easier for the handful of shoppers to push their carts out. I started feeling downtrodden since I was freezing and couldn’t find what I needed. Nonetheless, I walked every aisle because you never know what you may find.

Tackling Sriracha Myths, Truths and Confusion

A couple of incidents last week led me to realize that there may be much misunderstanding about Sriracha chile sauce. The first occurred on the October 2011 Food Finds post. Upon checking out Jess Dang’s pitch for a Sriracha documentary film project, @Chrisjone commented that Jess had incorrectly described Sri Racha as an island. It’s a town with seaport. There’s an island nearby. I notified Jess of the error and she promptly corrected it.

The second incident was related to the 2011 CHOW 13 Award listing of influential food people. Coming in at lucky number 8 was David Tran of Huy Fong Foods, the maker of the Rooster brand of Sriracha. I’m quoted as saying that many people don’t know whether or not the Rooster brand’s version of Sriracha is Thai or Vietnamese. It’s kinda messed up and mixed up, I told writer John Birdsall.

Case in point, I’m often asked about Sriracha even though it’s not a traditional Viet staple. In The Sriracha Cookbook, Randy Clemens's introduction describes the hot sauce as an beloved condiment at Asian markets, upscale restaurants, and even Wal-Mart. Clemens follows up with the Thai backstory in a separate chapter but he opens up the book by framing the "Rooster sauce" as a “mainstay in many home kitchens and innumerable college dorm rooms.” This coming Sunday, Sriracha will be part of a Simpson's foodie episode!

After reading the CHOW entry on Tran, Pim Techamuanvivit texted me, “Sriracha sauce is definitely Thai.” Of course, Pim and I know that because we’ve talked a lot about the hot sauce. I’ve had her over for a Sriracha taste-off between Vietnamese, Viet-American, and Thai brands.  But not everyone is as lucky as I am to have a Bangkok-born friend who’s also a persnickety food expert.

That said, I’m throwing out some points here about Sriracha for your consideration and comments:

Pork Blood Pho: Is it True or New?

This is my typical bowl of homemade beef pho noodle soup. I can’t imagine eating it with cubes of congealed pork blood. But maybe that is something going on these says.

Have you heard of or eaten pho with pork blood? During the past several weeks I’ve read about it twice, most recently in The Globe and Mail, a newspaper from Toronto, Canada. In “You eat meat, so why not blood? Chefs strive to warm up diners to the red stuff,” journalist Chris Nuttall-Smith reports on uses of blood in hip, modern food. The article was focused on Western chefs, such as Rene Redzepi of Copenhagen's famed Noma, who marinates vegetables in blood according to photos he posted.

I was looking for mention of blood-laden Asian foods, expecting to see classics like Filipino dinuguan blood stew and Korean sundae (not a dessert). Instead, my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when I read the last three words of this paragraph:

To be sure, this is nothing new to most Europeans – from black pudding to morcilla to Poland’s duck blood soup, the continent has almost too many blood recipes to count. Blood dishes are also common across South and Central America, Africa and most of Asia; you can find blood tofu in many Chinese grocery stores in Canada; some Vietnamese restaurants also offer pork blood pho.

Whoa! I have not seen pork blood in pho before and wondered if it was a new Canadian thing.