| But First A Menu Plug…Springs a comin’ here at Rose’s, WE HAVE CUCUMBERS!! Spring Leek Dumplings with Miso Sauce, Bluefin Tuna Belly Salad, Spring Rapini on Everything (kind of, but not really), Banh Mi’s with our house Baloney (no making that up), Come see us this weekend, we’ve sourced some beautiful local goodness for you! 🌱🥟🥒🫛 |
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| Tofu is Really Good. |
| It takes a bit to get into the scene, it’s not the most attractive alternate protein, and a lot of Carnivores don’t want to hear about it.But when you fry things and them smash them, well everyone likes that. And for that we have our tofu salad. |
 Let’s make this easy.. Like not ten trips to Li Mings for obscure things you only need for one recipe… that eventually start leaking in the cabinet even though it’s in a glass bottle and the lids on and you haven’t used it since the pandemic.. No there’s only one must and there’s a little wiggle room, It’s Thai Soybean Paste, it’s at Li Mings, near all the fish sauces. If you have white, chickpea, or even a lighter brown miso in the fridge you can use that. |
| Everything Else: |
 Firm Tofu Thin Sliced Vegetable (more on this later, we are using roasted oyster mushrooms in the photos) Toasted Rice Powder (sold at limings or make your own with any sort of rice you have) Whole Coriander Mint, Cilantro Sliced Raw Shallot Tofu Dressing See Below Thai or other hot, Fresh Chili |
 The Dressing.IngredientPreparedAmountginger oil (canola) 280 ggarlicsliced thin on mandoline240 gthai soy bean paste 300 glite/reg Soy 200 gsugar 70 g |
| Saute your thin sliced garlic over high heat in the oil. Once the Garlic is Starting to Brown on the edges add the soybean/miso paste. Saute that about a minute or so until it starts to smell a bit more pungent (funky), then add the soy sauce and sugar, bring to a simmer and then set aside. This sauce can be made well in advance and can also be used a variety of settings (think tomato/watermelon/asparagus salad, ceviche, etc.). |
 We are almost ready to put this together, but first let’s talk quick about two of the ingredients listed above. First the thin sliced vegetable. This is one of the pillar ingredients in the salad, so lets take it seriously. We change what we put in its place as the seasons change in the year. Right now/Next coming weeks, I would suggest thin sliced asparagus, You could even do chickweed from your yard, Blanched Green Garlic Or Leeks would work, Pea Shoots!, As the spring progresses, how about salted zucchini, thin sliced green beens, halved sugar snap peas… Summer: Thin sliced green tomatoes, Heaps of Salted Celery… you get the idea. Next the Roasted Rice and Coriander , This is a pretty important flavor to have in the salad. For extra credit you can also add roasted dry chilies that you’ve pounded to a coarse powder. But the rice is pretty important, you can really use any rice if you wanna make it easy, There is a recipe link in the top section. (we use mostly sushi rice for this in the restaurant). The Coriander seed can be quickly coarse ground in the spice grinder, same with the rice if you made it otherwise you can use the premade from Li Mings. Mix the two ingredients roughly 1:1 and the chili to taste if you are using. |
 Time to Put it Together1) Fry the Tofu, You can shallow fry it in a pan one side at a time, Personally at home I use an old pot lid to prop the front a cast iron up and that scoots the oil to the back the pan, giving you a little shallow fry area. use about 3-4 ounces raw tofu per salad. 2) Gather your seasonings, do this while it’s frying. We put the chopped mint/cilantro, Shallots, Vegetable you are using, Dressing, Seasoning powder, Lime/Lemon Juice and Fresh Thai Chili if you like (we like) and give that a little mix. This is all to taste. I’m not giving amounts so you can experiment, I would suggest equal parts tofu (Fried Volume) to vegetable to start. |
| 3) Smash it UP! We cut it into smaller pieces then place in a mortar and pestle. There are multiple ways of doing this, you’re gonna be fine, promise. 4) Mix it all up and taste! adjust the seasoning, taste again! It should be at the same time salty, Sweet, Herbaceous, a little Tangy & Crunchy! We Serve this with Rice and Slices of something Crunchy at the restaurant. But it would be great inside a folded omelette, in Lettuce Wraps or… That’s All I got, Please let us know if you have any other Ideas, how it turned out, or any other questions!! TOFU! Hope to see y’all this beautiful weekend! Thanks for reading!  |