On Monday, my husband had dental surgery and for his post-operation, recovery dinner, I made a comforting (read: easy to chew) tofu, shrimp, and peas stir-fry. The Trader Joe-san medium tofu came in a 1 1/4-pound (565 g) block and I only needed about a pound. I had a little block left. What can you do with a chunk of leftover tofu? You can save it in the fridge, or in my case last Monday, I added it to a simple Vietnamese soup with mustard greens and a bit of chicken thigh sitting in the fridge. Asian mustard greens come in many varieties. At an East Asian or Southeast Asian market, you see “big gai choi” or “little gai choi.” Vietnamese markets also have a... Continue reading

I’ve been making very simple foods for the past week, mostly because my days of recipe testing and writing have been very full, often extending till 11 p.m. when I collapse into bed. That kind of work schedule doesn’t permit elaborate cooking. By late afternoon, the kitchen can look like something exploded. After tidying up, my husband and I usually take a daily walk to buy groceries for dinner. Some days, that’s the only time I leave my house so I relish the chance to stretch my legs and breathe extra fresh air. It’s also an opportunity to ponder dinner. Local farmers grow some spectacularly tasty broccoli and broccolini, which are sold at weekly farmer’s markets as well as independent grocery stores. My default preparations... Continue reading

It was not so much nostalgia as a yearning for something deliciously Vietnamese that led me to whip up these scrambled eggs today. My mom taught me how to make scrambled eggs – after she let me prepare rice for the family. We’d have the eggs for lunch with bread. At the time, I didn’t realize how genius it was. There were just a handful of ingredients involved: shallot or yellow onion, tomato, eggs, fish sauce, and black pepper. If things got fancy, green onion was added for color. Making the Viet scrambled eggs got me thinking about the brilliance of simple cooking. For example, gently sauteing shallot turns it fragrantly sweet. Rush it and it can be harsh and hard. Go too far and... Continue reading

Over the weekend our friends Diane and John invited us over for a Cinco de Mayo dinner. They have two little boys, ages 2 and 4, who are adorable, a little rascally but over all pretty well behaved. I don’t have children so I dig observing the parenting process. A teacher by profession, Diane takes a kind-hearted educational approach to rearing her boys. While we were at their home, she got the older boy to fetch a step stool so he could stand at the kitchen sink to wash his dinner plate. We adults watched with amusement until we realized that there may be a knife in the sink. Diane let out a small cry, explaining to her son that sharp objects may be nearby,... Continue reading

Thanks to everyone who entered in the Pretty Good Number One ebook giveaway. As usual, I enjoyed reading your comments as they help me figure out what we can cook and discuss here at VWK. The people who won were: Jorgebob28, Jill, and BK. Congratulations! If you're curious about Japanese food and appreciate an honest, funny approach to travel writing, get a copy of Matthew Amster-Burton's book. As an ebook priced at $4.99, it's an extra good deal. The digital format means that you can easily take it anywhere with you, maybe even Tokyo! Continue reading

The Hmong farmers have returned to our weekly farmer’s market with a wealth of Asian produce. Last Saturday, they had gorgeous Thai basil and I swooped down upon a couple of bunches. Basil discolors quickly, its shelf life under refrigeration is just a few days. I wasn’t about to let it go to waste and thought of Thai chicken and basil, a simple stir-fry. The thing is, I didn’t want to make the dish with all chicken so I worked in some tofu. I substituted 10 ounces (300 grams) of extra-firm tofu for 8 ounces (240 grams) of the chicken in the original recipe, which called for a pound. That’s one of several strategy for using tofu for low-meat dishes. The keys to this dish... Continue reading

I like to eat meat, but just not in large quantities. I’m a low-meat eater, having grown up in a household where animal protein was never presented at the table in the form of entire roasts or birds. No Normal Rockwell images at the holidays. Food was offered in bite size pieces to (1) make it easier to pick up with chopsticks and (2) feed our family of seven on a budget. We consumed a lot of vegetables via canh (soups), lettuce and raw herbs, stir-fries, and noodle dishes. We regularly ate tofu too, usually seasoned with fish sauce and/or cooked with meat in various Vietnamese preparations. Yes, you can have your meat and eat tofu too! I didn’t know of vegetarian tofu scrambles, tofu... Continue reading

Soon after Asian Tofu was released last year, Matthew Amster-Burton tweeted that he’d used the book to make fresh yuba tofu skin. He went a couple of rounds with it and then told me that the DIY yuba experience was good preparation for his trip to Japan. I was both flattered and surprised because there are so many wonderful things to eat in Japan and Matthew, a talented writer based in Seattle, was extra keen on tofu. As it turned out, Matthew had a purpose. He and his wife, Laurie, and eight-year-old daughter, Iris, spent a month in Tokyo last summer. They rented a one-room apartment about the size of a single-car garage and ventured out on daily eating adventures. Matthew recounted their experiences in... Continue reading

I go grocery shopping practically every day. It’s part of my routine and my work. While it’s a luxury to buy and cook fresh ingredients daily, it can sometimes be a chore that I have to surmount. Yesterday was a case in point. I’d been working on a seafood recipe for days and had to go back to the supermarket yet again for more fish. We’d eaten enough of the seafood recipe trials to be seafood-ed out so I couldn’t put my husband through it again. I had to go two more rounds with my seafood recipe last night but I wanted to dine on something else. What could be a quick and satisfying solution? Pork. Not a roast but a pork chop, thinly sliced... Continue reading