Tofu Balls
I’m always on a mission to search for tasty non-meat meatballs.
Terry said there is a depth in flavors of these tofu balls and that makes me very happy.
When you don’t use any meat, you need to think out of the box and be creative in order to produce rich flavors.
This time my secret ingredients were hijiki (a type of dried seaweed) and kiriboshi-diakon (dried daikon radish).
They both need to be soaked before use. Dried food like these are awesome and almost necessary in plant-based cooking because they add rich flavors. If you are not familiar with these particular foods I used, think of dried mushrooms or dried fruit. They are always packed with condensed flavors and provide more richness compared to their fresh counterpart.
Adding onion and garlic are also a must in my opinion. Do not cook onion too long as you want to keep the texture in the finished result.
Although many ingredients are Japanese, these tofu balls are very versatile. I added these to pasta with tomato sauce for dinner last night and it was delicious!
1 package extra firm tofu, microwaved 2 minutes, patted dry with paper towels, crumbled by hands
1 garlic, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup hijiki, soaked in water until tender, patted dry with paper towels
1/4 cup dried daikon radish (kiriboshi daikon), soaked in water, chopped, patted dry with paper towels
1/4 ~ 1/3 cup bread crumbs
1/2 tablespoon sugar
salt and pepper
flour for dusting
canola oil for cooking
1. Cook garlic and onion with oil in a pan. Combine all the ingredients except for flour. Make balls.
2. Dust each balls with flour.
3. Cook tofu balls with oil in a pan until browned.
豆腐ボール
あえて団子と呼びたくなかったんですよね~。
団子、というと、和や中華の料理に限られてしまうような気がして。
この豆腐ボール、材料は和なものが多いのですけどね。。。
豆腐のほかには、にんにく、玉ねぎ、ひじき、切り干し大根がたっぷり入っています。
テリーが言うには、味に深みがあるね、って。
コレはほめ言葉ですよね~。
特に肉を全然使っていないので、味に奥行を出すのが一番のチャレンジだったので。
ひじきや切り干し大根みたいにドライ・乾燥したものは旨みがぎゅーっと詰まっているのでいい働きをしてくれます。
ずっと前に買っていたのに、全然つかえてなかった切り干し大根も今回黒幕として大活躍。
この豆腐ボール、単にふわふわじゃなくって、玉ねぎの歯ごたえがしっかりあるのも気に入りました。
今回は、パスタとトマトソースで、イタリアンな料理に使ってみましたが、違和感ありませんよ~。
アメリカ中西部での私たちの普段着二人暮らしの様子を、もう一つのブログAfter Hoursにて綴っています。
2 thoughts on “Tofu Balls
豆腐ボール”
Thalia @ butter and
These tofu balls are so great for me to recreate for my vegetarian family. Great recipe!
Reiko Reply:
October 5th, 2014 at 8:35 pm
Thank you! I hope you and your family will like them as much as we did. Enjoy!
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