Tibetan Greens With Tofu Tse Tofu Recipes

TIBETAN GREENS WITH TOFU (TSE TOFU)

Steps:

• Wash the Swiss chard and tear it into pieces, removing the stems.
• Heat a little oil in a frying pan, and stir-fry the green onions, along with the paprika, ginger, and 2 cloves of garlic.
• Stir in the soy sauce, tofu, and peas.
• In a separate frying pan, heat a tablespoon of oil until it's very hot.
• Stir in the black pepper.
• Add the Swiss chard, still slightly wet, and toss to coat with the oil and pepper.
• Cover the pan and let it steam for 30 seconds.
• Spread the greens on a serving platter and pour the tofu mixture on top.

SAUTEED TOFU WITH BITTER GREENS

Steps:

• Cut tofu in half lengthwise, then cut each piece across into 6 slices. Place tofu on a paper-towel-lined plate. Cover with more paper towels; place another plate on top. Weight with a few soup cans. Chill 30 minutes so towels absorb excess water.
• In a medium bowl, combine soy sauce; sesame oil; chili paste or Tabasco, if using; lime juice; ginger; and garlic. Set aside. Transfer tofu to medium bowl; toss with half the marinade; let sit for 30 minutes.
• Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, arrange tofu in a single layer in pan. Cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to platter; repeat with remaining tofu. Gradually add greens to skillet with remaining marinade. Cook, tossing occasionally, until greens are wilted and most of the liquid has evaporated, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer to platter with tofu. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and red pepper; serve.

SHEET-PAN COLLARD GREENS AND CRISPY TOFU WITH NITER KIBBEH

Steps:

• Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 425°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil; spread out panko evenly on baking sheet. Toast, stirring once, until golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer panko to a plate; reserve baking sheet (leave oven on).
• Season tofu with ½ tsp. salt and arrange in a single layer on a work surface lined with a kitchen towel or several layers of paper towels. Fold towel over tofu, set a small rimmed baking sheet or cutting board on top and weigh down with a couple of cans or a heavy pan. Let sit 20 minutes to drain.
• Place garlic, ginger, and large sliced onion on reserved baking sheet. Drizzle with oil and 1 Tbsp. niter kibbeh and toss to coat. Roast, undisturbed, 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, rinse collard greens in a large bowl or sink filled with cold water and gently agitate. Lift from water (don't pour through a colander or you may redistribute sandy water all over greens) and repeat with fresh water. Remove greens from water.
• Remove baking sheet with roasted onion mixture from oven and arrange greens in a single layer over roasted vegetables (no need to pat dry). Return vegetables to oven and roast 10 minutes.
• Whisk tapioca flour, paprika, 1 tsp. coriander, ¼ tsp. cayenne, and 1 tsp. salt in a shallow bowl to combine. Beat egg whites in another shallow bowl until very thick and foamy (just shy of soft peaks). Set plate of toasted panko next to bowls.
• Unwrap tofu and transfer to a cutting board; halve each slab diagonally into triangles to make 12 pieces total. Working one at a time, dredge tofu in tapioca mixture, shaking off any excess, then dip in egg whites and shake off excess. Coat in panko, gently pressing to adhere. Place tofu on a large plate.
• Remove vegetables from oven (greens should be wilted and lightly charred around the edges at this point). Sprinkle with 1½ tsp. salt; stir gently and push vegetables toward center of baking sheet. Fold a short end of foil over to the opposite end of baking sheet and crimp edges together to make a sealed packet.
• Place tofu pieces on unlined side of baking sheet. Bake, turning tofu halfway through, 20 minutes. (Greens and onion should be very tender and tofu should be warmed through and the outside should be crisped.)
• Meanwhile, separate remaining small sliced onion into strips and place in an even layer in a small shallow bowl. Combine vinegar, sugar, a pinch of cayenne, and remaining ½ tsp. coriander, and remaining ½ tsp. salt in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high until just simmering, about 1 minute. (or heat in a small saucepan on the stovetop over medium-high). Pour over onion, making sure it is submerged. Let sit 20 minutes. Drain onion, reserving brine for drizzling if desired.
• Remove baking sheet from oven and open foil packet. Drizzle 1 Tbsp. niter kibbeh over greens; gently toss to distribute. Divide greens among plates; place 3 tofu pieces on each plate and drizzle with remaining 2 Tbsp. niter kibbeh. Scatter pickled onion over and drizzle with brine if using.

TIBETAN STYLE TOFU STEW

Steps:

• Soak the dried red chilis in some water.
• Place the shallot, garlic, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass and ginger root in a mortar and pestle and pound into a paste.
• Heat the oil in a saucepan.
• Stirfry the paste gently for about 5 mins til it softens.
• Add the turmeric powder and mix it in.
• Add a couple of spoons of the coconut milk and stirfry for a further 10 to 15 mins ensuring not to burn the mixture (add more milk if it gets too dry).
• Add the rest of the coconut milk, the fish sauce, and the palm sugar and bring to simmer, ensuring you never boil.
• Add the chopped up silken tofu and heat through.
• Add the juice of the lime.
• Serve with coriander leaf and sliced additional kaffir lime leaf as garnish.

SHAMEY MOMOS (VEGETABLE MOMOS)

Steps:

• Mix the all-purpose flour and the water very well by hand and knead until you make a smooth ball of dough.
• Knead the dough very well until the dough is quite flexible (about 5 minutes).
• Leave your dough in the bowl, covered, or in a plastic bag while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. You should not let the dough dry out or it will be hard to work with.
• Chop the onion, garlic, ginger, cilantro, bok choy, green onions, and mushrooms into very, very small pieces.
• Pre-cook the tofu and mushrooms, with the goal of cooking the water out of them. To do this, heat ¼ cup of cooking oil in a pan on high. Add chopped tofu and cook on medium-high for 2 minutes, until the edges are brown. Add the chopped mushrooms and cook another 3-4 minutes on medium high.
• Cool the mushrooms and tofu then mix very well with the other filling ingredients (if the mushrooms and tofu are not cooled, the green of the other vegetables will not come out correctly).
• Place the dough on a chopping board and use a rolling pin to roll it out quite thin, about ⅛ inch thick. It should not be so thin that you can see through it when you pick it up.
• After you have rolled out the dough, you will need to cut it into little circles for each momo.
• Method 1: The easiest way to do this is to turn a small cup or glass upside-down to cut out circles about the side of the palm of your hand. We use a cup 3 and ⅓ inches in diameter. That way, you don't have to worry about making good circles of dough, because each one will be the same size and shape. If you make circles this way, you may want to thin the edges of the circle a little bit before adding the filling by pinching your way around the edge of the circle. The idea is to make the edges thinner so that when you fold the dough there won't be a giant glob of dough in the folded places.
• Method 2: Of course, you can also make the circles by the more difficult traditional way. For this, first pinch off a small ball of dough. Next, use your palm to flatten out the ball. Then, flatten out the dough into a circle with a polling pin, making the edges more thin than the middle. This method is much harder to do and takes more time, though many Tibetans still use this method. In this case, the edges are pre-thinned so there is no need to thin them anymore.
• Now that you have a small, flat, circular piece of dough, you are ready to add the filling and make the mom shapes. These are many different choices for mom shapes, but for these veggie momos we will use a very common and pretty half-moon shape. This is one of the easier shapes to make.
• For this style, you begin by holding the flat circular dough in your left hand and putting about a tablespoon of veggie filling in the middle of the dough. It can be challenging if you put too much, so at first you may want to start with a little less filling.
• Beginning anywhere on the circle, pinch the edge of the dough together. Now you will fold in a small piece of dough from the "top" edge of the circle and pinch it down against the "bottom" edge of the circle. (Where the "bottom" half of the circle is the half facing you when the mom is in your hand.) The "bottom" edge of the circle-the edge nearest you-stays relatively flat and doesn't get folded. All the folding happens only on one side of the momo. Continue folding and pitching from the starting point, moving along the edge until you reach the other tip of the half-moon. The important point is to close all the openings well so that you don't lose the juice while cooking.
• As you are making your momos, you will need to have a nonstick surface and a damp cloth or lid handy to keep the momos you've made from drying out while you're finishing the others. You can lay the momos in the lightly greased trays of your steamer and keep the lid on them, or you can lay them on wax paper and cover them with the damp cloth.
• Boil water in a large steamer. (Tibetans often use a double-decker steamer to make many momos at one time.)
• Oil the steamer surface lightly before putting the momos in, so they won't stick to the metal. (We use spray oil.)
• Place the momos a little distance apart in the steamer and they will expand a little bit when they cook. They should not be touching.
• Add the momos after the water is boiling.
• With the water boiling on high heat, steam the momos for 10-12 minutes.
• As long as the dough is cooked, they are done, as the veggie filling hardly needs to cook more.
• Serve the momos right off the stove with the dipping sauce of your choice. At home, we mix together soy sauce and Patak's Lime Relish, which we get in Indian stores or the Asian section of supermarkets.

GRILLED TOFU AND SAUTEED ASIAN GREENS

Steps:

• Cut tofu crosswise into 6 slices. Arrange in 1 layer on a triple layer of paper towels and top with another triple layer of towels. Weight with a shallow baking pan or baking sheet and let stand 2 minutes. Repeat weighting with dry paper towels 2 more times.
• Stir together soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, Tabasco, and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a glass pie plate. Add tofu slices in 1 layer and marinate, turning over every couple of minutes, 8 minutes total.
• Heat a lightly oiled well-seasoned ridged grill pan over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Lift tofu from marinade with a slotted spatula (reserve marinade) and grill, turning over once carefully with spatula, until grill marks appear and tofu is heated through, 4 to 6 minutes total.
• While tofu grills, heat remaining teaspoon vegetable oil in a 12-inch skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté greens, tossing with tongs, until beginning to wilt. Add reserved marinade and sauté, tossing, until greens are just wilted, about 1 minute. Lift greens from skillet with tongs, letting excess marinade drip off, and divide between 2 plates.
• Serve greens with tofu slices.