In this dish (두부전골 or Korean tofu hot pot), two slices of pan-fried tofu are stuffed with and egg-based seasoning and tied together with a knot to hold their contents together. Traditionally minced beef is used but I've instead used shitake mushroom for a meatless dish. The bundles are then cooked together (boiled) together with carrot, mushroom, and daikon radish.
1. First cut the tofu into thick slices and weigh them down with a weight to remove excess liquid. Set aside 15 mins or more and remove liquid.
2. Dust tofu with flour and a little salt/pepper and fry in oil until crispy on both sides. Set aside.
3. Parboil green onions in salted watter until they go limp. Set aside.
4. Create an egg-shitake seasoning by mixing one egg white, 1 fine chopped shitake mushroom, 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp finely chopped green onion, 1/2 tsp crushed garlic, 1/2 tsp sesame oil, pepper to taste. Set aside.
5. Lay down one wilted green onion and then place one piece fried tofu on top. Place 1 tsp of the egg seasoning on top of the tofu. Place another piece of tofu on top and tie the bundle together with a green onion. Repeat and set aside.
6. Slice daikon, carrot thinly and set aside. Clean two shitake mushrooms and set aside. Line the bottom of a pot with the daikon. Place bundles on top. Interleave the bundles with carrot and mushrooms.
7. Finally, create a cooking sauce by combining 2 cups of mushroom stock, 1/2 tsp crushed garlic, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp soy sauce. Pour over the bundles until the liquid almost reaches the top. Simmer on low until most but not all of the liquid has been boiled off.
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Comments
That is one cute little bundle. For some reason yr banner is not getting loaded sometimes. I use Firefox. Just bringing it to yr notice!
Posted by: Suganya | July 7, 2007 12:06 PM
which type of tofu did you use? cuz i am assuming that should the tofu had been too soft.. that weight would have disintegrated it.
Posted by: deborah | July 8, 2007 04:01 PM
Deb: I use a firm or extra firm tofu. If you use the soft type, the weight will not stand.
Posted by: Evil J | July 8, 2007 04:17 PM
Looking forward to trying this dish out next weekend.
Couple quick questions for you, have you had any experience stuffing the tofu with Kimchi, or feel that would be over the top or not meld well?
Also in your research have you come across any Korean dishes that utilize malt fermented beverages (I would just say beer, but there are a number of fermented drinks out there outside of beer)?
Thanks again.
Brian
Posted by: Brian | July 14, 2007 06:56 AM
Brian: hail fellow fermenter! Well of course, beer goes very well with any type of Korean food. :-) But as far as cooking with it, the only thing which comes to mind is the Korean sweet rice drink which is consumed after a meal, made with malt of some sort, but that's not really a dish... Regarding stuffing the tofu with kimchi, I wouldn't do that because the kimchi will lose all its flavor while the dish is being simmered. Boiled kimchi is kinda yucky. Good luck!
Posted by: Evil J | July 14, 2007 02:14 PM
excellent point man, and I forgot that boiling the Kimchi would kill off..or pastuerize the beneficial fermentations going on with the kimchi.
I'm going to look into this sweet rice drink and will post on it potentially, it sounds somewhat like a cloudy or unfiltered sake in a way, just not as attenuated (the yeasts/bacteria do not eat all the fermentable sugers etc). Thanks again for the great info!
Brian
Posted by: Brian | July 14, 2007 06:09 PM
this is such a brilliant way to stuff tofu! i try to do it other ways but no matter how hard i try, the tofu is falling apart all over, firm or not. i'll be using this technique often! thanks!
Posted by: Linda, The Village Vegetable | July 21, 2007 06:02 AM