"Ganmodoki" (Japanese tofu fritter) and steamed broccoli and scrambled egg with oyster-mayonnaise sauce

Photo by bodhilens

"Ganmodoki" means pseudo-goose in Japanese. I've heard that Japanese Buddhist monks invented it for poultry substitute. Traditionally it's deep-fried, but this oven-baked version turned out to be yummy and easier to make. Also, whoever first thought of mixing oyster sauce and Japanese mayonnaise is genius, I think. The sauce amazingly goes well with steamed broccoli and scrambled egg. 

Ingredients for ganmodoki (for about 16 pieces):

1 large or 2 small packs of firm tofu (14 oz)

1/3 pack of dry "hijiki" seaweed

2 carrots

5 "shiitake" mushroom (or any other mushrooms)

5 "ao-jiso" leaves (green perilla) (or green onion)

1 egg

3 TBSP of "katakuriko" (potato starch)

1 TBSP of cooking rice wine (or any white cooking wine)

2 tsp of soy sauce

1/2 tsp of sea salt

Sesame oil (for brushing)

"Ponzu" (citrus soy sauce, for dipping)

Directions:

1. Strain water from tofu by wrapping it with a cotton cloth or paper towel and heating it in microwave for a few minutes.

2. Wash and soak hijiki in water, while grating carrots, chopping mushrooms and ao-jiso. 

3. Squeeze water out of hijiki, and crush tofu.

4. Mix all and add seasonings (except for sesame oil). If the mixture is too loose, add more katakuriko until it clumps. 

5. Preheat oven at 400F. 

6. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Take 2 TBSP of the mixture, make a small patty, and put in on the paper. Brush all patties with sesame oil.

7. Bake for 20-30 minutes until the patties turn golden blown. 

8. Serve ganmodoki with ponzu. 

Ingredients for steamed broccoli and scrambled egg with oyster-mayonnaise sauce (for 2 people):

1/2 bunch of broccoli floret

1 egg

2 TBSP of oyster sauce

2 TBSP of Japanese mayonnaise

1-2 smidgens of stevia

Directions:

1. Cut broccoli floret into a bite size and steam them. 

2. Make scrambled egg

3. Mix #1 and #2 with the seasonings.

Tiramisu with cream cheese and custard sweetened by stevia

Tiramisu is probably one of my favorite desserts for a special occasion. Hope this recipe won’t offend Italian people. It’s difficult to find mascarpone cheese at local grocery stores in Kentucky (or anywhere in Japan), and if they sell one, it’s kind of pricey. So I searched alternative recipes online and learned that some people used cream cheese instead. I tweaked this Japanese recipe by replacing fresh egg yokes with custard (well, because I’ve been advised not to eat raw eggs in the United States), and as usual, almost all sugar with pure stevia powder. If I could not find ladyfingers at local grocery stores, I would use Marie biscuits as they were called for in the original recipe. (They are usually sold in Indian grocery stores in the U.S.) Graham crackers might work, too. (Photo by bodhilens)

Ingredients (for one 8 inch x 8 inch x 2 inch Pyrex square baking dish):

Custard (100 ml or about a half cup of milk, 1 TBSP of flour or cornstarch, 2 egg yolks, and 1 tsp of rum or vanilla essence, sweetened by 3 smidgens of stevia)

1 pack of cream cheese (200-250g)

200-250 ml (about a half pint) of heavy cream, sweetened by 3 smidgens of stevia

24 pieces (or more) of ladyfingers

2 TBSP of instant coffee dissolved in 7 TBSP of hot water (or espresso) sweetened by 1 TBSP of sucanat (or sugar) and 3 smidgens of stevia

1 TBSP of unsweetened cocoa powder sweetened by 1 TBSP of sucanat (or sugar) and 1 smidgen of stevia

Directions:

1. Make custard. If you go for a conventional way, put flour in a sauce pan, turn on low heat, slowly pour milk and whisk until flour is completely dissolved in milk, slowly pour beaten egg yolks while whisking the mixture, and continue to whisk the mixture until it thickens. (If you go for a convenient way, dissolve flour in milk and beaten egg yolks in a microwave safe bowl, heat the mixture in a microwave for a minute, take it out and whisk it, heat it again for another minute, and continue the procedure until the mixture thickens.) Add rum or vanilla essence and stevia. Let custard cool.

2. Make coffee. Add sucanat and stevia.

3. Whip cream cheese in a bowl.

4. Whip heavy cream in another bowl. Add stevia.

5. Make cream mixture. Add #1 to #2 and whip a bit. Add #3 to the mixture and whip a bit again.

6. Place a half of lady fingers in a baking dish. Pour a half of #2 sweetened coffee over.

7. Spread a half of #5 cream mixture on the layer of lady fingers soaked in sweetened coffee.

8. Place the rest of lady fingers on the layer of cream mixture. Pour the rest of sweetened coffee over.

9. Spread the rest of cream mixture on top.

10. Cool tiramisu in a fridge for an hour or longer. (In the meantime, you can wash a pile of dishes in your sink.)

11. Mix cocoa powder, sucanat, and stevia. Sprinkle the mixture over tiramisu with a strainer. Let tiramisu rest in the fridge for a while. It tastes even better next day.

Citrus flavored olive oil biscotti

I had never thought of myself becoming a baker while growing up in Japan. We only had a toaster oven in our kitchen and kept a small container of margarine in our fridge. Several pieces of cookies were all I could bake at home, and my mother would be upset if I used up all margarine for cookies. So you can imagine how excited I was when I seized my first opportunity to bake cake in an American-standard size (= gigantic) oven in my apartment in Kentucky. I had fun trying out a few boxes of cake mix with different flavors, but soon I realized that they were too sweet and heavy for me. Now whenever I find intriguing recipes for sweets, I almost always tweak them. I first see if I can reduce the amount of sugar and butter. Then, I experiment with replacing white wheat flour with whole wheat flour, white refined sugar with sucanat, raw unfiltered honey, and/or pure stevia powder, and butter with extra virgin olive oil.

Here's an example of my tweaking and experimentation. This recipe is based on “Gigi’s olive oil biscotti” that I found in the DHC magazine. (DHC is a Japanese company that is famous for olive oil-based skincare products, and they recently sell fancy olive oil, too.) Although the biscotti were delicious as they were (see the original recipe here) and already healthier than buttery biscotti, I wanted to make them even healthier. You can use any citrus peals/juice/extracts (e.g., lemon, orange, yuzu) for flavor or citrus conserves/spreads to take care of both sweetness and flavor. (Photo by bodhilens)

Ingredients (for about 40 small pieces):

2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 tsp of baking powder
1 pinch of sea salt
Any combination of sweeteners that is as sweet as 10 TBSP of sugar*
1 TBSP of citrus peels and 1 tsp of juice/extract*
2 eggs
3 TBSP of extra virgin olive oil
40 roasted whole almonds (or any other large nuts)

*I have tried the following combinations of sweeteners and flavors: (a) 4 TBSP of yuzu marmalade, 1 TBSP of orange spread, and 5 pinches of stevia; and (b) 1 TBSP of lemon zest, 1 tsp of lemon juice, 5 TBSP of sucanat, and 5 pinches of stevia. Both delicious.

Directions:

1. Mix all wet ingredients (i.e., citrus peels and juice, and olive oil) and sweeteners in one bowl .
2. Add eggs in the bowl and beat the wet mixture.
3. Mix all dry ingredients in another bowl (i.e., whole wheat flour, baking powder, and salt).
4. Gradually add the dry mixture into the wet mixture to make dough. (You don't have to knead the dough, just mix all ingredients well.)
5. You can either knead nuts into the dough or half-bury them on top of the dough after Step 6**
6. Divide the dough into 4 parts and form them into 5 cm x 20 cm (apx. 2 inch x 8 inch) flat squares on a parchment paper.
7. Bake at 360 degrees F (apx. 180 degrees C) for about 20 minutes or until they are golden brown.
8. Remove the baked squares from oven, let them cool a bit, and slice each square diagonally into 10 pieces.
9. Return the sliced pieces to oven and bake them for about 10 minutes or until they are crispy.

**In the former, nuts are likely to stay inside but may be placed very unevenly across biscotti; in the latter, they can be placed very evenly but may fall off from the top of biscotti. Your choice J

Tofu, tomato, and broccoli salad with sweet and sour garlic soy sauce dressing (garnished with sweet corn kernels and nasturtium leaves and flowers)

This is one of my favorite salads as a main dish. Tofu can be substituted by avocado or cooked meat (e.g., thinly sliced beef or shredded chicken breast). Today I pan-fried firm tofu dusted with "katakuriko"/potato starch, but it was not as good as fresh soft tofu. Meaty and sweet kinds of tomatoes, like cherokee purple, work best for this salad. (Photo by bodhilens)

Ingredients (for 3-4 servings):

1 pack of tofu (14 oz)
2 crowns of broccoli
2 large ripe tomatoes

For dressing:

2 TBSP of soy sauce
2 TBSP of sesame oil
1 TBSP of rice vinegar
2 cloves of garlic (grated)
1/2 smidgen (i.e., a tip of a flat toothpick amount) of stevia powder* (or any other sweetener)

For garnishing (optional):
1 cup of cooked sweet corn kernels
A few fresh nasturtium leaves and flowers

Directions:

1. Mix the ingredients for dressing and let it sit for a while (so that garlic blends in and gets milder).
2. Chop broccoli into chunks and cook them as you like (e.g., microwaving, boiling, or steaming for a few minutes).
(3. Cook sweet corn kernels as you like [e.g., microwaving or sauteing with a bit of butter].)
4. Cut tofu into small square pieces.
5. Slice tomatoes.
6. Place 2, 4, & 5 on a plate and drizzle the dressing over.
(7. Garnish with 3 and a few fresh nasturtium leaves and flowers if you like.)

*I have tried a few different brands of stevia powder and found Simply Stevia by Stevia Co., Inc. the sweetest and the most economical. I often replace 1 TBSP of sugar called for in any recipe with 1 smidgen of this stevia powder.