8 recipes that use firm tofu, with photos, step-by-step instructions and cook times. The quickest, Goya champuru, takes 20 minutes. It is most often cooked with garlic, soy sauce and spring onion.
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Cubes of tofu coated in seasoned cornflour and fried until crisp, then tossed quickly in a hot wok with sliced white onion, strips of red chilli, green chilli and garlic, and finished with plenty of spring onions. Spicy, crunchy and ready in minutes; serve straight away as a starter or with rice. Like most Thai dishes it is best cooked just before serving, as it doesn't reheat well.
A rich, fragrant Thai soup: tofu strips, small aubergines, French beans and broccoli simmered in vegetable stock and coconut milk flavoured with red curry paste, lime leaves, lemongrass, galangal, lime rind, garlic and fresh basil. Garnished with slit chillies and served hot. Cook it close to serving time, as Thai dishes don't reheat well. You can use a ready-made red curry paste (check it is free of shrimp paste) or make the paste ahead and freeze it.
A dry Thai-style curried rice: cubes of tofu or paneer, carrots and French beans are fried with a home-made massaman paste of red chilli, cinnamon, cardamom, clove, lemongrass and lemon rind, then tossed through cooked rice. It is finished with roasted peanuts, crisp fried onions, spring onions and a squeeze of lime, so every mouthful is warm, aromatic and crunchy. A complete meal on its own.
Gyoza (餃子) came to Japan from China and became a passion in Utsunomiya, a city north of Tokyo that calls itself the gyoza capital, with a gyoza statue outside the station. These vegetarian dumplings are filled with salted cabbage, shiitake, tofu and garlic chives. They're pan-fried and then steamed, so the bottoms turn crisp and golden while the tops stay soft. Shape a big batch and freeze some for later. Chef's tip: squeeze the salted cabbage really hard. Watery filling makes soggy, torn gyoza; a dry filling keeps the wrappers sealed and the bottoms crisp.
Goya champuru (ゴーヤーチャンプルー) is the best-known dish of Okinawa, Japan's southern islands, where bitter melon (goya) grows on vines in summer. Champuru means 'mixed up' in the Okinawan language: slices of goya are stir-fried with firm tofu and egg, and the bitterness is balanced by soy and the richness of the egg. Pork or Spam is usual; this vegetarian version relies on well-browned tofu. Serve with rice. Chef's tip: scrape out every bit of the white pith from inside the goya. That's where most of the harsh bitterness lives, so a clean scrape gives you the pleasant, refreshing bitterness Okinawans love.
Dolsot bibimbap (돌솥비빔밥) is bibimbap served in a heavy stone pot (dolsot) that is heated on the hob until the rice touching the stone turns into a crackling golden crust, called nurungji. It is eaten all over Korea and is still sizzling when it reaches the table. This vegetarian version tops the rice with seasoned spinach, bean sprouts, carrot, mushrooms and pan-fried tofu, and an egg that cooks gently in the heat of the pot. A small cast-iron pan works if you don't have stone bowls. Chef's tip: listen to the pot. A steady crackle with a toasty, nutty smell means the crust is forming; a sharp burnt smell means the heat is too high.
Gimbap (김밥) are rolls of sesame-seasoned rice and colourful fillings wrapped in roasted seaweed, then sliced into rounds. They are the classic Korean picnic and lunchbox food, sold on almost every street corner nationwide. Unlike sushi rice, gimbap rice is seasoned with salt and sesame oil rather than vinegar, so it tastes nutty and savoury. This vegetarian version is filled with omelette strips, garlicky spinach, carrot, soy-glazed tofu, cucumber and the bright yellow pickled radish called danmuji. They keep well for a few hours, so they are good to make ahead for a trip. Chef's tip: season the rice while it is warm and spread it thin, no more than a few grains deep. Thick rice and wet fillings are the two reasons rolls burst or go soggy.
Doenjang jjigae (된장찌개) is the stew Korean families all over the country eat most often: a bubbling pot of fermented soybean paste broth with tofu, potato, courgette, mushrooms and chilli, served with rice and banchan. Doenjang is deeper and funkier than Japanese miso, and it gives the broth a rich, earthy savouriness. It is usually made with anchovy stock; here a quick kelp and shiitake stock does the same job, so the stew is vegan. Serve it in the pot it was cooked in, still bubbling. Chef's tip: add the doenjang early and let it simmer. Its earthy depth comes out with a few minutes of bubbling, and it is better a little thick and salty than thin, as it is eaten with plenty of rice.
