An Asian market recently opened down the street so I decided to check it out. They have all kinds of ingredients I'm unfamiliar with and I'm really looking forward to some cooking adventures. Here's my first:
Last night's dinner was a tofu stir-fry. Most of the ingredients were familiar to me, except for the two greens (they're different). To the left is Yu Choy; that's Gailan on the right. Apparently, Yu Choy is an edible rape, and Gailan is a kale. The woman at the register said they would both be good for stir-fry. She told me gailan is used in Pad See Ew.
I used my basic tofu stir-fry recipe. Actually, it's more of a technique than a recipe. I marinate the tofu in a ginger/garlic/soy sauce mixture. Then I stiry fry the veggies, add walnuts, then the tofu, after adding the marinade to a vegetable broth, orange juice and corn starch mixture to thicken it up. It's pretty tasty, if I do say so myself.
The tofu was incredibly good. I like the kind that already has the water pressed out of it (but isn't already baked or seasoned). Whole Foods has an organic brand that's good, but a little chewy. This tofu was smooth and silky while maintaining its shape. The Yu Choy was good, in a broccoli/bok choy kind of way. The woman had said that gailan was a little bitter and I was hesitant, because I have a low tolerance for bitterness, but it was perfect. It had just a teensy bitter little afterbite. It also stayed crunchier than the Yu Choy. I have a little trouble sometimes not overcooking at least one vegetable in my stir fries. I've learned to separate the leaves from the stems on bok choy (and the Yu Choy and the Gailan) and add the leaves last, and I've also learned to add zucchini close to the end. And I've finally learned that snow peas only take a minute or two to cook and should also be added toward the end. But I'm getting more consistent with practice.
The main reason I picked the two greens was that the baby bok choy and the napa cabbage (two of my more usual stir-fry mainstays) didn't look that good. It's nice to have more options. I'll definitely be using these two greens again.
I'm so glad this store opened just around the corner. I can't wait to try something else that's new!
Three of the four raglan edges are sewn together on Jammie. I hope to get the fourth sewn and the collar picked up tonight. I still plan to wear it Saturday.
1 comment:
Jammie. I ask you, what kind of a name is that? I'm stymied by what names designers use. Just like I always wonder who names lipstick or eyeshadow colors. It's a really nice sweater, though. I've thought of making it myself.
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