Silken Tofu for a Sultry Day
On a warm day, this is as simple and delicious as it gets.
Bet you never thought you’d see the words, “tofu” and “sultry” together, did you?
After all, the bean curd doesn’t always get the love it deserves. But this easy-breezy dish might just make you a believer.
On a warm, lazy day, there’s nothing better than “Silken Tofu with Avocado.”
It’s from “Every Grain of Rice” (W.W. Norton & Company), the newest cookbook by Chinese cooking authority Fuchsia Dunlop. The cookbook, of which I received a review copy, includes 150 recipes for straightforward, Chinese home-style dishes. Included are helpful primers on Chinese ingredients and cooking techniques.
Cold dishes are traditionally served at the start of a meal. It’s actually a sly way to tide guests over with already prepared noshes while the host gets busy stir-frying the rest of the meal.
Dunlop writes that she first experienced a tofu-avocado dish like this years ago in a restaurant in the southern hills of Taipei, where the cuisine is influenced by Taiwanese street food, as well as Taiwan’s history as a Japanese colony.
Indeed, the flavors of this dish will remind you of a California roll, what with the avocado, soy sauce and hit of wasabi.