Fresh Summer rolls with Tofu

This one i also made a while ago. Fresh summer rolls are so good and to make them, is not so complicated either. This recipe is with marinaded and fried tofu in them and also couple of sauces to dip. It takes a while until you learn how to roll a perfect roll, but it's not rocket science so anyone can do it! You can basically put anything inside the rolls, what you feel like. Here's a recipe of how i made these ones.
You need:

For Rolls:
Rice paper
Firm Tofu
Glass noodles or thin rice noodles
Carrots
Paprica
Iceberg salad
Cucumber
Sprouts
Fresh Coriander

Spices for Tofu:
Sesame oil
Chilipowder
Soy sauce
Salt
Pepper

First cut the Tofu on long slim slide cubes ( see the picture) and marinade the tofu for about 15 min with the spices listed above. Then fry the tofu on oil in a hot pan. Set a side when the tofu has golden brown skin. Prepare the vegetables and the glass/rice noodles. Chop the vegetables also long slim slides. Boil some hot water and put the noodles in for about 10 min to them to get soft. Pour out the water and rinse some cold water thru the noodles. Let them cool down. Meanwhile you can do the sauces, so jump in the sauce recipe. After the noodles and tofu has cooled down a bit you can start making the rolls. First put some warm water on a deeper plate and dip the rice paper in. Set the wet rice paper on a clean cutting board and start piling stuff in, salad first, then tofu and vegetables, noodles and some fresh coriander. Then roll it once forward, turn both sides (left and right) on top of the roll and roll the rest paper over. The roll should just close by it self since the rice paper is sticky. Set the ready roll on a plate and cover it with wet towel. This prevents the roll to get dry. Keep on rolling the rest same way, probably the first ones don't go so well, i messed up some in the beginning too, hah!When you're done, take the dips out from the fridge and dip rolls into them. Enjoy!

Coconut-Curry sauce:

You need:

1 can of creamy coconut milk
Salt
Curry powder
Hint of pepper

Just mix about 3 tea spoons of curry powder in to a bowl with the creamy coconut milk. Add salt and a hint of pepper. Taste that has nice and smooth curry flavor. Put to fridge to spice up for a little while.

Sweet chili sauce: 

You need:

Fresh coriander
Garlic ( one small clove)
Fresh Chili ( as much as you like to heat it up)
Ginger ( tiny piece)
Fish sauce (optional soy sauce)
Honey (running)
Sugar
Salt

Add a hint of warm water in a bowl, about 1/5 dl.  Add some sugar and honey. Mixx well to make them melt in the water. Add thinly chopped chili, garlic and ginger in. You can also mash those in a mortar if you want to make more like a pasty to add in. Add fish sauce and hint of salt. (optional soy sauce), Add fresh chopped coriander. Taste that has enough sweet taste and also same time a bit salty from the fish sauce. Add more if needed. The sauce is supposed to be sweet but also a bit salty at the same time.

Smoky Soy File & Tabasco Potatoes

I haven't been publishing anything for a while, since i've been really busy but now i will start doing it again! Here's a recipe for a dish i did a while ago. I try to remember all i added in, since it's a while ago and i always cook from my head, hah! I was in a mood of making barbecue flavored food, so i made up this great recipe!

You need:

Dried Soy files
1 can thick Tomato sauce
Tabasco ( hickory and normal)
Garlic
Salt
Pepper
Chili powder
Bacon salt or smoke salt
Potatoes
1 bottle of beer
Oil
Vegetarian broth cube

First put the dried soy files boiling in a vegetarian broth. Peel the potatoes and heat up the oven up to 225 celsius degrees. Chop the potatoes on half thin pieces and place them in a bowl that has some space for broth too. Add salt, pepper, 3-4 cloves of garlic (chopped), Tabasco (hickory and normal), chili powder and in the end beer and a bit of water. Put the potatoes in oven and cook about 30 min, until they are soft and you can smell the delicious spices. Meanwhile pour the water out of the files and squeeze the extra liquid out. Heat up a pan and add some oil. Fry the soy files on the pan until they get nice crispy skin. Then add tomato sauce and a bit of beer. Add Salt, pepper, chili powder, tabasco and my key spice in this dish is "Bacon Salt". You can find that in extreme food stores or online, just google it, but it's damn good stuff! I used the normal and the Hickory bacon salt. This stuff does not contain bacon, only just artificial flavors. So it's suitable for vegans too ( and makes everything taste like bacon, haha! If you don't have that stuff, you can use smoky flavored or hickory flavored salt too. Let the soy "suck" all the flavors in for about 10-15 min with a small heat. Taste that there is enough flavor and serve with the potatoes and some apple-radish salad. DE-Licious!

Find Mastertofu in Facebook!

Hi!

I haven't been updating the blog for a while now, so sorry for that. I have been busy organizing my wedding.. So yes i just got married! I will be adding new recipes soon, since i just got a new computer, so it will be easier to work with the pictures and update new stuff to the blog. So just be patient for a little while, new stuff coming up soon ;) Meanwhile go like my Mastertofu Facebook page, i will be updating that also along with the Blog! Find it here: Mastertofu

Here's some pics of my recent foods:

Farang -Stockholm-

Couple weeks ago, i took my fiancee to eat in this new restaurant in Stockholm Sweden, called Farang. It's a cosy restaurant where you can taste flavours from Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia, all mixed together. I knew this restaurant already earlier, since i am originally from Helsinki, Finland and the first Farang was opened there in 2011. The co-owners of Farang Stockholm are Tomi Björk, Matti Wikberg and Kim Öhman. Tomi and Matti are also the Co-owners of the Farang Helsinki. Tomi is also famous in Finland of being the head judge in Master -and Junior Masterchef Finland. He also has his own Tv cooking-show called "Tomin keittiössä". Well there was a little backround to you about the place, you can read more from their webpage www.farang.se. 

We booked a table and were lucky to even get one, since this place is newly opened, so it was fully booked. The atmosphere was really open and spacy. I liked that you could actually see in the kitchen and see the chefs working there. I was happy to see also Tomi Björk in the kitchen preparing meals.

In Helsinki i had already tried out the "Vegetarian Tasting Menu", which is served at least for two persons, but mostly for the whole table. I can say that, that was probably the best food experience i had ever had, when i ate that in Helsinki, so i was really exited to taste another tasting menu here in Stockholm.

We tooked the first menu which was 690kr /person that included vegetarian/fish and meat dishes, but since i don't eat meat i asked them to change mine to fish or vegetarian versions and they were happy to do that. We started up with a drink called "Ladyboy". It was a coctail mixure of : Beefeater Gin, ginger, mint, lime, lychee & ginger beer. Tasty & good kick start for the meal. The first tasting dish came really quick after the ordering. The first dish was "Cha  Plu Leaf with smoked salmon, roasted peanuts & trout roe". It was a perfect little piece of delicious flavours. I might think it was the best thing actually in the whole menu. I could have eaten just those! So fresh, full of flavours that it felt you had a party in your mouth. Seriously. SO DAMN good!








The next dish was "Pike Perch Sashimi, Vietnamise style" with asian herbs& black vinegar dressing. OH MY GOD! This was yet again 10/10 points. The fish just melted in my mouth and the flavours were so good. People often say, that why spend so much money on fancy food when you get so little on the plate? I mostly also agree with them, but i have to say, that this whole menu was really worth of every penny.  And it was plenty of food, i was so full in the end i could not eat even a little bite more.

The next dish was "Softshell Crab with green mango, mint, pomelo, green nahm jim and peanuts". I must say that i was really waiting to get this dish, since i just LOVE crab meat. But i must say, that the crab was not the star of this dish. It was actually the green mango salad. The salad was so delicious, kick of mint and acid, it would just have been perfect like that, without the crab. The crab was a bit dry and little over salty, but whatta heck, It still was good! If i have to give critic a bit, so there it came. I would have served that salad with fresh crab meat rather than the fried one. Anyway the pace of dish after dish was perfect, you really didn't have to wait to get the next little dish.





The next dish was called "Crispy pork with palmsugar caramel" so it contained: crispy fried braised pork, rice vinegar, roasted onion. My boyfriend Modde, ate that, but since i do not eat meat, i got my own dish with Fried fish and somekind of sweetsour sauce. And of course they served rice with all the dishes.

Modde said, that the pork was good, but he would actually prefered vegetarian or fish dish. He felt that the meat dish was too heavy after having so light and fresh start. I myself enjoyed once again my dish. It was crispy white fish, i forgot what fish was it, or there was a bit translation error, since the waiter spoke swedish and i do not understand everything in swedish. Anyway the fish was good, but nothing really that special, what the dishes before had been. But i'll give them a big credit for creating a dish just for me, that was not one the menu in the first place.

At this point we started to get quite full already, but there was still couple dishes and the dessert to go. The next two dishes came at the same time. Other one was "Thai Roti bred with Mussaman Curry"and the other one was called "Morning Glory, ‘Salt & Pepper’ Tofu" contained: watercress, bok choy& crispy fried silken tofu. The Curry was again, really tasty, but i just wanted to jump to the Tofu dish, that i had been waiting for the whole night. First mouthfull of that heavenly dish, oh, i just could have died. If i would have, i would have died happy! It really was the best dish with the two first dishes, of the whole menu. The watercress, Bok choy, crispy tofu and the broth all together were so damn delicious. Again party in my mouth. Modde, who by the way is an old vegetarian, but eats meat nowdays, thought this was the best dish of the night.

We were really full allready, but there was one more dish left before the dessert. I actually had tried to change all the meat dishes away to a fish or vegetarian dishes, when we ordered the whole menu, but i guess there was a missunderstanding with my crappy swedish and with the waiter, so that's why they just changed my dish. But it was ok, since Modde eats meat anyway. Modde got dish called: "Veal Cheek ‘Serembam" which was slow braised veal cheeks, aromatic chili broth & mint-sprout salad. I got the same, but without veal and with salmon. I have never in my life even eaten veal and i think it's horrible to eaven eat that, a little baby cow. Buhuu. Modde said that it tasted good, but the texture was really weird. It was so soft, he said. He tasted my salmon and said that weirdly the salmon felt like same kind of texture, so i guess it was the point of me also having it with salmon then. My salmon was perfectly cooked, soft and the min-sprout salad  and the broth was delicious. I think anyways the salads were exellend on all dishes. So overall both dishes were good.

We were so happy and satisfied of the menu already so, i think we were kinda high off the food, if you know what i mean. Hah! At this point the waiter asked if we wanted to wait for a bit to "let the food go down", before we get the desserts, so we said yes. It was nice to take a little break, since we were so full. So we had time to chat a bit and i was compering the experience in Helsinki Farang to this one. I actually like the Stockholm restaurant as a place a bit more. It's a bit bigger than the Helsinki Farang, but overall i think the food is as good as it is in Helsinki. The staff was really friendly and they came right away to the table to serve you. Really nice experience and we will defenetly go back again...as soon as we get more money hah!

Last but not least, the dessert. It was called: ‘HOLA HOLA 5’ and it contained: thai style marinated fruits, sweet peas, lime, vanilla coconut stock & guava watermelon sorbet. DE-to-LICIOUS. The coconut stock was so soft and creamy, fruits were delicious and the flavours were great. Only thing that i did not get in the dish was the sweet peas. But  F* that, it was still good!

So i can definetly recommed this restaurant for all food lovers all around the world. If you want to taste a little piece of Asia, in the middle of Stockholm, Farang is the place to go. It's not the place, where you eat quickly or cheaply, but it is all worth it. So take time, sit down with your friends and have a great experience of flavours and food. Overall an exellent service, Exellent food and Great experience. Thank you Farang!

Stir fried Tofu Wok with Sesame sauce

As most of my Blog readers have allready probably notised, i really like Asian food. Just because they are full of  great and delicious flavours and actually quite simple to make. This dish i made couple weeks ago, just from some stuff i had in the fridge. Turned out to be really delicious dish! This dish is completely vegan, if you use the vegan oyster sauce. You can also make this ofcourse without the oyster sauce. Here is a recipe how to make this dish:

You need:

• 1 package of firm Tofu
• Half Zuccini
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Leek
• Carrot
• Cabbage
• About 3 Garlic cloves
• Sesame seeds
• Sesame oil
• Soy sauce
• Oyster sauce
• Chili oiil
• Sunflower oil
• Salt & Pepper
• Jasmin Rice

First put the rice on boiling. I have a Rice cooker, which is really handy, since you can just let the cooker cook the rice and you don't have to stir or watch after the rice. But if you don't have a cooker, just prepare the rice fist, since the rest of the dish comes ready really fast. 

Then chop the Tofu on cubes. I like little smaller cubes, but it's up to you what size you prefer. Prepare the rest of the vegetables. For this dish i chopped the cabbage and carrot as a thin slices. After you have chopped the veggies, heat up the pan. Pour some Sunflower, Sesame- & Chili oil on the pan. Add the Tofu and Garlic. Add some salt, pepper and soy sauce. Let it fry for like 5-10 minutes, depending how crispy you want the tofu to be. Add then all the vegetables. Add some oyster sauce, soy sauce and more sesame oil.  Mix well and stir fry about 5-7 minutes until veggies get more softer. In the end sprinkle some seseme seeds on top and serve with Jasmin rice. Enjoy!

Warm Quinoa salad with fried Tofu

This is a salad i made a while ago. Really refreshing, filling, tasty and healthy dish. People who say, they hate salads, have propably always eaten tomato-lettuce-cucumber salad with some crappy dressing or without anything.. and that's all. I have heard so many times from peoples mouth, SALADS are BORING. Honestly, i just think people are ignorant and not willing to try out stuff. I really believe in the saying "Better food, Better mind" and i think people should really start thinking what they put in their mouth. Not eat the same crap all the time like most people do. Try out something new, live out a bit! You could be suprised how much you actually might enjoy things more!

Well back in business, here is how to make this delicious, fast and easy salad!

• 1 packet of Firm Tofu
• 1-2 dl Quinoa 
• Celery (fresh not the root)
• Cucumber
• Chickpeas ( i used the ready canned ones)
• Some mixed salad ( I used salad mix with lettuce, carrot, cabbage etc.)
• Sunflower seeds or seed mix. Pine nuts are exelled too!
• Olive oil
• Sesame oil
• Herbsalt ( I use Herbamare)
• Salt & Pepper
• For dressing i used some Fig balsamic vinegar dressing which goes really well with this

First cut the tofu on cubes. Heat up pan and add olive oil & sesame oil on the pan and the tofu cubes.
Add some pepper & salt ( or mixed up spices if you want to spice up the tofu some more). When the tofu is fried nice and crispy, put it a side to cool down a bit. Prepare the salad. Wash salad mix, cut the celery and cucumber on small pieces. Put them on a bowl. Add some chickpeas, sunflower seeds or pine nuts. Mix well and add some herbsalt and pepper. Boil some water and add the quinoa in the boiling water. Let it boil about 5 minutes until the quinoa is soft. Stir all the time while boiling. Pour the water out from the pot. Add the warm quinoa and the fried tofu in the salad. Mix well and serve. Add some Fig balsamic vinegar dressing and enjoy!

Vegetarian Noodle soup with Tofu

I have made this type of dishes a lot lately, just because i love noodle soups. Especially here in Sweden, there is lot's of Thai/Vietnamise restaurants that have exellent noodle soups on their menus. So i have got my inspiration of these from those restaurants. This is quite basic soup, lot's of differet veggies and tofu stir fried in oyster sauce and served with rice noodles and vegetarian broth. Here is a recipe how to make this delicious dish:

You need lot's of vegetables, you can choose what you want to use,  but here is a list what i used:

• Zuccini
• Carrots
• Fennel
• Cauliflower
• Broccoli
• Fresh champions/shiitake mushrooms
• Leek
• Cabbage
• Garlic
• Bamboo shoots
• Fresh Coriander
• Chili
• Mixed salad ( i used mixed salad bag with fresh spinach, lettuce, etc)

You also need: 

• Rice noodles 
• Tofu ( i used the ready fried one)
• Oyster sauce
• Salt & Pepper
• Vegetable broth
• About 1/2-1 liter of water
• Ginger 
• Olive oil
• Sesame oil

First prepare all the vegetables, wash well and chop to pieces. Boil some hot water on a tea boiler and also measure about half or one liter water on a pot on a stove. Add vegetable broth in it, some fresh chili, garlic and graded ginger. Add Some pepper and salt. Taste that has enough taste. Let it come to boil and after that put a side to wait. Same time that you are making the broth,  the tea boiler is also ready, so add the rice noodles in a big bowl with a lit. Pour the water in so that it covers the rice noodles. Add lit and let it stand there about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile start preparing the stir fry. Add some olive oil, sesame oil, fresh chili and garlic on a pan, heat up and add tofu. Fry it like a minute or so. Then add carrots, cauliflower and broccoli.  Add some salt, pepper and oyster sauce. Mix well and cover with lit for 1-2 minutes. After that add rest of the chopped vegetables (not the salad and coriander). Pour some more oyster sauce in, add oil if needed. Add again some pepper and salt. Mix well and cover with lit like for 3 minutes. Then mix again. Keep the heat enough down, that the vegetables don't go too soft. They need to be still a bit crispy.

Then pour the water out from the ricenoodles. Add some noodles on a deep plate.First add some salad on top, then some stir fried vegetables on and  last pour some broth in. Sprinkle some coriander  and little bit oyster sauce on top and enjoy. So "Helvetin Hyvää" as we say in Finnish ( which means so "F*king good, haha)

Clams with creamy Fennel and Parsnip sauce

This one i made yesterday for the first time. I really like Clams, but i have never made them myself like this before. This is really fast and traditional recipe, exept i made my own little twist on it.

Here's how to make this:

• One bag of clams 
• About 4-5 dl cream
• About 1 dl white wine
• One bunch of Fresh parsley
• Salt & Pepper
• Half small Fennel
• One Parsnip
• One small Onion
• 3 Cloves of Garlic
• Olive oil 

First wash the Clams well. Soak and twirl them in cold water for a while so that the sand will get well off from the Clams. Then Cut the onion, garlic, parsnip and fennel to small pieces. Pour some oil on a hot deep pan and add the veggies to the pan. Fry the mix until veggies look soft. Add some white wine on the pan, put the heat a bit down. Add cream, salt and pepper. Spice up the broth until you think it's tasty enough. Add the parsley. And last add the clams. Shake the pan that the clams get mixed well with the broth. Cover with lit and let it boil on a small heat for about 3-4 minutes until the clams have opened up. Serve with some fresh white bread and enjoy!

Finnish Style Cabbage dish

I haven't updated my blog since November so i had a lot of pictures in my camera. I have made lot's of Finnish traditional dishes lately, maybe also because have missed Finland so much. And yes i am a Finn, living in Stockholm now thou. Anyways back to business. This is a really traditional old school food from Finland. It's Finnish name is "Kaalilaatikko" and normally it's made with minced meat, but i have again made my vegetarian version of it. This dish is really good when it's made well. Some people hate it, but it think it's because they have got the bad version of this at schools in Finland. Here is a recipe how i make it delicious!

• Half of a Cabbage
• One onion
• Minced soy meat
• 3-4 Garlic cloves
• About 3-4 dl porridge rice 
• Oil
• Butter
• About 3-5 dl Cream
• About 3-4 dl Vegetable broth
• Salt & pepper

First boil the rice until it's allmost soft. Heat up the oven to 225 degrees. Fry some soymeat with onion on the pan. Add spices and garlic. Put a a side to cool down. Fry the cabbage on pan in oil just like about 5 minutes, until it's shiny. Don't fry it done, cabbage needs to be crispy.  Add some salt and pepper. Spread some butter on a flat long oven bowl, that the butter covers all the inside of the bowl. Pour the rice and the soymeat mix on the oven bowl and mix it until their mixed together. Add the vegetarian broth and cream on the bowl. Pour it all over that it fills up the bowl with liquid. Cook the dish in the oven about 30-40 minutes, until the surface looks golden brown. Serve with some Cowberry jam and enjoy.

Minced Soybean sauce

Another typical Finnish food is "Jauhelihakastike", which is a creamy meat sauce made from minced meat. And again really simple and fast to make! Ofcourse i make my own vegetarian version, since i don't eat meat. This is the kind of food i like to make when i am tired after work and really don't have any energy or time to make any complex food. And this is really delicious too!

Here is what you need:

• Minced fake meat (minced soybeas, i used Häslans Kök frozen Sojafärsh)
• One onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• Cream (optional Soy cream if you want to make a vegan version)
• Fresh Thyme
• Salt & pepper
• Paprica spice
• A hint of soy sauce
• Olive Oil

Fry the soymeat in oil on a pan with the onions and the garlic. Spice up well with salt, pepper, paprika and hint of soy sauce. Add cream and thyme, mix well and taste that you have enought spices. Serve with some boiled potatoes and steamed vegetables like cauliflower. Easy, fast and delicious!

Finnish style Vegetarian Macaroni dish

This is really typical Finnish style homefood. It's called in Finnish "Makaronilaatikko". Finnish people make this often and it's again simple and easy to make. Normally it's made with minced meat, but instead of meat i use minced soybeans. Here is the recipe how to make it:

• about 4 dl Macaroni
• About 3-4 dl minced soybeans (fake minced meat. You can find this in almost all local stores. I used Hälsans Kök frozen sojafärsh)
• One Onion
• 2 Carrots
• 3 Eggs
• about 4 dl Milk
• Breadcrumbs
• Salt & Pepper
• 3-4 cloves of Garlic
• Mixed spices like paprika, chili, herbsalt etc.
• Oil

Heat up the oven about 225 degrees hot.  Boil some water and add the macaronis and carrots in the water. Add some salt in the water. Boil them until macaronis are half soft. Pour the water out. Put a side to cool down. Add some oil on the pan and heat it up. Chop the onions and garlic. Fry the minced soy on the pan with the onions and garlic. Add salt, pepper and other spicies, like paprica and herbs. Thyme is good herb for this too. Spread some oil on a big oven bowl that it covers all the insides of the bowl. Pour the macaroni, carrots and minced soy in and mix util everything is mixed together. Then pour the milk and eggs on a separate bowl. Whip well until the milk and eggs are well mixed. Add some salt, pepper and paprica spice and additional spices like herbs if you want to. Pour the milk-egg mix on the bowl with the macaroni-soy mix. Pour it all over. It should come up almost to the top, that the macaroni is fully covered with the egg-milk. Sprinkle some breadgrumbs on top and cook in the oven about 30 minutes until the cover looks crispy and golden brown. Enjoy with some ketchup on top and sprinkle some cheese on top too if you like.

Finnish style Egg Butter

This simple and delicious butter is my favourite stuff from childhood. It is really traditional Finnish delicasy that we normally eat with another Finnish delicasy called Karelian Pies.

Here is how you make this simple litte dish:

• About 4-5 hard boiled eggs
• Butter
• Salt & pepper
• On top some spring onions (optional)

Boil the eggs hard. Chop them to tiny cubes or mash them with a fork in a bowl. Add about 2-4 spoons of butter, some salt and pepper. Wola, ready! Eat on top of Karelian pies or some toasted dark bread.

These are Karelian pies. I am gonna make these soon in the future by myself and put a recipe here. Meanwhile you can google the recipe. In Finland you can buy these ready cooked in every food stores.

Creamy Salmon Soup

This is quite basic scandinavian style salmon soup and easy to make. I really love creamy fish soups. My granma used to make the best fish soups. This one is warming at the cold winter days. Cheap, quick and easy to make. Takes about 30 minutes to make.

Here's what you need:

• About 6-9 potatoes
• 3 Carrots
• Celery
• Dill
• Fresh or frozen Salmon. 
• One onion
• 3 dl whipped cream
• Allspice (Jamaica pepper)
• Fish broth
• about 8-10 dl water
• Salt & pepper

First peel the potatoes, carrots and onion. Cut the celery. Measure water in the pot and put all the vegetables in the boiling water. Add fish broth & some Allspice (Jamaica pepper). Cut the fish into cubes. Let it boil until potatoes are getting softer. Add the fish cubes into the boiling pot. Put the heat lower. Add the cream and the dill. Add some salt and pepper. Taste that has enough spices. Enjoy with some dark break and glass of cold milk.