Caramelized Tofu with Rice Noodles

We had quite the bizarre weather here in Tel Aviv today. Despite it being January, warm and dusty air filled the city and we decided to stay home in bed. Around mid-afternoon we started to get hungry and cooked up this light summery (and weather appropriate) dish of tofu and rice noodles. This delicate sweet-sour-spicy dish also makes a great "take it to the office" lunch.

Ingredients (makes 2-3 portions):

For the caramelized tofu:

300 gr tofu

4 tbs soy sauce

1 tbs sugar

For the noodles:

250 gr cooked rice noodles

2 tbs vegetable oil

1 tbs finely chopped garlic

1/2 tsp finely chopped red chili

2 tbs soy sauce

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp sesame oil

1/4 cup chopped coriander

The Recipe:

Prepare the tofu. In a large bowl, mix the soy sauce with the sugar. Slice the tofu into 1cm slices and add to the bowl. Mix well, making sure the tofu slices are completely covered in thee soy sauce mixture.

Place a grill plate over very high heat and wait until it is very hot. Place the tofu slices on the hot grill plate and grill for a 5 minutes on each side. Lower the heat and let grill until the tofu browns. Set aside and let cool. When the tofu cools, slice into 1cm slices.

For the sauce, fry the garlic and chili in the vegetable oil for a couple of minutes in a small pan. Add soy sauce, lemon juice and sesame oil and let cook for another 2 minutes.

Throw the chopped coriander, tofu and cooked noodles into a large bowl. Add the sauce and mix well.

Serve in personal bowls with a slice of lemon.

Leftover Rice Porridge

If you're looking for something to do with your last night's rice, here's an idea.
For breakfast we took out some remaining brown rice and cooked it in a pot with soy milk for a few minutes (about 1/4 cup soy milk for every cup of rice). When the rice absorbed the milk we removed from heat, placed into bowls and sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon.

Khao Mun Kai, Chinese Chicken

Khao Mun Kai is one of our favorite lunch options in Bangkok, so learning how to make it (and discovering how easy it is) was a big treat. Simply a boiled chicken, it is served with steamed rice and a small bowl of chicken broth. But what makes the whole dish worth your search for the stall is the extraordinary sweet - sour - salty - spicy sauce. Yikes.

To make the chicken and rice just boil 2 cups of water with 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. sugar. When the water starts to boil add one chicken breast with skin and let cook for 15 minutes. That's it. The chicken is done, but leave the remaining stock as it will be used for the rice.

For the rice, first saute 1 tbsp. chopped garlic in 1 tbsp. vegetable oil. Then add 1 cup of long grain rice mixed with 1/4 cup of sticky round rice and continue to saute for a few more minutes. Add 1 1/4 cups of the remaining chicken stock and cover on low heat for 15 minutes or until done.

The broth is minimal. Two coriander roots, a garlic head, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. of white pepper and chicken neck and bones boiled in 3 cups of water for 15 minutes over low heat. Make sure to skim the fat off the top while cooking.

And now for the sauce:
In a wok over low heat, pour 3 tsp. of sweet black soy sauce, 4 tsp. white vinegar and 1 1/2 tsp. soy bean paste. Mash the soybeans while stirring. When it comes to a boil, remove from the wok and into a small bowl.
Add 2 birds eye chilies (one red and one green), 1 clove of garlic and 1 1/2 tbsp. ginger, all finely chopped. Then add 1 tbsp. of lime juice and mix. Add more ginger and sugar to taste.

To serve the dish cut thin slices of chicken breast and spread them a little with the knife.


Pour the sauce and serve with the rice, sliced cucumber and chicken broth.

Cooking Again, Bangkok

Our last day in Thailand was well spend with a final cooking class conducted privately by Lee at "Cafe The Flow". We collected a list of our favorite street food dishes and presented it to her a few days before. Lee showed no hesitation. She immediately jumped into her research, asking endless family members and "hawkers" (food stall owners) and came up with a fantastic one day workshop of Thailand's best: Fish ball soup, Satay sauce, Khao Mun Kai (Chinese chicken), Khao Kiab Pak Moh (steamed dumplings), sticky rice with mango and fried bananas. Yum, yum and yum.

Rice Paper, Cambodia

Another small family factory we encountered was making rice paper for spring rolls. An easy task when the whole family helps out.

Batter, made from rice flour and water, is spread on a white cloth over steaming water.

It quickly (about 20 seconds) becomes solid and is placed on tubes to be transferred to bamboo drying racks. They dry in the sun and are packaged for the market.

Sticky Rice in Bamboo, Cambodia

Our first day in Cambodia included lots and lots of tastings by the side of the road. We hired two friendly moto-bike drivers/in-the-know guides to show us the many makeshift family businesses in the villages of Battambang. Most villagers grow rice, but the profit is meager and not enough to support their families. So, many add some income by producing hand-made food products.

One of the more common products is sticky rice in bamboo. This fun snack is picked by the side of the road and has a dense and glutinous texture of sticky rice with a delicate tase of coconut. It is made from rice, coconut cream, salt and black beans all roasted in a bamboo shell. The process is long and difficult:

First the bamboo is cut into 30cm pieces (using a manual saw)


The pieces are cleaned and filled with the sticky rice mixture.


The tops are sealed with crumpled banana leaf and then placed to roast on a grill for half an hour.


When they're ready, the burned shell of the bamboo is removed with an axe.

The final product is peeled like a banana, and you eat it with your hands.

Loi Krathong Street Snacks, Chiang Mai

We happen to be in town during the Loi Krathong festival. While the sky was lit with drifting lanterns and floating candles crowded the river, stalls took over the streets, selling local specialities. Unfortunately we could not taste them all (nor completely identify them). Sit-down dinner was gladly replaced by an all night snacking frenzy. This just might turn into a habit...

Grilled omelet in a folded banana leaf mixed with a choice of mushrooms, crab or shrimp.


Take away sticky rice in different ways: sweet, savory, with coconut or chillies and folded in pretty banana leaf packaging. Hard to resist.

Pumpkin fritters smothered in batter.

A Snack Stall in Sukhothai

As we returned from our long day at the Sukhothai Historical Park, a stall with a queue caught our attention at the market. Like all stalls in Thailand which usually specialize in one or two dishes, this one does only two snacks, found in Central Thailand.

Khao Yum Nam Kuk is a crunchy cold spicy salad. The base of this salad is deep fried rice balls made from white rice, egg, garlic, pepper, soy sauce, coriander root, fried bread crumbs (panko) and coconut flakes. To make the actual salad you have to mash these with your fingers adding ground pork (may substitute with chicken or tofu), chili pepper, shallots, sugar and fish sauce. Vinegar, dried shrimp and more fried bread crumbs can be added to taste. Top with fried peanuts and eat wrapped in a green mustard leaf.


Khao Kiab Pak Moh is a savory and sweet Thai dumpling steamed over a pot covered in thin white cloth. The batter is a mixture of rice flour, corn starch and water and the filling is a combination of salted preserved daikon raddish, fish sauce, palm sugar and peanuts all ground together.
The batter is treated like a crepe on the cloth, when the color becomes opaque it is divided, filled and swirled into a dumpling.


The finished product is served with coconut cream and flakes, with a side order of coriander.

Trekking and Cooking

A 3 day trek to the mountains needs preparation, but it doesn't mean you have to settle for soup mix and potato powder. Our cook (who came with the package deal that also included horses, a guide and guard dog) was surprisingly innovative. 

Snacks for the road: peanuts, dried fruit, yellow cheese, bread and melon. This was a great mix of fiber and protein and kept us energized during the long journey.

Vegetarian Plov: This dish is traditionally cooked with lamb and its fat. As it is difficult to preserve fresh meat while on the road, this vegetarian version makes a tasty alternative.
The ingredients included oil, onion, carrots and rice, all sauted in a pot and left to boil after adding water. It was served with a spicy tomato and onion salad which we added to the steaming rice for extra flavor.

Potato Stew: This mixture of potatos, carrots, onions, garlic and dill, sauted and then left to rest in a bit of boiling water for half an hour, made for a hearty one pot meal.  When hiking for  few days, fresh herbs can really enhance otherwise boring dishes. In this case the dill made a difference.