Stick with ribs for these two tasty meals

By Debra Samuels, May 5, 2010

Chinese spare ribs are restaurant food, and usually gnaw-the-bone good. You can also make delicious ribs at home, where you don’t have to worry about table manners. There are three cuts of ribs: meaty pork ribs, sometimes called St. Louis-style; baby-back pork ribs that have less meat; and country-style ribs that may take longer to cook and aren’t traditionally used in Chinese recipes. St. Louis and baby back both come in racks. I prefer the meaty St. Louis; butchers will cut the ribs into individual bones, which is what you want. Marinate them for several hours in a soy and hoisin mixture with ketchup, then roast them in a hot oven. The marinade turns into a glazy sauce with a deep reddish tone (because of ketchup). One drawback to this foolproof method: The sweet sauce and high oven temperature make everything stick like crazy to your pan, so line it with heavy duty foil. Add gloriously green baby bok choy and a bowl of rice to turn this classic appetizer into a main course.

Stash away a few ribs and some of the bok choy for bowls of pork-noodle ramen. Add scallions and a few slices of ginger to a good quality beef broth, then simmer the ribs in it to heat them through and flavor the soup. Serve the broth with pork sliced off the bone, curly ramen noodles, sometimes called chuka soba, the bok choy, and a handful of crunchy bean sprouts. Recycle all those take-out menus, toss that packaged ramen, and do it yourself.

RECIPES

Chinese-style pork spare ribs
Serves 4 with leftovers

You can use this sauce for Chinese roast pork. Cut a pork tenderloin into two long strips; follow the marinating and cooking instructions below.

5 1/2	pounds St. Louis-style pork spare ribs (about 16 ribs separated)
1/4	cup soy sauce
2	tablespoons hoisin sauce
1/2	cup sugar
1/4	cup red or white wine or sake
1/4	cup ketchup
6	scallions, cut into 4-inch lengths and smashed
6	cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/4	cup water

1. Have on hand 2 half-gallon zipper plastic bags. Divide the ribs between them.

2. In a large bowl combine the soy and hoisin sauces, sugar, wine or sake, ketchup, scallions, and garlic. Mix well. Stir in the water. Pour half the sauce into each bag. Carefully press the air out of the bags, then close the zippers. Rub the sauce around all the ribs. Refrigerate for several hours, turning once to redistribute the sauce.

3. Set the oven at 450 degrees.

4. About 15 minutes before cooking, remove the ribs from the refrigerator. Line a roasting pan with heavy duty foil. Place the ribs and marinade in the pan, leaving space between them.

5. Cook the ribs for 35 minutes, turning every 15 minutes. Cut into the meat down to the bone to make sure there is no bright pink color. If they are burning, turn the heat down to 425 degrees. Place ribs on a platter and brush any cooking juices onto the ribs. (Set aside 4 ribs for the ramen.) Serve with white rice and bok choy. Debra Samuels. Adapted from Jeanne Tahnk.

Pork-noodle ramen
Serves 4

Curly ramen noodles (chuka soba), come dried in compact squares or nests. You can also use 1 pound of thin fresh Chinese noodles in this Japanese dish.

3	cups beef broth
2	cups water
2	tablespoons soy sauce
4	scallions, cut into 4-inch lengths and smashed
1	piece (1 inch) fresh ginger, cut into 4 slices
4	cooked pork spare ribs
2	teaspoons sesame oil
	Salt and pepper, to taste
4	pieces cooked bok choy, each halved lengthwise
2	cups fresh bean sprouts (mung bean)
12	ounces (4 nests) ramen noodles (chuka soba)
	Extra sesame oil (for sprinkling)

1. In a soup pot over medium heat, combine beef broth, water, soy sauce, scallions, and ginger. Bring to a boil. Add the pork ribs and lower the heat. Simmer for 10 minutes or until pork is heated through. Remove ribs, scallions, and ginger and transfer to a bowl.

2. Add sesame oil, salt, and pepper to the soup. Turn the heat to low.

3. Slice meat off the bones; discard bones, scallions, and ginger.

4. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add the bok choy and cook for 30 seconds. Use a slotted spoon to lift it out and transfer to a plate. Add the bean sprouts to the water; cook 1 minute. With the spoon transfer the sprouts to a bowl; sprinkle with salt.

5. Add ramen to boiling water and cook 3 to 5 minutes or until noodles are tender but still have bite.

6. Drain the noodles and rinse with warm water. With a scissors snip the noodles in half. Divide the noodles among 4 deep bowls.

7. Arrange the pork, bok choy, and bean sprouts on the noodles. Ladle soup around the noodles. Sprinkle with sesame oil. Serve with chopsticks and a spoon.

Preparation is half the fun for Feast of San Giuseppe

By Debra Samuels, Globe Correspondent | March 31, 2010
GLOUCESTER — In the garage-cum-kitchen of Nina and Franco Groppo’s home here, more than 20 friends and extended family are preparing for the Feast of San Giuseppe. That means pasta making — lots of it — along with plenty of fun. Flour sifting through the air around him, Pasquale Vitale throws his head back and calls out: “Comu semu tutti muti?’’ (Let me hear your voices.) The pasta makers respond: “Viva San Giuseppe Viva!’’

This Sicilian cheer, honoring St. Joseph, the patron saint of families, is repeated many times for several days in this makeshift work space. The feast, a gesture of gratitude for the bounty of life, is held a week later on March 19. Many people who hail from the tiny village of Trappeto, hometown of the Groppos, attend, but you don’t have to be Italian to participate. Neighbors Marilyn Swift, Catherine Gunn, and Bev Gardner have been helping for years. “Bring a friend. Tell them to bring a friend. Everyone is welcome,’’ says Nina Groppo. “See how many people St. Joseph brings into my life?’’ She is the heart of this celebration.

The Groppos have been doing this for 14 years. In the house, a three-tiered altar with a statue of St. Joseph at the top adorns their den. Flowers and religious figurines, framed by swags of mauve-colored satin and lace, attend the saint.
The garage kitchen is filled with tables, where pasta makers will eventually roll out 100 pounds of dough and turn it into thick strands of a fettuccine-like tagliarini. Grace Sciortino assists son Sal, 13, as he feeds dough though a pasta machine. “More flour,’’ instructs Nina Groppo. Her husband and Vitale set the cut pasta to dry on door-size plywood planks. As one board fills, they set another on wooden blocks. Within an hour, they stack six boards like an urban parking lot. The pasta will dry all week.

Ninfa Briguglio tends a pot of milk simmering on the stove. “I’m making ricotta,’’ she says. “It couldn’t be easier: Heat milk, cream, salt, and vinegar — you get ricotta.’’ Forty minutes later she scoops the creamy warm curds and whey into plastic bowls to reward everyone for the day’s work.

The next week, on the eve of the feast, folks gather again to prepare focaccia sandwiches with fillings that include cheese, anchovies, tomatoes, salted Alaskan salmon, and basil. The workers pare artichokes for fritters and fill more than 100 bags with bread, an orange, and a lemon. The orange promises sweetness, the lemon recalls the bitterness of the past, and the bread represents nourishment. They also make conza, the traditional sauce/soup of beans, cauliflower, and fennel. Conza will be tossed with all that pasta made the week before. Four pounds each of chickpeas, lentils, white and red beans, black-eyed peas, and favas are cooked separately before being mixed together Friday morning. That same day, the workers cut cauliflower into florets along with fragrant wild fennel, sent from Franco Groppo’s cousin in California. As they chop, the intense aroma of anise deepens.

At dusk on the eve of the feast, votive candles are twinkling as dozens arrive at the Groppos’ for a Mass led by Father Antonio Nardoianni of St. Leonard’s Parish in the North End. Several breads in the shape of animals and Christian symbols are on the altar. They were made by Dominic D’Amico and his daughter, Maria Cracchiolo of Caffe Sicilia in Gloucester. After the service and a light supper of focaccia sandwiches, Groppo’s home cured olives, fresh fruit, and pastry, everyone leaves with a bag of bread and fruit.

On feast day, more than 100 celebrants glide through the Groppos’ home. The conza simmers from early morning in an 80-quart pot. In the backyard, Joseph Briguglio stands over a huge vat of bubbling oil and deep-fried artichoke fritters. He reminds everyone this is his feast day: “No one can be mean to me today!’’ His wife, Ninfa, dips the chokes in a yeasty batter, depositing them into the oil one by one. Once they are fried, he sets them down and everyone nearby grabs one. Enzo Barna is making panelle, deep-fried chickpea squares. In the kitchen, tables are groaning with huge aluminum pans of sweet and sour fish, baked stuffed jumbo shrimp, the eggplant relish caponata, orange and fennel salad, marinated octopus salad, and Italian cookies and desserts wrapped in cellophane.

Everyone is waiting for the homemade pasta di San Giuseppe. The water comes to a boil and Salvatore Cracchiolo and Franco Groppo tip in the pasta. When it’s ready, the men begin what looks like a ballet. They fill two giant bowls first with sauce, then pasta, then sauce, then pasta. Carlo Randazzo tosses it together. Vitale’s daughter, Angela, helps serve the crowd, many of whom return for a refill.
Then a shout: “Comu semu tutti muti?’’
And the response: “Viva San Giuseppe Viva!’’

Recipe for Conza

Which is the better butter?

March 10, 2010

Few things taste better than crusty bread spread with butter. Real butter. Many families have banned bread and butter from their tables, but restaurants are serving premium butters again, rather than presenting little dishes of olive oil. We tasted seven brands of unsalted butter, first just the butter, then some of it on a slice of rustic bread. It was a decadent event.

Three of the American brands are made in New England: Kate’s Homemade Butter in Maine; Vermont Cultured Butter, European Style; and High Lawn Farm Unsalted Butter in Lee. Two were imported, from France and Ireland.

Plugrá European Style, made in Winnsboro, Texas, was the big winner. A Belgian taster wondered if the name were taken from the French “plus gras,’’ which means more fat. In this case it was more taste. American regulations require 80 percent butter fat in a product for it to be called butter. European-style butter generally has 85 percent butter fat and is churned, which lowers the moisture, making it very good for using in browning and baking.

With its deep hue, Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter looked like it had been dipped in a pot of gold. It was least favorite. According to the company’s website, cows munch on grass rich in beta carotene. One taster said it was the color of “cinema buttered popcorn’’ and others didn’t like it, either.

Some butters were cultured, which means a slight fermentation of the cream or milk, giving them a soft tang. Several tasters picked up on this - but not in a good way; they thought the butters were “off.’’ All were well within their sell-by dates.

Ingredients typically listed just one word: milk or cream. What a relief. And without salt, noted one in the group, the taste was “more genuine.’’ Please pass the bread.

Plugrá European Style WINNER!

Unsalted Butter

$4.99 for 8 ounces

“My favorite butter from France’’; “French or European,’’ declared two tasters. This is an American-made butter, which comes in a half-pound rectangle. Plugrá is part of Keller’s Creamery, which represents several brands (Breakstone and Borden’s among them) and is part of the cooperative Dairy Farmers of America. The website says the butter has 82 percent butterfat and is “churned in the old world style’’ which adds more air and makes it less moist. Our tasters enjoyed it. “The sweet pleasant mild flavor and perfect color.’’ “Best color and texture.’’ “Like the shape.’’ “Creamy nice texture and nice taste.’’ One said “fattier.’’

Celles sur Belle

Premium Churn Unsalted Butter

$4.29 for 8 ounces

This butter from the Poitou-Charentes region in western France comes in a rectangular shape. It was instantly identified as a European brand by several and had one favorite vote: “Import quality, not American butter.’’ The texture was described as “creamy’’ by several people. Others commented: “Light and mild taste,’’ “pale yellow and pale taste,’’ “sweet, delicious and mild.’’ The color worked against the brand for one: “Pale color. Looks like lard.’’

High Lawn Farm

Unsalted Butter

$5.99 for 16 ounces

This home-grown company from Lee got low marks for its packaging. “The fact that this butter is in a tub works against it. You take it less seriously because of that.’’ “Reminds me of margarine.’’ People found the taste “average,’’ “not much flavor,’’ “airy.’’ Some found the texture “heavy and hard,’’ “brittle,’’ “OK on bread.’’

Kate’s Homemade Butter

Unsalted

$5.39 for 16 ounces

Little Kate and her red kerchief are very appealing on this Maine butter, which comes in a box with four 4-ounce bars. Most tasters found it lacking in flavor: “Least buttery,’’ “not much taste,’’ “short on flavor.’’ Many liked the texture: “Very creamy and smooth,’’ “creamiest,’’ “tastes good with bread.’’

Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter

Unsalted

$2.69 for 8 ounces

Kerrygold is made in a rectangular shape. Those happy grass-fed Emerald Isle cows produce a very golden butter, whose color was a detraction. “Looks like margarine.’’ “Very yellow; oily with a margarine taste.’’ “Yellow. Strange aftertaste when tasted alone. Less pronounced when eaten with bread.’’ Others: “I like the look that is more yellow. Tastes better with bread.’’ “Nice color, great taste.’’ Two said the texture was “oily,’’ “greasy.’’ “It left a film on my tongue.’’ “A bit of a smell (buttery?) which I didn’t find that pleasing but it definitely tasted good on the bread.’’

Land O’Lakes

Unsalted Sweet Butter

$2.50 for 16 ounces

The brand with the iconic (and controversial) Native American woman kneeling before a lake is the butter most Americans know best. “Subtle smell. Smooth and velvety. Tastes like the brand I usually eat? Pleasant both on and off bread.’’ Most noted its taste: “Light, not full flavor.’’ “Sweet and mild.’’ “Watery flavor.’’ “I can taste vegetable oil.’’ The color was described as “pale.’’ On the texture: “Bit of an oily aftertaste.’’ “Creamy mouth feel.’’

Vermont Cultured Butter

European Style

Unsalted

$4.99 for 8 ounces

This butter comes in a half-pound cylinder. “Surprised this tasted sour in comparison to others. I believe this is from Normandy and I usually love their butter.’’ (It’s made in Vermont.) “A little too oily. Better for cooking than eating, but good taste.’’ “Soft, smooth, melts in your mouth, spreadable.’’ As for flavor: “Bland, fat taste.’’ “Mild. No aftertaste.’’ “Not much taste on bread either. Greasier.’’ The appearance put one off: “Looks like a yellow sausage tube.’’

Making the most of tender rib-eye

Open with classic roast beef, then a hearty shepherd’s pie

December 30, 2009

The classic pairing of roast beef and potatoes can go from Sunday night supper to something special - depending on the cut of meat you use. For a New Year’s Eve celebration, a rib-eye roast, which has plenty of flavor for a relatively moderate price ($7.50 per pound at my local supermarket), makes a nice presentation. “The Joy of Cooking’’ refers to this and other tender cuts as “Sunday dinner roast beef.’’ Turn your elegant leftovers into a hearty shepherd’s pie.

Rib-eye comes from the area along the animal’s spine that doesn’t get much of a workout, hence its tenderness. A little marbling contributes to the good taste. Rub the meat with salt, pepper, and paprika a few hours before roasting, and baste the roast with tomato or vegetable juice, which mixes with the pan juices and cooks into a light but meaty sauce with none of the fuss of thickening. For the potatoes, make a creamy cloud of golden mash; add steamed green beans or broccoli tossed with a little butter and lemon juice as a side dish.

The extra pound of meat in the roasting pan, more potatoes then you need in the mash, and lots of veggies in the steamer are ideal for shepherd’s pie. This meat and potato casserole, traditionally made with lamb, is the perfect comforting, hot dish to feed your bleary-eyed New Year’s guests.

RECIPES

Roast beef

Serves 6 with leftover

1	boneless beef rib-eye roast (5 pounds)
2	teaspoons kosher salt
1/2	teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2	teaspoons paprika
1	large onion, thinly sliced
2	carrots, cut into 3-inch pieces
2	stalks celery, cut into 3-inch pieces
3	cans (8 ounces each) vegetable or tomato juice
1	cup water

1. Remove the meat from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking.

2. Set the oven at 375 degrees. Have on hand a small roasting pan.

3. Rub the meat with salt, pepper, and paprika. Sprinkle half the onion in the pan with the carrots and celery. Spread the remaining onion on top of the roast.

4. In a bowl, mix the vegetable or tomato juice and water. Pour 1/2 cup over the meat and 2 cups over the vegetables in the pan.

5. Roast the meat in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes. Spoon the juices in the pan over the meat.

6. Turn the oven temperature down to 350 degrees. Continue roasting, basting every 30 minutes, for 1 3/4 to 2 hours or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat registers 130 degrees for medium-rare meat, 140 degrees for medium, 170 degrees for well done. (Total cooking time is 2 to 2 1/2 hours.) During roasting, if the pan seems dry, add the remaining tomato mixture.

7. Transfer the meat to a cutting board and let it rest in a warm place for 10 minutes.

8. Strain the roasting juices into a saucepan (save the onions, carrots, and celery for the pie); taste the juices for seasoning and add more salt and pepper, if you like. Reheat the juices and let them simmer gently to thicken slightly. Cut the meat into 1/4-inch slices and spoon the cooking juices over the meat.

Shepherd's Pie - Serves 6

	Olive oil (for the pan)
2	tablespoons olive oil
2	cups cooked vegetables, coarsely chopped
	Onions, carrots, and celery from roasting the beef, coarsely chopped
4	cups cooked roast beef, coarsely chopped
2	teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2	tablespoons ketchup
1	teaspoon dried thyme
	Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2	to 1 cup leftover cooking juices, or more if you have some
3	cups mashed potatoes
2	tablespoons butter, cut into 8 pieces

1. Set the oven at 375 degrees. Oil a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.

2. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the oil. Cook all the vegetables, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add the beef, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, thyme, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring, 1 minute more.

3. Add the cooking juices (up to 1 cup) and turn the heat to high. Bring the mixture to a boil. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper, if you like. Transfer to the baking dish.

4. With a rubber spatula spread the mashed potatoes over the meat to cover it completely. Dot with butter.

5. Bake the pie for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are browned and the meat mixture is bubbling at the edges

Navigating a veritable sea of tuna salads

February 3, 2010

For many people, tuna salad is the ultimate lunch, spread between hearty slices of toast, tucked inside a sub roll, or scooped onto shredded lettuce. It’s filling and deliciously old-fashioned.

Eight people tasted prepared tuna salads from the deli departments of four supermarkets and one delicatessen. Of the five sampled, only Barry’s Village Deli in Newton is made daily on the premises. Roche Bros.’s prepared tuna salad is made in Haverhill and delivered four times a week; Whole Foods Market delivers six days a week from their commissary in Everett; Shaw’s does a cross-county trip from Oregon three times a week; Stop & Shop did not answer calls to tell us where theirs was made.

Textures range from chunky to pureed. “I like chunks of tuna,’’ one taster said. It turned out she was eating Buck’s tuna from Whole Foods. Stop & Shop offers a creamy puree. Tasters found Barry’s sweet, Roche Bros. zesty. A constant in all the salads is mayo and celery, but after that each entry is different. They include pickle relish and onions. An unexpected add-in is matzoh meal. What’s matzoh meal doing in tuna? Stabilizing, probably.

Colors range from shades of white to pinky tan. Barry’s, Roche Bros., and Whole Foods Market use white albacore; Shaw’s and Stop & Shop use light tuna.

Roche Bros. was the winner. It’s made by food purveyor Hans Kissle in Haverhill. Barry’s was a close second. “We sell at least 200 pounds of the stuff a week,’’ says Barry’s manager Scotti Leslie. It’s a popular item elsewhere too. “It’s one of our top sellers in prepared foods,’’ says Robin Rehfield of Whole Foods Market North Atlantic region.

Each of the candidates got at least one favorite vote; Shaw’s got three. When all the tasting was done, the crew topped whole wheat bread with their favorite spread, added tomato and lettuce and sat down for a classic lunch, sweet pickles and chips on the side.

Barry’s Village Deli

$8.99 a pound

If you like your tuna on the sweet side you’ll love his version. Some tasters didn’t: “Very sweet and relishy - not a big fan. The tuna flavor is mild and consistency is OK.’’ Then: “Sweet! I love it! You can feel the freshness.’’ “What’s that seasoning? Sugar? Spice? Something nice,’’ another wrote. (In fact, it’s sweet pickle relish.) “Pleasant taste and smell, grainy texture but a distinctive flavor.’’ “Low mayo ratio,’’ said another. Scotti Leslie of Barry’s says the shop uses a high-quality low-fat mayonnaise. Several noted the texture, “I like the chunky tuna in this one, tastes fresher, but a bit too sweet.’’

Shaw’s

$6.99 a pound

The creamiest of the lot. “The tuna is so pureed it is practically a spread. A very smooth texture and noticeably light color; you can definitely taste the mayonnaise in this one.’’ “Run of the mill, ’’ announced another. “Tastes a bit processed. Not enough lemon or onion.’’ “Salty and not appetizing.’’

Stop & Shop

$5.99 a pound

The other creamy entry. This is the salad that lists matzoh meal in the ingredients. “Looks like flesh-colored mayonnaise. Too creamy and mushy feeling. Slight fishy taste.’’ “Tuna puree is more like it,’’ said another. “Far too processed. No lemon, no onion, just sugar.’’ One thought the consistency was a plus: “Very creamy but with a nice addition of pickles. Distinct shiny color and perfect for spreading.’’ Another: “Looks gooey, pinkish, and tastes good.’’

Roche Bros. Winner!

$6.99 a pound

This is the salad that the tasters found most balanced and interesting, without sweetness. Ingredients include white tuna, celery, mayonnaise, garlic salt, lemon juice, and Dijon mustard. “Good taste, texture, and the balance between tuna and onion is good. Perhaps a bit more lemon would be good.’’ “This one tastes the most fresh! Not too sweet.’’ “Good honest tuna salad. Just crunchy enough, not sweet, like homemade.’’ “Smooth texture, with nice crunchy bites mingling with the tuna.’’ The lone detractor said, “No imagination, not particularly snazzy, but you know, it’s fish.’’

Whole Foods Market’s Buck’s Tuna Salad

$7.99 a pound

A Whole Foods team member named Buck submitted her favorite recipe for an in-house contest and Buck’s tuna became a favorite among many consumers. It’s simple: albacore tuna, mayo, red onion, and celery. Many noted that onion taste: “Lots of red onion and lemon (not sure about that), but slightly dry. Strong fishy smell and taste, which is not nice.’’ “Onion?’’ was the single comment from another. Several noted the size of the tuna chunks: “Very creamy in both taste and texture, the large-ish pieces of the tuna still manage to feel dry. I don’t find any flavor.’’ (The store uses dry-pack albacore.) “You can actually taste tuna meat in here, not tuna puree like most others. Problem is there is no other flavor.’’ “Tastes OK, but very dense mouth feel.’’ “I like the chunks in this one, tastes fresh.’’

Tofu is all about the texture

Tofu is all about the texture
Each of the three styles of soy bean curd has a purpose

Those large white blocks of tofu can be intimidating. No matter how carefully you prepare them, the dishes never seem as good as they are when you eat out. It’s all a matter of determining which texture you need - firm, soft, or silken - and finding a recipe that suits you.
For vegetarians and vegans, tofu is an important protein. For others - even hearty folks who like their beef - tofu is a healthy alternative to meat. You see it offered instead of beef in casual lunch spots as an add-in to stir-fries. One-half cup of firm tofu is about 95 calories - the same amount of skinless chicken breast is about 110 - but tofu is considerably lower in fat than beef. The white cakes are actually soy bean curd (tofu is the Japanese word for bean curd), which originated in China more than 1,000 years ago; it’s pronounced doufu in Chinese and dubu in Korean.

Tofu has always been popular in Asian restaurants, and every Asian cuisine boasts many tofu-based dishes. In his Chinese restaurant, Rice Valley in Newton, owner Kent Chen has noticed two dishes in particular becoming popular: a deep-fried orange-flavored bean curd, and a lighter steamed bean curd offered with a special soy sauce.

Tofu is made with soy beans, water, and a coagulant. The beans are soaked, crushed, and simmered in water, then the solids are strained and pressed, which creates soy milk. That milk is heated and combined with a natural coagulant, which makes the milk clot and separate like curds and whey. Curds are set in molds and packed in containers with water. Once you open tofu, use it within a few days, changing the water daily.

Each of the three kinds of tofu has a purpose. Firm is for stir fries (it holds its shape in hot oil), soft is for soups and stews (you can cut it up easily), and silken, also for soups and stews, can be eaten without further cooking. Within each of these designations you can find extra firm to almost custard-like. For most recipes, drain or press tofu before cooking to release excess liquid. A quick method is to microwave it for 2 minutes, then drain the liquid on the plate.

One dish that uses firm tofu is a Japanese specialty in which the block is crumbled and mixed with carrot matchsticks, mushrooms, and beaten eggs. Rice Valley’s silken tofu can be made at home if you rig up a steamer. Pour hot chicken stock and soy sauce around the cubes, then top with scallions and a spoonful of hot oil. The tofu absorbs these and turns very flavorful.

When my family lived in Japan some years ago, every neighborhood had a small tofu shop, mostly multigenerational mom-and-pop operations. The smell of cooking soy beans wafted into the street. Fresh and fried tofu cakes were sold at a window, along with tofu mash or lees, a nutritious byproduct of the beans. Japanese housewives simmer this with vegetables or mold it into croquettes. The women could also buy fresh tofu from a bicycle vendor (usually an old man), who tooted a horn to alert residents. In recent years, a mini truck blasts a horn. Most consumers buy high quality tofu in supermarkets.

As you approach the Chang Shing Tofu factory in Cambridge, you get a whiff of that same bean-y smell. Instead of a tiny window, you walk through the loading dock to buy tofu. This operation supplies many area markets and restaurants. Local farmers pick up the mash to feed their lucky pigs; someone can pack up a bag for you.

If you have a hankering for tofu, you needn’t always have fresh on hand. There’s a shelf-stable brand from Mori-nu. Or freeze a block of firm tofu, defrost it in the refrigerator, and squeeze out the water like a sponge. Slice and toss in hot oil with vegetables and a splash of soy, hoisin, or oyster sauce.
Tofu is your canvas. Add seasonings and see what you get.

To see 4 great tofu recipes go to Debra's Recipe Cards

Tasting notes
Though some tofu manufacturers are not based in this country, all brands are made in plants here.
Chang Shing Tofu Firm
$1.39 for 18 ounces (2 pieces)
The favorite. Made in Cambridge. Comes in regular and large containers. Water clear, taste pure, no bean-y traces. Texture firm to the touch, soft on the tongue. Nice brown crust when fried.
House Organic Tofu Firm
$1.99 for 14 ounces
Creamy white Japanese brand; smooth, appetizing appearance. Firm but not hard; browns when fried and has a clean taste.
Mori-nu Organic Silken Firm
$1.99 for 12.3 ounces
Japanese shelf-stable brand. Called “silken tofu’’ but comes in a variety of textures. When fried, nice crust, but the center breaks apart. Sweet taste, slightly bean-y flavor. Steam or use in soups.
Nasoya Firm Tofu
$1.69 for 14 ounces
Brick-like with a slight bean-y taste. Smooth when cut; forms a good crust when fried.
Pulmuone All Natural Firm
$1.69 for 18 ounces
Favorite Korean brand. Frying produces a light and smooth crust with a fine texture and subtle flavor. Available at Korean grocers or H Mart in Burlington.
Soy Boy Firm
$2.19 for 16 ounces
Yellowish cast to water; rough surface on block. Very firm to the touch, tasteless, and heavy. The least Asian bean curd-like texture. When fried, it’s slightly bitter.
21st Century Tofu
$1.19 for 16 ounces
Made in Jamaica Plain. Smooth texture, taste is a bit chalky. When fried, it’s crispy on the outside, soft inside, and doesn’t crumble. Available at A. Russo and Sons in Watertown or the Harvest Co-op Market in Jamaica Plain.
365 Organic Firm
$1.79 for 14 ounces
Pocked rough surface, firm to the touch, crumbly. Distinctive, buttery taste. When fried, surprisingly mellow.
Vermont Soy Firm Style
$1.98 for 14 ounces
Least favorite. Off-putting dense, crumbly, chalky texture. Texture improves after cooking.

Expert's Guide To The New Asian Megamart

' You’d think I was in Korea’

RESTAURATEUR JAE CHUNG TAKES US INSIDE H MART, THE ENORMOUS NEW KOREAN MEGAMART, FOR A COOKING LESSON LIKE NO OTHER

By Debra Samuels, Globe Correspondent November 11, 2009

BURLINGTON — Standing in front of a tower of Korean grapes, restaurateur Jae Chung surveys the new H Mart. “Wow! Now I won’t have to drive to New Jersey,’’ he says. Opened last month — the first one in New England — this H Mart is the 30th store for the New Jersey-based chain owned by Korean businessmen. It began in 1982 and at this point moves into a region in a big way. The footprint is the size of a football field. The store combines elements of Asian and American supermarkets, department store-type concessions, and a food court anchored by a French Asian bakery. Some customers look like they’re participating in a supermarket sweepstakes race. Carts are piled high with boxes threatening to topple over. All Asian cuisines are represented here but Korean products dominate. Still, the fresh food is abundant: meats, poultry, seafood, vegetables, and prepared foods.

Since it opened its doors, H Mart has been jammed. (H stands for hanahreum, literally “armful’’; the company says it means “love and care for the customers.’’) The tall, slim Chung, 46, who owns several Jae’s enterprises in Boston and Western Massachusetts, is drawn to the store, to the bins of spicy kimchi, crocks of salted seafood, sacks of grains. Chung is touring the mega-market to explain ingredients and tell us how he’d cook them. One of his chefs, Yeong Sohn, joins us.

We start at one corner of the store, where the banchan (little dishes) and kimchi (fermented vegetables) are located. This is what you would find in a supermarket in Seoul. Chung was born in Seoul and moved to Clarksburg, a tiny town in the Berkshires, when he was 13. “I was the only foreign kid in town,’’ he says. Sometimes it embarrassed him to bring friends home because of all the unusual food smells and herbs his parents were drying that might have seemed weird.

At H Mart, Chung is right at home. Banchan, which are seasoned vegetables, tiny fish, seaweed, and wild herbs, are the base of a Korean meal. Chung notes that these prepared dishes will save home cooks hours of work. “This is a real boon for the Korean housewife,’’ he says. “Making these side dishes is labor intensive.’’ His parents made all these things themselves when he was growing up. The case is brimming with 20 kinds of kimchi, which is on the table at most Korean meals. “I like the New York [brand] kimchi. It is all natural with no MSG,’’ says Chung. H Mart carries other MSG-free brands. On weekends at H Mart, women wearing rubber gloves are making fresh kimchi and the lines to buy it are long.

Chung opened his first Jae’s Cafe in the South End in 1990 followed by seven more. The original location is still open, as is another in Brookline. He was one of the first restaurateurs here to make pan-Asian food. Today he lives in North Adams with his wife, Suzanne, and 7-year-old daughter, Hanul, and has restaurants in Pittsfield and North Adams.

At H Mart, Chung sees crocks filled with raw salted seafood in spicy sauces. “I love this stuff,’’ he says, and points to pollock roe, which is thousands of tiny eggs in a natural sack. Serving instructions are simple: “Drizzle with soy sauce and sesame oil and sprinkle on minced scallions,’’ he says.

The meat case is filled with cuts you don’t see at regular supermarkets: pork belly, sliced beef and pork for stir-fries, chicken feet. Chung picks up a package of something marked “LA beef short ribs’’ (LA is a type of bone-in rib, thinly sliced for table top barbecue). He likes these. “Good marbling,’’ he says. Then a quick recipe: “Sprinkle the meat with salt and pepper and marinate in a mixture of grated Asian pear, ginger, garlic, sake, soy sauce, and sesame oil for three to four hours. Cook in a frying pan or under the broiler. Serve with red leaf lettuce, red pepper paste, some raw garlic.’’

In the seafood department, most of the fish have heads and tails intact. There are fewer boneless pieces available, but lots of ready-cut sashi mi, split blue crabs, and pre-packed seafood hot pot ingredients ready to mix with water. Lobsters are in tanks, abalone is in the freezer section, and clams and mussels are on ice, ready for customers to scoop their own into a plastic bag.

An entire department is devoted to dried seaweed. In the produce section, there’s everything from lettuce to lotus root. Chung notices chubby white radishes called mu, something like daikon; slender red and green chili peppers; and unusual varieties of mushrooms. A refrigerated case is loaded with a half dozen brands of tofu in textures from silky to firm, as well as custard-like for sundubu chigae (tofu stew). Soy bean sprouts are beside the tofu. Korean Rx for colds: “Combine garlic, beef stock, and [soy] sprouts,’’ says Chung.

The restaurateur spots a mountain of Napa cabbage, the kind used for homemade kimchi. “Thirty years ago in Clarksburg we could only get the round green kind [of cabbage]. My dad made the kimchi and buried it in the backyard - the tradition.’’ In Korea, the cold ground kept the fermenting cabbage at the perfect temperature and provided vegetables when none were in season. Now some families in Korea and here have kimchi refrigerators that control not just the temperature but also the distinctive odor of fermenting vegetables. On the way to housewares, you can see one of these nifty fridges. You’ll also find specially designed plastic ware for kimchi, and the latest in electronic rice cookers, well-designed table top grills, steamers, and tableware, including stonepot bibimbap bowls.

“I’m just so happy to see these Korean items in a store like this. Usually you can only find them in mom-and-pop stores,’’ he says. He thinks H Mart is trying to appeal to a broad spectrum of Asian and non-Asian families, but notices that most of the food and housewares are items from Korea.

We round the corner, passing a store-long aisle of noodles, and turn into an alleyway of rice and grains. Brown, white, short grain, sweet rice, and dozens of others share space with bags of barley, millet, red adzuki beans, black and white soy beans, sorghum, and lentils. “Koreans like white rice, but it has no real nutritional value,’’ says Chung. “When I was in school in Korea, the government introduced all these beans and legumes to cook with rice and improve nutrition. The teacher would check our lunch boxes and you would get hit if your rice didn’t include a healthy mix of beans.’’ Many Koreans make their own rice blends today, but premixed grains are now available for the daily pot.

An abundant market makes customers hungry. We lunch on reasonably priced dishes in the food court: bibimbap, the classic rice and vegetable pot; sundubu chigae, the soft tofu dish; ja jang noodles, a spicy Korean-Chinese favorite; tteokpokki, rice cakes shaped like small tubes bathed in a fiery sauce; and Korean sushi, called kimbap.

H Mart president William Choi says the decision to open in the suburbs reflects the large Asian population now living outside the city. In fact, most customers are Asian. Those who aren’t, like Joan McDonough and her daughter, Melanie Donlan, both of Watertown, may receive advice from grandmotherly shoppers. “Eat kimchi. It will never make you fat,’’ announces Soon Kim, a handsome and slim 74-year-old from Salem.

Chung likes the notion that Korean food is being brought into the mainstream. “You’d think I was in Korea,’’ he says.
H Mart, 3 Old Concord Road, Burlington, 781-221-4570. For locations of Jae’s restaurants, go to www.jaescafe.com
For more photos go to The Boston Globe's website

© Copyright 20092009 The New York Times Company