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

Carrot and daikon salad

October 14, 2009

Serves 4

Light vinegared salads, known in Japan as sunomono, can be made with most any vegetable. In Shizuo Tsuji’s “Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art,’’ the author pairs carrot and daikon radish in a light and refreshing dish with a sweet and sour dressing called amazu (the word looks like shorthand for amazing - and it is). Salt shreds of deep orange carrot and white daikon radish to release their liquid, then knead the vegetables to create icicle-like shards of daikon. The dressing is made from mild rice vinegar, sugar, and water heated and then cooled. Toss it with the crunchy vegetables and refrigerate the dish for at least 30 minutes (it’s even more flavorful if left overnight). Traditionally, the salad is served in small plates but add this mixture to a bowl of salad greens and you have an appealing variation.

1 large carrot, cut into 2-inch-by- 1/2-inch matchsticks
1 medium (1 pound) daikon radish, cut into 2-inch-by- 1/2-inch matchsticks
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup water

1. In a large bowl combine the carrot and daikon radish matchsticks. Add the salt and toss lightly. After several minutes, mix and lightly knead the vegetables with your hands. Working over a colander set in a bowl, gather up the vegetables in your hands and squeeze out the liquid. Rinse and dry the bowl. Place the vegetables in it.
   
   
2. In a glass bowl, mix the vinegar, sugar, and water. Heat in a microwave for 1 minute or until the sugar dissolves. Alternatively, heat the mixture in a small saucepan. Cool to room temperature.
   
   
3. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the vinegar mixture onto the vegetables. Mix with your hand and then squeeze the liquid from the vegetables. Discard the liquid.
   
   
4. Add the remaining dressing to the vegetables. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or for up to two days.

Squeeze in some lemon sorbet

By Debra Samuels, Globe Correspondent

September 9, 2009

Lemon sorbet is a refreshing dessert any time of year. At the end of summer, when local fruits are in the markets, pair them with a cool scoop of lemony ice and add a crisp cookie.

We sat down to taste six brands of lemon sorbet and among 16 tasters there was no clear favorite. Ciao Bella Lemon Sorbetto, with four votes, edged out three others with three votes each. “Most intense lemon flavor and best palate cleanser,’’ was heard repeatedly. But neither was there a clear loser; 365 Meyer Lemon Sorbet (Whole Foods Market’s house brand) was turned away by four tasters with “bitter’’ being the most common remark.

Sorbet is generally defined as containing water, fruit juice or pulp, and sugar. That’s what each brand contains, plus stabilizers and preservatives. Most are labeled “naturally fat-free.’’ Sorbet is often confused with sherbet, its creamier cousin, which can contain dairy and sometimes egg whites. That said, ingredients vary. Sorbet recipes are also made with dairy products such as cream and half-and-half. Gus Rancatore, owner of Toscanini’s and maker of icy confections, says, “I’m a traditionalist. Sherbet has milk or egg whites.’’ Many chefs ask Rancatore to make sorbets using dairy products because, he says, chefs don’t live in a rigid world of definitions.

None of our brands contain dairy or eggs. Tasting a particularly creamy sorbet, like Stop & Shop’s Lemon Sorbetto, one of our crew wrote “this is not sorbet!’’ Well apparently it is. The texture comes from stabilizers such as carrageenan, pectin, guar gum, and xanthan gum. This would explain the “gelatinous’’ and “gummy’’ comments leveled at several brands, which by the way, were easier to scoop. But “creamy’’ can also come from whipping, which is why many recipes for homemade sorbet encourage immediate consumption.

As for color, all of the brands sampled are white, with one exception. Sharon’s is lemon yellow - really turmeric yellow. The color put some tasters off: “How artificial looking! It must be food coloring,’’ one said. Others found the color to be “luscious’’ and an eye-appealing “baby-chick yellow.’’

Most sorbets are flavored with lemon juice concentrate, which could include flavorings and sugar. Only Ciao Bella has plain lemon juice and rind among its ingredient list.

Ciao Bella Lemon (Limone)

$4.99 for 1 pint
This brand was lauded for its lemony taste and grainy texture. Lemon juice is the second ingredient, the highest proportion among the competitors. “This has the most intense lemon flavor and would be the best palate cleanser.’’ “Nice icy consistency, tastes like it might have some peel in it.’’ “Delicious, looks like a sorbet. Consistency is nice and fresh.’’ Another: “Yum-o. Nice fruity flavor with a crisp texture.’’ “Acid not creamy too sherbet-y.’’ “Tangy and sweet.’’ “Icy, tastes artificial.’’ Others: “Tastes a little like Mr. Clean smells - pine-scented kitchen cleaner. But the texture is nice.’’ “Light on flavor and substance.’’

Haägen-Dazs Fat-Free Sorbet Zesty Lemon

$3.99 for 1 pint
“Good texture and plenty of flavor but also has a medicine-y aftertaste that is off-putting.’’ “A bit of a bitter after-taste. Too creamy. Something other than lemon is in back.’’ “OK for bitter lemon sorbet. It is too sweet and too bitter. Lacks the tart clean taste of fresh lemon and peel.’’ “Nice white smooth looking. No scent. Very smooth quite metallic, false lemon flavor.’’ “Dreadful glop of bitterness.’’ “A nice smooth blend of lemon and sweet.’’ “Good creamy.’’ “Did they add a lot of lemon flavor? Too sweet.’’ “No taste of lemon really.’’ And from one who chose it as a favorite: “Full rich ice creamy, tangy; too lemony chemical aftertaste. But still good.’’ What kind of endorsement is that?

Sharon’s All Natural Fat Free Lemon Sorbet

$2.69 for 1 pint
(This brand got three favorite votes and three least favorite.) “Tastes like mom’s lemon meringue pie!’’ “Bold lemon flavor and luscious yellow color. Love the crunch.’’ “Tart, icy, lemony . . . delicious.’’ Not everyone gushed over the color. “Why so yellow? More crunchy than smooth. My tooth hurts. First sweet, then turns sour.’’ More texture comments: “Not very creamy, but subtly lemony taste. Better once it thawed a bit. Artificial yellow color.’’ “Seems like real lemon, maybe a bit bitter in the aftertaste.’’ “Looks grainy, no smell at all.’’ “Smooth icy.’’ “Too yellow, too sweet.’’ “Consistency is not very smooth. More like flavored ice.’’

Stop & Shop Simply Enjoy Lemon Sorbetto

$4.49 for 1 liter (half gallon)
(Got three favorite votes and three least favorites.) Easiest of all to scoop. “This is not sorbet. Gelatinous texture after-feel on tongue. Overly sweet. Too much lemon oil, not enough fresh lemon.’’ “White like snowflakes. Smooth tangy refreshing, opens up the taste buds.’’ “Bitter lemon tastes artificial. Too creamy for sorbet.’’ “Very sweet, not real lemony.’’ (Lemon appears as the fifth ingredient; most other brands list it third or fourth.) “Creamy, a little bitterness in mouth.’’ “Love the smell, texture, and taste of this sorbet. It has the right amount of sweetness.’’ “Smooth, sort of creamy, light lemon flavor.’’ “White color, creamy smooth consistency, mild initial flavor, tart aftertaste.’’ “Lemony scent with a bit of extract smell. Lovely texture. Very smooth no granules. False lemon flavor. All extract, no real lemon bitter edge.’’

Whole Foods Market 365 Meyer Lemon Sorbet

$3.39 for 1 pint
“Very smooth, nice blend of sweet and tart.’’ “Remote flavor of lemon like it was near a lemon at some point. Texture is not unpleasant, just not good.’’ “Least sweet and has an aftertaste which is bitter. Texture is smooth and creamy.’’ “Bitter and too much stabilizer.’’ “White, very creamy, astringent.’’ “Gummy - OK acceptable.’’ “Creamy and a little bitter.’’ “This is too thick and acidic. Tart without lemony flavor.’’ “Rich, too lemony, too intense, smooth.’’ “Smooth white, looks like there might be flecks of rind. Lemon scent is extract-y. Flavor is bitter, too much extract but right amount of sugar. Too bad about the bitterness - it has that metallic bitter edge but nice smooth texture.’’ “Consistency excellent.’’

Whole Fruit Sorbet Lemon

$2.69 for 1 pint
Some commented: “No artificial color’’ and “nice off-white looks, smooth, scent is soft lemon.’’ Others: “Feels chemical and smooth.’’ “Not bad for a lemony sherbet. Lemon-ish and not too sweet. More creamy than I like a sorbet to be.’’ “Dense full flavored. Tangy and white. More ice cream than sorbet.’’ “Color OK. Excellent lemon flavor. Not quite as icy as it could be, but really good.’’ “Very creamy with a balanced flavor and pleasant aroma. Lacking intensity.’’ “This has a great tang. Smooth texture with a lemony fragrance you expect in a lemon sorbet.’’ “Way too tart. Doesn’t have sweetish aftertaste.’’ “More authentic fresh lemon flavor. Not as strong as others.’’ “White, smooth, tart, with very little sweet.’’

For boat's chef, some thrills and spills

Keeps crew happy with comfort food

By Debra Samuels, Globe Correspondent

September 23, 2009

GLOUCESTER HARBOR - The schooner Roseway, a 137-foot former fishing boat, lurches through the waves, and doors flap to the rhythm. time,announces Jessica Reale, who quickly secures the kitchen cabinets with bungee cords. The 26-year-old chef works quickly, holding a door closed with an elbow while hooking the cord under the cabinet before another wave knocks her and everything in the cupboard off balance. The next lurch pushes her into the electric stove, which has pot braces for the burners. A huge pot of clam chowder is practically stirring itself.

The hardest part of cooking on a boat is when I am feeling seasick,says Reale. A brownie batter in a large baking pan has pooled at one end.
Reale, an East Bridgewater native, cooks three meals a day for the 10 crew members of the Roseway, which docks in Boston Harbor during the warm months when guests aren't onboard.

The boat is used by the World Ocean School for education programs for schoolchildren. Today, there are 30 passengers - the Roseway is racing other tall ships out of Gloucester - and all will have lunch with the crew.

The chef was up an hour before the crew, preparing homemade blueberry pancakes and coffee. One by one, sleepy crew members climb the ladder from their bunks in the fosle (boatspeak for forecastle) into the cramped galley. Deck hand Margo Vanderberg, 30, grabs coffee and walks the five steps to the other end of the galley, descends into the dining area, piles pancakes on her plate, and tucks in.

We love Jess,says chief mate Andrew Kaiser, 23. Hey Jess, he asks, did you grind the flour for the pancakes?
Reale, who has a head of brown curls and a contagious laugh, is a Culinary Institute of America-trained chef. She had managed and cooked at restaurants in Florida and Maine, but had never been on a sailboat before this job. The galley is her domain and also the universal pass-through to sleeping quarters, dining room, engine room, deck, shower, and the only toilet. Storage in the kitchen is under floor boards and behind stairs; two portholes have ever-changing views.

The boat's food budget is meager. Reale spends $5.50 per person per day. You can do a lot with that if you shop smart,she says. The crew likes meatloaf, soups, and homemade breads. brought my professional books but find myself mostly using the only cookbook in the ship library, The Joy of Cooking,she says.

The Roseway sets sail for St. Croix in November. know staples will be more expensive down there, but I am looking forward to the challenge. Off the Massachusetts coastline, the crew dines on chowder. The chef uses canned clams when fresh ones aren't available. She sets a pot of creamy chowder beside ham and cheese sandwiches on homemade baguettes and adds a platter of oddly shaped brownies (they baked on a sea-induced angle).

Hours later, the Roseway, which finishes in fourth place in the race, returns to Gloucester.
On a typical day, Reale would prepare dinner now. She bought chicken earlier in the week and cooked it to make fajitas with corn tortillas and her own guacamole.

Tonight, Reale catches a break. All the crews have been invited to a potluck dinner.
Fajitas are on tomorrow's menu. Hopefully, so are calmer seas.

To learn more about the Roseway, go to http://www.roseway.com/

To hear Jess talk about her role as a chef and meet her mates watch the video taken by Boston Globe photographer John Tlumacki

http://www.boston.com/video/viral_page/?/services/player/bcpid19067533001&bctid=41478825001

Lobster Cantonese

(Photos by Debra Samuels for The Boston Globe)

The classic method for Lobster Cantonese calls for chopping the raw crustacean - a scary proposition. Instead, start with a cooked lobster - unconventional, but perfect for squeamish cooks. This recipe is based on one from Irene Kuo’s “The Key to Chinese Cooking,’’ which does begin with live shellfish. Many markets will cook the lobsters for you. Once home, snap the claws and tails off the body. Stir-fry fermented black beans and ground pork with garlic and ginger. The liquid from the cooked lobster becomes part of the tasty sauce; the lobster in its shell protects the meat from turning chewy and still imparts flavor. Prepare ingredients in advance, line them up near the burner, and the cooking time is minimal. The results are frightfully good!

3 cooked lobsters (1 1/4 pounds each)
Juices from lobsters plus chicken stock or water to make 1 1/4 cups
2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or sake
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
3 scallions, chopped
1 piece (1 inch) fresh ginger, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons fermented black beans, soaked for 5 minutes, drained, and chopped
1/2 pound ground pork
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten

1. Over a large bowl, snap off the claws and tails from the lobster (boil the bodies to make lobster stock for seafood stew for another day).
   
   
2. With a lobster cracker, hold a claw over the same bowl and crack down the middle, catching any liquid in the bowl. Twist off the base of the claw and crack in the middle. The meat should stay intact in the shell. Repeat with remaining claws. Hold a lobster tail over the bowl and twist off the base. Lay the tail on a cutting board and with a chef’s knife or cleaver, cut the tail into 3 pieces. Repeat with remaining tails.
   
   
3. Set a strainer over another bowl. Pour the lobster liquid through it. Measure and add enough stock or water to make 1 1/4 cups liquid. Add the rice wine or sake and pepper.
   
   
4. Heat a large wok or deep skillet over high heat for 30 seconds. Add the oil and when it is hot, add the scallions, ginger, garlic, and black beans. Stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the pork and stir-fry 2 minutes or until the pork loses its pink color.
   
   
5. Add the lobster liquid mixture. Bring to a boil. Add the lobster pieces, and cook, tossing with a wide spatula, until lobster is coated with sauce. Cover and continue cooking for 2 minutes.
   
   
6. Lower the heat to medium. Stir the cornstarch mixture. Drizzle it over the lobster mixture. Add the sesame oil and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until the sauce thickens.
   
   
7. Pour the eggs into the pan in a circular motion. Cook, stirring gently, for 1 minute. Turn off the heat and let the mixture sit for 1 minute more.
   

© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.

One potato Two potato

Photo by Debra Samuels for the Boston Globe

By Debra Samuels

Globe Correspondent / April 1, 2009

As Lexington resident Norma Currie explains it, she and her siblings did what many children do: "None of us would eat our vegetables," she says. But their mother was smarter than her kids. She cooked the vegetables and mashed them with potatoes. "And we loved them," says Currie, who still makes various versions of the spuds today. Sometimes it accompanies roast chicken or other meats and fish. It's a good way to have your mashed potatoes with less guilt and fewer calories. Carrots add volume and sweetness and their vitamins, of course. Spinach and mashed is another winning combination. Add rinsed spinach leaves to the hot potato water after cooking. Cover the pot and let the spinach sit for 2 minutes. The heat of the water softens the leaves, but they keep their vibrant green color.

Mashed potatoes with carrots

Serves 4

Salt and pepper, to taste
3 medium Yukon Gold or Yellow Finn potatoes (about 3/4 pound), peeled and quartered
2 medium carrots, cut into 2-inch rounds
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup milk

1. In a saucepan of boiling salted water, combine the potatoes and carrots and turn the heat to medium high. Simmer for 10 minutes or until the potatoes and carrots are tender when pierced with a skewer.
   
   
2. Drain the vegetables and transfer to a bowl. Add the butter and milk. Mash with a potato masher until the mixture is smooth. Add salt and pepper
   
   

Mashed potatoes with spinach

Serves 4

Salt and pepper, to taste
3 medium potatoes (about 3/4 pound), peeled and quartered
2 cups baby spinach leaves
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup milk

1. In a saucepan of boiling salted water, cook the potatoes over medium-high heat for 10 minutes or until they are tender when pierced with a skewer.
   
   
   
2. Turn off the heat and add the spinach. Cover and set aside for 2 minutes until the spinach wilts but is still bright green.
   
   
   
3. Drain the vegetables and transfer to a bowl. Add the butter and milk. Mash with a potato masher until the mixture is smooth. Add salt and pepper.
   Adapted from Norma Currie
   
   
   

© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.