Asian cooking

• Steamed litid ng baka (beef ligaments)
• Kikiam (Que-kiam)
• Beef with broccoli
• Taiwanese shaved ice
• Fish fillet fried rice
• Home-style sukiyaki
• Beef Siomai Mami
• Oriental Chicken Noodle Soup
• Lechon con tokwa
• Chicken and asparagus fried rice

Asian Pantry

• Malunggay
• Cocoa powder
• Mirin
• Patis (fish sauce)
• Green curry paste: how hot do you want your food?
• Honey
• Crushed galangal
• Oregano
• Laurel (bay) leaves
• Bawang na mura (spring garlic)

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Firm tofu

Local tokwa is cheaper but since I first tried Masoya Japanese firm tofu, it has been the only firm tofu for me. Discovering it was quite by accident. I was looking for silken tofu to make miso soup and there was only Masoya silken tofu. My eyes went past the Masoya firm tofu, I was not really interested thinking that firm tofu is firm tofu so why pay a high price for something I can get so cheap? There must be six kinds of local tokwa, in different sizes, on the same supermarket shelf. It wasn’t until a few weeks later when the same supermarket ran out of local tokwa that I was obliged to buy Masoya Japanese firm tofu.

What’s the big deal, really?

The big deal is in the texture and the taste. Funny that I always considered tofu to be tasteless, a sponge that merely absorbs the flavors of the other ingredients in a dish, but Masoya Japanese firm tofu has this refreshing melt-in-your-mouth taste. Melt-in-your-mouth? Didn’t I just say firm tofu? Unlike the loca tokwa, Masoya Japanese firm tofu is softer. But unlike its silken tofu sibling, it is easier to handle and DOES NOT crumble when stir fried. The best part is that after stir frying, only the outside gets crusty, allowing it to retain its shape when tossed with the rest of the ingredients in a stir fry dish. And yet — AND YET — the inside remains soft. Neither does masoya Japanese firm tofu shrink after frying and cooling the way local tokwa does.

Sounds good? Yes, well, all that kinds justifies the price which is almost three times the price of local tokwa.

This is NOT an ad nor a paid endorsement for Masoya Japanese firm tofu. I’m just sharing a great find.

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• Sandalwood in Vietnamese Pho
• Max’s Restaurant
• A side dish: buttered corn and carrots
• Japanese sweet corn
• Welcome to my kitchen!
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• Chicken and sausages pasta
• Olympic chili coco chicken
• About popcorn and popcorn cookers