July 11, 2011
Amuse-Bouche
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dofu d’arachide
(peanut tofu)
During the 25 years I almost exclusively cooked Chinese food, when it came to tofu, I always received a wide range of emotions from potential guests. Those who found it disgusting seemed to have no awareness of the myriad types available and methods of preparations. They would refer to tofu as flavorless with a yucky texture and explore the subject no further. I wonder what these same people would have to say about dofu d’arachide, tofu made from peanuts.
Technically, dofu d’arachide is not tofu. With tofu, soy beans are cooked and ground to produce a milky liquid. This liquid is coagulated producing solids and liquid similar to the curds and whey of normal cheese making. These solids are pressed in a form to make the tofu we are all familiar with. Dofu d’arachide is starch-thickened peanut-infused water. This dish should probably be referred to as mochi rather than dofu since there is a dish in Japan called kuzumochi, which is made by thickening a liquid with kudzu starch. But we’ll ignore that technicality.
The idea for this preparation comes from Clotilde Dusoulier, who published a recipe for gomadofu on her blog Chocolate & Zucchini. Goma is the Japanese word for sesame seeds. She was recreating a dish that she had eaten at a temple while travelling in Japan. As a long time tofu hugger, I wanted to try her recipe, but it required sesame paste as an ingredient. I’m not a big fan of sesame paste. One day when I was particularly lamenting that fact, it came to me to make pinattsudofu instead of gomadufu. Pinattsu is the Japanese word for peanut.
The main problem that you may run into making this recipe is finding the starch, which in this case is made from the roots of the kudzu plant. (“The vine that ate the South.”) I eventually found some in a health-foods store. There may have been some in my local Japanese mega store, but none of the Japanese-speaking help had heard of kuzuko, or least they couldn’t find any packages labeled as such among all the starches. The starch comes as little rocks of starch so I threw the whole package in a spice grinder to make a powder out of it so it would dissolve faster.
The pan I used for cooling the starch mixture was a Japanese cake pan with a removable bottom. I can no longer remember where I bought it, and I haven’t found another. The opening is 11 by 14 cm (4-13 by 5-12 in) and it is a perfect rectangle with very square corners, which makes the entire contents usable. A 14-cm (5-12-in) round cake pan will have a similar volume, but there will be some waste. The yield with the rectangular pan will be about 20 servings; with a round pan, somewhat less.
The sauce I’m used is a variation of one that I have used for years with cold Chinese-style tofu. This cold tofu salad is one of my go-to recipes on hot summer days.
25 g (78 oz)
kudzu starch
250 ml (1 c)
water
35 g (1-14 oz)
natural, creamy peanut butter
12 T
shao hsing hua tiao chiew (Chinese rice wine)
sauce:
1 T
dark Chinese soy sauce
1 T
roasted sesame oil
1 T
chili oil
garnish:
very finely minced green onions
1. Mix the starch with about a fourth of the water until smooth. Mix the peanut butter with the remaining water. When smooth, combine the two water mixtures and mix in the wine.
2. Place the mixture in a saucepan and set over high heat. Using a wooden spatula, stir the mixture continuously as it comes to heat. By the time the mixture comes close to a boil, it should be quite thick and smooth.
3. Dampen your cake pan with a little water and pour the thickened mixture into it. Level the top with a rubber spatula and set the pan in your refrigerator to cool and harden.
4. When totally cool, carefully unmold the dofu and set it on a plate. Over time the dofu will undergo syneresis, and a pool of water will form around the dofu. Discard the liquid before serving the dofu.
5. Combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl, and whisk them rapidly until they hold together. Divide the sauce between the serving plates. Cut the dofu into cubes and place one cube on each plate. Decorate the dofu with a small pile of green onions.

© 2011 Peter Hertzmann. All rights reserved.