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Simmered Tofu Balls with Celery


A few years ago in Kyoto I had an amazing vegetarian meal in a Shojinryori restaurant (it belongs to a Buddhist Temple, you can find my full review here), and among the delicious dishes served there I had some fried tofu balls, simmered in a light vegetable stock with celery. At home I have been trying to reproduce that amazing taste with what I had available. The tofu is Chinese-style, New Zealand-made, maybe the stock is a bit 'Italian' in flavour, and the celery is from my garden. But every time I am happy with the results.



Now I make this a lot, especially for my kids. I buy the tofu balls in the Chinese shop in Henderson. They are already fried and puffy, and they are very versatile. For this recipe I just simmer them for 10 minutes with celery stalks and vegetable stock, then I lift them up from the stock (which I use as a base for soups or other things) with a slotted spoon, and I serve them, warm. They are so simple to make and yet they taste quite elaborate. I often serve them as part of a Japanese meal (as the protein dish) accompanied by a bowl of rice, a bowl of light soup, and some seasonal vegetables.


Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

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  1. UnknownJanuary 14, 2010 at 1:54 AM

    Hey Alessandra,

    Thanks for dropping by and for leaving such a lovely comment...
    'Simmered tofu Balls with celery' this is something I should catch on,simple yet tasty,calls minimum Ingredients...

    Must give it a shot..
    u have a gr8 space..
    Njoy Blogging n Happy Cooking...
    Cheers.......

    ReplyDelete
  2. AlessandraJanuary 14, 2010 at 9:11 AM

    Hi Ramya, welcome! I am sure that it may sounds strange to you, but sometimes I cook tofu with masala and tikka sauces. It is a good meat substitute and it is very healthy and low fat :-)

    ReplyDelete

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