Future Stew

recipe.md

Future Stew

We made this for Foodie Night 05/24/2015 where the theme was food through the ages. We selected the age of the future. Our premise was that, in the future, meat would be scarce or out of favor and in vogue would be to dine from the harvest of hydroponically grown veggies. We created a stew that is mostly based on a Chinese hot pot recipe edited to include extra tasty veggies.

The main things we did different was to cook the tofu separately and add it to the top of the stew.

You may want to add a bit more stock if you like your stew to be more soupy as quite a lot of broth gets absorbed by the noodles and potatoes.

We added some completely optional far out garnish of Star Fruit and Rambutan in addition to attractive micro-arugula.

Ingredients

Tofu

• 16 ounces firm tofu, preferably water-packed
• 1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons mirin (sweet Japanese rice wine)
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon minced or grated fresh ginger

Broth

• 2 teaspoons canola oil
• 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced (about 3 cups).
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 5 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup of wine
• 1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons chile-garlic sauce, or to taste (we used chili-bean sauce)
• 4 green onions
• 2 small onions (mix of sweet and hard hitting)
• 1 star anise pod
• 1/2 lb. fingerling potatoes
• 4 cups thinly sliced tender bok choy greens save off the greens.
• handful of asparagus (we mainly added tips)
• 8 ounces fresh Chinese-style (lo mein) noodles
• micro arugula

Pan Fried Tofu

• 16 ounces firm tofu, preferably water-packed

Drain and extract as much water from the tofu as you can. We like to put paper towels under the tofu block and a cutting board on top with our cooking-brick on top for 15-30 minutes while we prep everything. You do have a cooking brick don't you?

Marinade

Whisk marinade ingredients together.

• 1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons mirin (sweet Japanese rice wine)
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon minced or grated fresh ginger

Slice tofu into slabs and put marinade and tofu in a ziploc bag let sit up to 24 hours turning over now and then. I also marinated the shiitake for the stew with the tofu for extra flavor.

Later, when finishing up the stew cook up the tofu on a grill or saute pan. Be sure to dry off the marinade with a paper towel to get a good sear on the tofu. We used coconut oil and butter to fry them up.

Stew

You could simplify this a bit if you don't want to be so fancy. The gist is to make a flavorful broth and add some green veggies and noodles just before serving.

Broth

• 2 teaspoons canola oil
• 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
• 6 cloves garlic, minced

Saute the ginger and garlic for a minute or so. Then add the liquid and bring to a boil.

• 6 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced (about 2 cups). We used a mix of fresh and dried. The nice thing about using dried is you get a bunch of extra flavorful liquid to add to the broth if you like.
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar I also added a little honey.
• 6 cups vegetable broth, or reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup of wine
• 1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons chile-garlic sauce, or to taste (we used chili-bean sauce) Careful, add a little at a time.
• 4 green onions
• 12 miniature onions mixed white and yellow. Big ones are sure to be fine as they completely integrated into the stew.
• 1 star anise pod

Being this all to a boil and then simmer for as long as you can stand it. Be careful that the sauce does not get too spicy or salty. Remember that you want the liquid to reduce a bit giving time for the flavors to all come together. I like using stock from different sources to add complexity to the flavor.

Potatoes

• 1/2 lb. fingerling potatoes
• salt (optional)

Saute the potatoes shortly to get them par cooked. The goal is to keep the potatoes firm in the stew. If they are too big slice them to bite size pieces.

Countdown to launch

15 minutes before serving or fewer depending on how crunchy you like things. Add the bok choy stems and par cooked potatoes. A few minutes before serving add the asparagus.

• 4 cups thinly sliced tender bok choy greens save off the greens.
• handful of asparagus (we mainly added tips)

Just before serving

Add the bok choy leaves and noodles.

• 8 ounces fresh Chinese-style (lo mein) noodles
• garnish with arugula (star fruit, and rambutan are optional).

Throw 1 or 2 slabs of Tofu over the top and enjoy.