Tofu casserole

I've just been catching up on Top Chef Masters and I have to admit, it's just as good if not better than the regular Top Chef. As a tribute to one of my favorite chefs on the show, I'm making one of Takashi Yagihashi's dishes. At his restaurant in Chicago, he has a dish on the menu similar to a hot pot with tofu, mushrooms and Asian greens and various dipping sauces. Food and Wine recreates his dish to make it a one pot dish.

Tofu Casserole

Recipe from Food and Wine

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

2 tsp instant dashi powder

4 cups water

2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger

1/4 lb shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and caps thinly sliced

1/2 cup shelled edamame (3ounces)

one 14-ounce package firm silken tofu, cut into 1-inch cubes

8 water chestnuts, thinly sliced

5 ounces baby spinach

2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

2 tbsp mirin

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

1 scallion, thinly sliced

4 tsp bonito flakes, optional

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, bring the dashi and water to a simmer. Add the ginger, shiitake mushrooms, edamame, tofu and water chestnuts and simmer over moderate heat for 5 minutes. Add the spinach, soy sauce, mirin and lemon juice and stir just until spinach is wilted. Serve in bowls with the scallion and bonito flakes. 

Nutritional Analysis:
per serving: 121 calories, 3.6g fat (0.5g saturated, 1.6g polyunsaturated, 0.6g monounsaturated), 9.6g carbohydrates, 2.5g fiber, 11g protein

**Helpful tips and common mistakes

The name of this dish can be misleading because it's not so much a casserole as it is a soup. I made several changes to this recipe including the dashi. Obviously buying the dashi powder can be more convenient but making the dashi yourself is not difficult to do. 

To make the broth, combine 4 cups of water with 1 green onion stem (the white end only), 2 ounces onion, 2 ounces Korean radish, 1 dashi square (3x3), and 1 dried shiitake mushroom. To make the broth even more flavorful I added a dried pollack fish head and 2 garlic cloves.

Since the recipe calls for shiitake mushrooms, I decided to add extra dried shiitake mushrooms to the broth and use those for the casserole once they have flavored the broth.

Cook the dashi over medium-high heat until it reaches a boil. Turn off the heat and add 1.5 ounces of bonito flakes. Close the lid and let the broth sit. After ten minutes, strain the liquid, reserving the mushrooms. Reheat the broth to the stove and proceed with the recipe, adding the ginger, edamame, tofu, water chestnuts etc.

Slice the reserved shiitake mushrooms from your broth and add to the broth with the other ingredients. 

Adjust the seasoning as you see fit. I added a little extra soy sauce and mirin to give the broth a little more flavoring. 

This casserole is light and has very clean flavors, allowing you to appreciate all of the other ingredients. Even though the recipe does not call for a large amount of ginger, I was able to get a hint of the root in the broth. I actually added noodles to this dish and made it a meal. Easy, simple, and good.