Tofu Love

DEAR SOS: My daughter adores the delicious tofu salad at Mishima in West Los Angeles. It’s perfect on a warm day.

--PAT

DEAR PAT: You’ll need to purchase a sesame seasoning mix from a Japanese market. You can simply use the sesame seed paste (tahineh) or peanut butter and omit the seasoning mix if you can’t find it.

TOFU SALAD

Oil

2 cups rice noodles or won-ton skins sliced thin

2 tablespoons sesame seed paste or creamy peanut butter

2/3 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons sesame seasoning mix

1 1/2 teaspoons grated ginger root

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons sweet rice wine (mirin)

1 tablespoon water

1 (14-ounce) package tofu

2 Japanese cucumbers

2 tomatoes

Radish sprouts

Dried bonito flakes (katsuo-bushi)

Dried kelp

Heat oil and add noodles or won-ton strips. Fry briefly until golden brown. Immediately remove with slotted spoon and drain. Set aside.

Blend together sesame seed paste, mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, seasoning mix, ginger root, soy sauce, rice wine and water. Mix well and set aside in refrigerator.

Drain excess water from tofu and cut into cubes. Slice cucumbers and tomatoes thin. Chop off root ends of sprouts and discard. Divide tofu, cucumber and tomato slices among 6 to 8 plates. Garnish with sprouts, fried won-ton strips or noodles and bonito flakes. Chill. Pour dressing over salad and sprinkle with dried kelp.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Each of 6 servings contains about:

411 calories; 364 mg sodium; 7 mg cholesterol; 17 grams fat; 60 grams carbohydrates; 8 grams protein; 0.68 gram fiber.

Fruitful Solution DEAR SOS: I want to put up fruits in brandy and can’t find a recipe for rumtopf. I hope you have it.

--THELMA

DEAR THELMA: Rumtopf, the German name for fruit preserved in brandy or rum, is a great way to use fruit in season when it is least expensive. You can keep replenishing the fruit jar with seasonal fruit throughout the year to serve as a dramatic finale to a company meal. The fruit is great over ice cream, pound cake or by itself.

RUMTOPF

1 (750-milliliter) bottle rum, bourbon or brandy

Peel of 1 orange, cut in spiral

1 tablespoon whole cloves

1 stick cinnamon

1 teaspoon whole allspice

1 pound cherries, pitted

8 cups sugar

1 pound peaches, peeled and pitted

1 pound apricots, peeled and pitted

1 pound plums, pitted

1 pound seedless grapes

1 pint strawberries, hulled

1 pint raspberries

1 pound pineapple, peeled, cored and cut in slices

Scald 6-quart stone crock or glass jar with boiling water and dry. Pour rum into crock and add orange peel, cloves, cinnamon stick and allspice. Add cherries and 1 cup sugar. Stir gently, cover crock with foil, and set aside in cool spot or refrigerate.

Continue adding layers of fruit and sugar as fruits come in season. Add at intervals of not less than 1 week. For each pound or pint of fruit added, add 1 cup sugar. Stir gently each time fruits and sugar are added.

Keep crock covered with foil, held in place with small plate if necessary. Add more rum if fruit absorbs the initial amount. After sufficient fruits are added, put crock in cool, dark place to ripen 2 to 3 months or as long as possible.

If only small amount of rumtopf mixture is used at time, 1 pound fruit and 1 cup sugar may be added to replenish the supply. Be sure all fruit is ripe, free of blemishes and well cleaned before using.

After all fruits have been added and stirred, the mixture can be spooned into hot sterilized jars and processed in boiling water bath 15 minutes if longer storage is wanted. Serve as sauce over pudding or ice cream or as topping for pound cake.

Makes about 1 gallon fruit.

Each 1/4-cup serving contains about:

154 calories; 1 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 0 fat; 31 grams carbohydrates; 0 protein; 0.36 gram fiber.