I love grocery shopping especially at Japanese or Korean groceries for things you can't find in the normal groceries. I go to Konbini in Greenhills, the Japanese grocery in Little Tokyo or any Korean grocery in Malate.
One of my discoveries is Marumiya's Mabo Tofu in Sweet variant which I bought in Little Tokyo for about Php149 I think. I bought this so the kids can also try it. This was actually my second time to buy and cook this. Diba Mabo Tofu is supposed to be malapot? This one is soupy which at first I thought I cooked it wrong the first time but turns out really good!
I'm writing this entry so I could remember how to cook it because the instructions on the box is in Japanese!!! I had to ask BOS to look for an English translation on the net only to find a video in Japanese as well! Haha! So I'm sharing the process on how to cook and how I tweaked the recipe!
Here's what you'll find in the box:
It comes with 2 packs of Mabo Tofu sauce and the flavor packets. You can just use one of each if you're cooking for just one meal or if you're cooking for 2-3 people.
What you need:
1/2 medium onion, chopped
250g of ground pork
1-2 blocks of tofu, cubed. You can also use the silken one but I prefer to use the firm one
And now on to the part I love, cooking!
First, dissolve the small packet of powder included in the box in 300ml water, set aside.
Saute onions until translucent then add ground pork, saute until the pork browns.
Add 1.5 liters of water and the two packets mabo tofu sauce. Stir well and let it simmer for 2 minutes.
Then add the flavor that was dissolved earlier and stir.
Finally, add the tofu and let it simmer again for another 3 minutes.
By this time I'm hungry just by looking at this photo!!!
I like to cook in one big batch and just reheat it because I'm lazy like that heehee! This is so good with a hot cup of steaming rice. Y and R both loved it. Y likes tofu and R eats anything naman haha!
I'm planning to go to the Japanese gorcery again next week. I shall buy another box of this and try the spicy one naman! If you happen to see one of these, try it and let me know what you think! :)
Sa totoo lang gusto ko bumibili ng mga Japanese and Korean spices yun nga lang diko maintindihan! Baka magkamali pa ako ng gamit e di sayang lang! Haha
ReplyDeleteHahaha! Tinatanong ko sa mga tindera kung ano ano yun. Pag Korean, minsan may English pa. Pero pag Japanese wala! Kaya I like to buy in Konbini sa GH kasi lahat may English label yun nga lang, mas malayo at mas mahal sila. Or tulad niyan, hinahanap ko pa sa internet! Hahaha!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the entry, it was very helpful. The box is all written in Japanese and there is no way of learning what to do. Cheers from Spain.
ReplyDeleteLucrecia.
Actually Mabou Tofu isn't supposed to be soupy, it should be thick. There are some examples on Google Images, and I encourage you to try it that way. It's delicious ;D
ReplyDeleteBut of course, I'm not one to tell people how to eat their food. I'm glad you enjoy it. :) cheers
Hehe, I've been looking for a place to buy a box of this brand of mabo tofu in the states, because it is my favorite, when I stumbled upon this post. This is certainly an interesting way to cook mabo tofu, and if you love it, then keep doing it this way! :) But it is supposed to be a thick sauce, not a stew...so if you want to try it the way it is meant to be cooked, you'll want to put way less water in it.
ReplyDeleteThe back of the box actually doesn't have you adding any onion or meat, but we often add some ground beef to it (but the sauce packet already contains ground meat in it). You mix one packet of the powder (it actually has potato starch to help thicken the sauce) with only 30 ml of water. One sauce packet is simmered with only 180 ml of water. You just double that water to do two packages. The rest of the recipe looks right.