Braised Tofu and Fish Cake Sidedish (두부 어묵 간장조림) : The struggle with packed lunches

Daughter #2 is not a picky eater, but she knows exactly what tastes good and what she likes. She is very much her father's daughter when it comes to food - for Daughter really just likes Korean food, like her father. Packing her camp lunch for her has become a bit of a chore because she invariably asks for things like Korean soup and rice for lunch, or something that needs to stay warm to taste good but she refuses a sandwich. She's allowed me to pack her one twice, and both times it came back uneaten, save one bite. Recently she and I came to the agreement that she would take what I could pack her for lunch, if she could choose one dish for her dinner meal and she agreed. I'm packing her as close to what she can eat (plain brown/white mix steamed with roasted seaweed) and she has been eating it.

Today, when asked, she specifically wanted this tofu/tempura dish (something I haven't made for her in a while) and because I had the ingredients, I agreed. It is really so easy that I got lucky this time. (Last week it was Macaroni and Cheese she asked for and it was a lot more complicated than this!)

Braised Tofu and Fish Cake Banchan (두부 어묵 간장조림)
1 package of firm tofu
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 6 oz package of fish cake (tempura/odeng/uhmuk) - Japanese ones are generally very nice, and I tend to buy ones that are more expensive as they have higher fish content

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup water
1/4 cup scallions
2 tablespoons sesame oil
5 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds (if you can, Japanese roasted sesame is very good)
1 teaspoon (or less) Korean chili powder, or crushed red pepper

1. Slice tofu. Cut down the center and slice each of the two pieces into 8 slices, 16 pieces total.

2. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil, over medium high heat in a large frying pan. Carefully add slices of tofu (watch out! It splatters) and fry for about 3 minutes per side, or until golden brown. Remove and place it on a plate. Repeat until all the tofu is cooked.

3. Slice fish cake (tempura) into nice even pieces. Since fishcake comes in a number of different shape and forms, simply try and make the pieces even and neat. In a bowl, mix together soy sauce, water, sesame oil, scallion, chili powder, garlic, sesame seeds. Get everything together and ready to layer.


4. In a heavy saucepan, drizzle a spoonful of the sauce on the bottom. Then add a layer of tofu. Drizzle some sauce on top.


5. Add a layer of fishcake on top of the tofu and sauce. Add another layer of sauce on top of the fishcake. Continue layer and adding sauce until you have used up all the tofu and fishcake. Any remaining sauce can simply be poured on top of the tofu fishcake layers.


6. Cover and cook over medium high heat for 15 minutes. Serve

Printable Recipe

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