Hive Fine Dining #4 Tofu Island

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Build what you need, not what you want._{Welcome to Tofu Island, an unexpected yummy place.}

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Explore our surroundings. Many things make our minds become overthinking. At times, it feels quite horrifying to imagine that we can survive in the future. But, we are just ordinary people who do not have extraordinary powers like God. So, just live in the present, and let the future be quite a secret.

The more you don't know, it's like holding your mind from overthinking and worrying a little about many things. Walking around alone as if we were the only ones responsible for our lives. The rest, let the universe that keeps everything a secret.

I was walking around the market. Not just shopping. Often thinking about myself, about what I should do for the best version of myself in the future. And, food is one important element of that. Without food, we cannot live, and many people are destroyed because of food. The balance we have to strike so that food can make us live better and stronger, to achieve many achievements in our life.

The range of tofu products caught my eye. One source of protein-rich food that has shaped me since childhood. I'm grateful that in my area tofu has a low price that helps my family survive and struggle when my family is bankrupt.

My late mom said, “It's okay that you were born when the family was bankrupt. But you must not live as if you were poor forever. Enlarge your heart, and your determination, and change yourself to be in the condition you want.”

Those words I remember until now and I'm thankful that the way my parents raised me brought me to the condition that I want to live. I can share, I can move on better than the sad conditions in the past. Then, what to do with tofu? Well, tofu was my daily food in the past since I was little. We had a hard time buying other sources of protein so I developed an aversion to fish and meat as I wasn't used to it.

My neighbors used to be so amazed when I was able to graduate from a famous college. Even so, it's hard to eat. Oh, well. Thanks to the tofu! My brain is working so well thanks to the tofu. Indeed, tofu made from processed soybeans is believed to be able to support brain development and intelligence. do you believe it?

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Always Excited To Find Different Kinds Of Tofu

I was so excited when it came time to discover a new kind of tofu. Like my shopping activities at that time. I didn't expect I could find so many types of tofu there. Starting from the tofu that I usually cook, to other types of tofu that I used to only be able to find in other areas in Indonesia. Also, there was some tofu I'd never cooked before.

One type I've never tried is silk tofu. Like the word "silk" this tofu is considered softer than tofu in general. Sure enough, the tofu looked really soft and I had to be careful lifting them into my shopping basket.

Originally, I wanted to make desserts with tofu, combined with ginger soup (a menu I've tried before in the past used tofu in general). However, that plan was canceled. There are always sudden plans. I actually cooked tofu with spicy chili sauce because I was craving spicy food at that time.

So, this time I will share with you my experience in making tofu silk dinner with baby cabbage. Also, I use sweet potatoes to complete the menus to make a filling dinner. I hope you guys like this part of the series Hive Fine Dining!

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Air-fryer Sweet Potatoes

First, we need to prepare the ingredients that will be served using the roasting method. It will save us time overall. So, while waiting for the cooked ingredients to be roasted, we can work on the other ingredients.

This time, I'm going to use an air fryer for roasting sweet potatoes. Using special sweet potatoes which are suitable for roasting or baking so that their taste and texture become sweeter, savory, and softer. The sweet potatoes I use are orange in color. I always buy them from the same vendor to get the same taste.

In the sweet potato roasting method this time, I'm using a square shape. Some of them are hexagonal in shape which I adjusted to the rest of the sweet potatoes themselves. In my opinion, forming sweet potatoes into several pieces is a satisfying activity. It took some precision not to cut my hand with the knife but I'm happy with the result.

After cutting the sweet potatoes, glaze them with oil. Then, roast them in the previously heated air-fryer. Roast them for about 25 minutes. Turn them over and roast again if both sides are not fully done.

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Baby Cabbage

I also came across Baby Cabbage while shopping for tofu. So, I'm going to combine them in the same dish for dinner. To be honest, I rarely get Baby Cabbage stock at the local market near my house. I am happy with the variety of various markets that have different stocks of various vegetables.

The shape of the Baby Cabbage leaves is similar to the cabbage plant but this is a smaller version. Their taste will be similar to cabbage but with a more crispy texture due to the tougher bones in the leaves.

I will be stir-frying them only with general seasoning which I usually use. There are 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, sliced onion and garlic, and bay leaves. You can also add pepper and other herbs to add a nice fragrance to this dish.

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First, cut them in half parts. I like to cut them this way to emphasize the shape and texture of their leaf veins. But, you can also cut them into other shapes according to your preference for cooking green leaves.

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Heat cooking oil. Then, start using low heat to stir-frying slices of onion and garlic, until they smell good. They will quickly become burnt. So make sure to keep stirring them.

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Add soy sauce and bay leaves when the stir-fried onions smell good. Also, add a few tablespoons of water to prevent them from burning.

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Add baby cabbage that has been cut and washed clean. Cook them until cooked to the texture you want. Also, add salt. Before they are removed, correct their taste.

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Seasoned Tofu

Back to the tofu! I cooked the tofu last. After slicing the surface of the tofu in a diagonal shape, I fried the tofu but with a little oil instead of the deep frying method.

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At the frying step, I needed a relatively difficult struggle to flip through them. The tofu I use is very soft. That's why I don't want them to break apart. Whoa! This plan worked out great and I was able to turn them around nicely.

Besides frying the tofu, I also added chili sauce. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of the step of adding the chili sauce because my hands had a hard time keeping them from burning while adding the sauce which was quite thick in texture.

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Serving!

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It's presentation time. First, I served the sweet potato pieces on a serving plate. Followed by tofu which has been seasoned with chili sauce. Then the last thing is to add stir-fried baby cabbage.

For garnishes, I use microgreens. You can use other types of garnishes to enrich the taste and texture. You can also add slices of tomato, cucumber, or even a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

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All dishes on the plate turn out to be a good combination for desserts. My fav is still tofu whose softness melts in my mouth, making me speechless! Do you want to try this?

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Thank you for reading my blog and reblog if you want my blog this time worthy of reading by others.

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Best Regards,

Anggrek Lestari

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