Japanese-style Tofu Dishes

Japanese Dishes:
Tofu with a Japanese "CULTURAL" Twist

Japanese cuisine and it's many dishes include not only cold or hot tofu, but also tofu as a "topping" that serves a purpose similar to a "condiment" or as a "companion" to an already delicious and sensually hot or cold Japanese noodle soup.

Today, July 19, 2007, I went to eat at a resturant named "Mr. Ramen" which is located at 341 1/2 E. 1st St., Los Angeles, Ca 90012, with the nearest cross-street being Alameda St. Located in the heart of Little Tokyo, just near the famous Japanese American National Musuem (JANM) and the Museum of Metropolitan Art (MOCA), this very cute resturant is centred amongst a long row of small Japanese, Chinese, and Korean restaurants.

The restaurant first caught "my eye" when I saw the vivid pictures of wonderful ramen soups and a Japanese menu (in Japanese and English) pasted on to the outside wall of the resturant featuring delicious "Tofu dishes" which include, to name only a few, Curry Rice with extra Tofu toppings, a side order of "Cold Tofu," a delicious, asthectically beautiful, and tongue-tasting Tofu seaweed salad with a soy sauce dressing and a "lemon companion," extra delicious Ramen soup such as Chashu Pork Ramen (please see pictures above) with yet again, an option to add an additional Tofu toppings on top, which I most eagerly did, with a variety of other "companion toppings" to go along with Tofu (such as seaweed, garlic, and spinach).

All of these additions make for a great mix and match of Tofu.Finally, this great and friendly resturant offers entire "entrees" of very traditional, Japanese "bento boxes," that consists of steamed rice, soup, salad, and includes a choice of "Cold Tofu" (please see pictures above). These "bento boxes" divide the food dishes in to different, separate squares, and one of these squares consists of a beautiful white and silk tofu with ginger shavings on top and other toppings. The very nice restuarant hostess showed me pictures of the "bento boxes with Tofu" because I could not eat and try all of their many dishes. I definitely plan to come back and eat their again!!! =)

Finally, as Tofujii traveling around the Little Tokyo a.k.a. Nihon Machi area, I wanted to share with all of you a great discription of the great-tasting Tofu dishes that I tried. I actually "stuffed myself" with three very tasty dishes all featuring "Tofu."
As mentioned above with pictures to show, 1) I ate the "Tofu Seaweed Salad" which consists of tofu cubes centered, laid in a row, and cutt in to long-rectangle shaped cubes, on a bed of seaweed and salad, with a cup of soy sauce dressing on the side. 2) I ordered a "side order" of "Cold Tofu" that had a cute, medium-sized Tofu cubes stacked on-top of eachother like a "small Tofu pyramid" with pinkish ginger shavings on top, with even the shavings being "circular" and "spiral-shaped." Lastly, 3) I ordered a huge bowl of Japanese Chashu Ramen with an extra helping of Tofu, a traditional noodle-soup with Chinese flavored thick and juicy pork slices.Ramen is a soup with a soy sauce-based broth and includes vegetables such as green onion and slices of hard-boiled egg, along with buckwheet noodles. All these condiments and toppings complimented my Tofu topping greatly, but being Tofujii, I wanted to "experiment further." I did so by "adding" the Japanese-brand soy sauce called "Kikkoman" and Japanese red seasoning (like a pepper seasoning) to my soup. I loved these two condiments most, to go with me, Tofujii!

So until next time, ja mata!!! (See you again).I hope to bring you a Chinese-food perspective next time!!!