More Delicious Tofu!!!

~More Delicious Tofu!!!~

Last week I visited another really delicious Japanese restaurant named Usui Restaurant which is located at 343 East 1st Street, which is very close to Mr. Ramen, the other Japanese restaurant I blogged about previously.

The restaurant, located in the midst of a numerous row of Japanese restaurants on First Street, was small and cute, and enticed me to come in and try out their food.Usui Resturant offers many different dishes that features Tofu, including Miso Soup, (a traditional Soy-bean based Tofu), and the dish that I ate which was their Mixed Tempra or Vegetable Tempura, which comes with white rice, miso soup, and delicious Japanese vegetables and of course, Tofu. My dish did not only include Cold Tofu, but also Mashed Tofu!!! So I actually ate two different types of Tofu, which was a very great experience.

Pictured above, alongside the Miso Soup is a image of Tsukemono, or pickled Japanese cabbage, that is given to you kind of as a mini-apetizer in Japanese restaurants to "complement" Tofu and Miso Soup. Tsukemono is crucnchy and a bit salty, but goes great with healthy, Miso (Soy) Soup and Tofu! I like to eat Tsukemono simulatanously with Miso Soup and Tofu, because Tofu helps to dim down the salt of the Tsukemono. Also, these foods are vegetables, and plays a very important role for your health and is a stable element in Japanese cuisine. The vegetables I eat at Usui Resturant tasted great because they were so fresh, wet, and the yam, was really sweet. =)

Going back to the Miso Soup that I ate (pictured above), I recall that the soup was really warm and tasted great, as usually Miso Soup does, but this particular Miso Soup was great because of the very large Tofu cubes that the restaurant gave me. Alot of times, I, Tofujii, eat small, bite sized Tofu, but I really like to eat Tofu, so when Usui Restaurant gave me a really large portion, I was very, very happy!!!

This was the very first time that I had ever eaten any Tofu that was mashed. =) yum! The mashed Tofu is on the left side of the Bento Box, (pictured above) and the hard Tofu is on the right side of the Bento Box.

It tasted so delicious because it was soft, sweet, and was a nice, cold, and refreshing texture that lay on top of my tongue. Along with the great tasting tofu, was the Tempura (deep-fried) vegetables and Tempura shrimp. The Tempura also came with Shoyu (soy sauce) for dipping. I think that Tofu goes great with Tempura, because Tempura is fried so it can get a little greasy, especially since I love dipping my Tempura in to the traditional Shoyu, so by combing these foods with Tofu, it provides a great array of taste to my mouth.

Being Tofujii, I love to explore my Little Tokyo community, because it makes me really happy. In addition, being able to eat delicious Tofu reflects upon my passion for Tofu.Tofu reminds me of Japanese food, which then reminds me of the Japanese people and Japanese community in Little Tokyo and throughout the world. I sincerely hope that my "Tofu Blogging" can reflect to my readers the "spirit" of Little Tokyo and "the heart" and "passion" that the people have in their hearts to make this very special food that isn't simply Tofu, but Japanese cuisine and culture embodied in to a simple, yet special, delicious square cube!

I'll write again soon about this week's adventures!

Mata ne!

Tofujii