Asian: Ganmo by Recipe Cottage

SEARCH RECIPES:

LOCATION: Recipes >> Asian >> Ganmo


	Ganmo

		Tofu Rice Balls Ganmo 1 block cotton tofu 4-cm chunk of carrot 12 mangetout 4 dried shiitake, reconstituted 2 Tbs almond powder (a substitute for the traditional grated yam) 2 cups thin, unsalted stock about 2 tsp Japanese soy sauce about 2 tsp sugar or mirin salt to taste Press the tofu well to get rid of as much water as possible. (The official way is to wrap the block in paper towels, place it on a tilted board, place another board on top, and weight it. Keep changing the towels whenever they get soaked. This strikes me as wasteful and fiddly--I just wrap it in a bamboo sushi-rolling mat, put it on the rack over the sink, and balance a couple of full tins on top.) Cut the carrot into very thin julienne strips lengthways, the mangetout diagonally, and the shiitake similarly (in class, the carrot was the bits left over from carving flowers). Make sure the veggies are dry. Grind the tofu in a suribachi (Japanese pestle and mortar, if you happen to have one handy, otherwise I suspect a food processor would do) until it's creamy and free of lumps. Mix in the almond powder and a pinch of salt, then mix in the veggies. Dampen your hands and shape small handfuls of the mixture into patties. Heat the oil for deep frying. Test the temperature by dropping a tiny bit of the mixture in. If if sinks sullenly to the bottom; the oil's not hot enough. If it skitters frantically over the surface, the oil's too hot--add cool oil immediately to prevent damage. At just the right temperature, the bit will sink a little, then rise and make cheerful frying noises. Put a couple of the patties into the oil, but only enough to cover about 1/3 of the surface, to prevent the temperature of the oil dropping. Turn them when the underside is nicely browned (small puffs will turn themselves as the air in the submerged half expands). Remove and drain when cooked. Allow to cool. Heat the stock, add the seasonings until the stock is delicately flavoured. Put the ganmo in a sieve and pour boiling water over them to remove excess oil. Place the ganmo in the stock and simmer gently for about 5 minutes. Transfer to individual serving dishes. (This was actually part of a more complicated dish with stuffed lotus root and spinach, so maybe it needs a little garnish.) -=-=-=-=- Many different vegetables could be used in ganmo, so long as they're finely sliced and perfectly dry. Seaweed would be either hijiki, which is black needle-like threads that need to be reconsituted, or konbu left over from making stock, which would be simmered further until soft then cut into strips (the simmering liquid makes a refreshing tea, or a stronger-flavoured stock). Rice seems like a reasonable addition too, although I've never seen it.