When Beverly Quickly Tofu closed as a result of pandemic, the Los Angeles meals group closely felt the loss. The restaurant operated in Koreatown from 1986 to 2020. Over the many years, proprietor Monica Lee noticed Koreatown develop right into a eating vacation spot, together with her restaurant’s personal high-profile media consideration definitely driving guests. Within the new cookbook Sohn-mat: Recipes and Flavors of Korean Residence Cooking, out now, Lee commemorates the restaurant that Eater LA’s Matt Kang as soon as referred to as “legendary.”
“It was actually bittersweet to shut the restaurant, however this was a technique of type of reliving [it],” says Lee, with translation from her daughter CJ Lee. Sohn-mat, co-written with Tien Nguyen, supplied Lee a chance to share her recipes with each longtime supporters and new audiences and, in doing so, to get a way of closure in parting with Beverly Quickly Tofu. The guide’s title means “taste within the fingers,” a time period that refers to a pure intuition for taste and cooking; Lee realized her personal sohn-mat as she cooked for mates as an adolescent.
Having immigrated to LA in 1977, Lee opened Beverly Quickly Tofu in 1986 to serve soondubu jjigae, a tofu stew that she didn’t typically see on menus in Koreatown although it was in style in Korea. Her restaurant was widely known as the primary within the metropolis to concentrate on soondubu jjigae alone. Not like many eating places, which served their soondubu jjigae from a single pot, Lee needed to supply every diner the prospect to customise their filings and degree of spice. She writes in Sohn-mat: “I needed to concentrate on one factor and do this one factor very effectively.” As Lee’s idea took off, nonetheless, she added extra dishes to her menu to provide her regulars selection.
The primary appetizer Lee added was tofu steak with kimchi, served in scorching forged iron. As an alternative of the extra-soft tofu that types the premise of soondubu jjigae, Lee makes use of agency tofu, which she dredges in potato starch and pan-fries into a lightweight, crispy texture. That tofu is then served atop sauteed ripe or overripe kimchi. Extra bitter and intense because of longer fermentation, the overripe kimchi is mellowed by the transient cooking. “We needed folks to get pleasure from tofu otherwise too,” Lee says.
Sohn-mat is a loving reflection on not simply Lee’s restaurant but additionally her household. She writes of her 18-hour days and private sacrifices, performed in hopes of constructing higher lives for her daughters, CJ and JJ Lee. Accordingly, the guide supplied the household a welcome alternative. “We didn’t get an opportunity after we had been children to have the ability to spend this time with my mother when she was operating the restaurant,” CJ Lee says. “This was a chance for all of us to not solely share recipes however to spend high quality time that we didn’t have, so I believe all of us loved it actually, actually gratefully.”
Tofu Steak with Kimchi Recipe
Serves 4
Substances:
For the toasted sesame seeds:
Untoasted white sesame seeds
For the tofu sauce:
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice cooking wine
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 ½ teaspoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons chopped inexperienced onions, inexperienced and white components
1 tablespoon chopped bell pepper, any shade (non-obligatory)
For the tofu steak with kimchi:
1 (19-ounce) bundle agency tofu, ideally Home Meals model, sliced into halves lengthwise
¼ cup potato starch
4 tablespoons vegetable or different impartial oil, plus extra for frying
2 cups ripe or overripe kimchi
2 or 3 drops plus 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons Tofu Sauce (see recipe under)
2 tablespoons seasoned shredded seaweed or furikake, plus extra to style
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds, for garnish (see instruction under)
Directions:
To make the toasted sesame seeds:
Step 1: Place the sesame seeds in a fine-mesh strainer and wash a number of instances below operating water. Drain them as finest you possibly can.
Step 2: Place a dry skillet or wok over excessive warmth. As soon as the pan is sizzling, add the seeds and stir. It’s essential to maintain stirring so the seeds toast evenly and don’t burn. As you stir, hear: when you hear the seeds start to crackle, scale back the warmth to low. Preserve stirring.
Because the seeds toast, the nutty aroma alone will let you know after they’re prepared. One other signal is the colour altering from pale white to golden brown. Relying on the amount, it could take anyplace from only a few minutes to a number of minutes for the seeds to toast.
Step 3: Instantly switch the seeds to a big bowl or plate. Cool utterly, then retailer in small hermetic containers for as much as 1 month within the pantry and as much as 3 months within the fridge.
To make the tofu sauce:
Step 1: Place 3 tablespoons water in a small bowl and add the soy sauce, cooking wine, sesame seeds, sesame oil, sugar, inexperienced onions, and bell pepper (if utilizing). Stir to mix, then it’s able to serve. Makes ½ cup.
To make the tofu steak with kimchi:
Step 1: Place the tofu in a colander set over a bowl and drain for 10 to fifteen minutes, then pat the items as dry as attainable with a paper towel.
Step 2: Place the potato starch in a medium bowl. Add the tofu and dredge on all sides. Line a big plate with paper towels and set subsequent to the range.
Step 3: Place a medium frying pan over medium warmth and add 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil. When the oil begins to smoke, place the tofu within the pan in a single layer, being cautious since any remaining moisture within the tofu will trigger the oil to spatter. Pan-fry till golden brown then flip. Proceed to pan-fry till all sides of the tofu are golden brown, including extra vegetable oil as needed as you flip and rotate every bit, 8 to 10 minutes whole. Take away the cooked tofu from the pan and place on the paper towel–lined plate to gather the surplus oil.
Step 4: In a saute pan, add the remaining 2 tablespoons vegetable oil together with the kimchi. Saute till the kimchi is cooked by and its shade is translucent, 5 to eight minutes. Add the two or 3 drops of sesame oil and take away from the warmth.
Step 5: Set a trivet on the desk. Place a small castiron skillet or griddle over excessive warmth and take away the pan from the warmth as soon as it’s sizzling. Place the kimchi within the pan in a single layer, then place the tofu on high of the kimchi. Add the tofu sauce and seaweed on high. Drizzle the remaining 1 teaspoon sesame oil over the tofu, garnish with the sesame seeds, and thoroughly convey it to the desk and set it down on the trivet to serve.
Excerpted with permission from Sohn-mat by Monica Lee printed by Hardie Grant Publishing, 2023. Pictures by Rick Poon, copyright © 2023.
