“Simmered Okinawan Tofu and Suchika with Tomato Sauce” Goes Well with Sparkling Wine

I made a photo writer debut on October, 2015 for Okinawa CLIP. 6 months later, I traveled to Australia for a week (Melbourne and Philip Island) to spoil myself. I flew there via Hong Kong, and I flew with Cathay Pacific Airways for round trip. For your info, a flight time from Hong Kong to Melbourne is 9 hr & 20 min. Airline meal was served twice during the time, and I chose “vegetarian meal” this time (airline meals can be picked from 20 kinds of special airline meals including Jewish food, Hinduism dietary, gluten-free, fruit plate, and low-lactose dairy foods if you made an appointment until 24 hours before your flight). 



These are recipe books that I found at a book store in Melbourne. By the way, they have nothing to do with this article.

The reason why I chose vegetarian meal is a long story, so I will skip it. Anyway, I enjoyed special airplane meal with no animal product. Especially, I really liked “Simmered Tofu with Tomato Sauce,” and I was never touched by airplane meal until then! So I decided to cook it on my own after I returned from Australia. 

Anyway, that's the end of the long introduction. For this time, I made an impressive dish on my own. I am not a vegetarian, so I used meat to cook the dish also. 



“Simmered Okinawan Tofu and Suchika with Tomato Sauce”


(serves 4 – 5)

*250g Okinawan tofu
*150g Suchika (salted pork)
*90g Ground meat
*60g Mixed beans  
*250g (1 can) Canned tomato
*1/2 Paprika
*1 Small onion
*1 Chicken stock cube
*20g Black olive
 

1. Add minced onion and ground meat into a pot, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and salt & pepper (a pinch), and stir them until onion softened.

2. Add thinly sliced paprika, mixed beans, rectangular shaped suchika, and canned tomato into the pot. After mixing all of them lightly, add bite-sized pieces of Okinawan tofu.



3. Cover the pot with a lid and simmer it for about 20 minutes. Remove the lid for 2 -3 times during the time, and mix them roughly (add salt if it is needed to adjust flavor). 

4. Serve it in a dish, decorate black olive on it, and finish!



By the way, suchika is “salted pork.” 



Suchika is a traditional Okinawan food. Rub lots of salt into pork belly, leave it in a refrigerator for about a week, and boil to eat. It is not difficult to make, but I always buy it at supermarkets because I hate waiting. As for Okinawan tofu, you can refer to this article. Less water is contained for Okinawan tofu than a firm tofu, and it is hard to get mushy, so it is perfect to cook simmered food or stir-fry meals. 



I enjoyed having this dish and sparkling wine this time. Sour taste of tomato and mellowness of suchika & ground meat go well with an extra dry sparkling wine. This dish might go well with short pasta or couscous also.

Okinawan tofu is not only good for snacks to go with Awamori or Sake, but it is also good to cook it as the Western style of snacks and have it with wine. I want to come up with more recipes for Okinawan tofu♪


Okinawa CLIP photo writer Sachiko