TJ’s Amba Mango Sauce

10 Jun 2019 3 Comments

by promacnyc in General, Indian, New, Products, Rave, recipe, Trader Joes Tags: Asian, fresh, healthy, no preservatives, product, Products, Rave, recipe, review, Trader Joes, vegan, vegan gluten free

Trader Joe’s Amba Mango sauce is a unique and very tasty condiment.

I had vaguely heard of “Amba” as an Israeli condiment for “Sabich” (eggplant sandwich). Amba Sauce is one of those new tasty food products that TJ sells that you may not know what it is at first, nor what you would use it for, but give this wonderfully unique tasting stuff a try. Savory, pungent, tangy, the sauce is made from fermented ripe as well as green mangos simmered with garlic, salt, turmeric and a few other spices, blended into a smooth sauce. Amba is so unique, intruiging and tasty that once once you try it, you will end up dreaming of things you might try it with, “I wonder if this would be good on..(fill in blank).” Thats what I did. I kept putting it on things to see if they would be good with it. Many were!

So what is “Amba Sauce” anyway? From the package: “Amba is a fermented mango sauce traditionally found in Israel India and the Middle East. Use it as a savory sauce on meat and seafood, vegetables and falafel, or even as a unique salad dressing”.

“Amba” means mango in an Indian language, Marathi. Its made of yellow ripe mangos as well as unripe green mangos, pureed till smooth and cooked with many spices and chilis and is fermented. The fermentation I’m sure ratchets up the taste level. It is both sweet, sour, and spicy. The heat comes and hits you later. Much later. This stuff is a very complex flavor bomb of fruity and spicy and many spices. Get the idea? Its great for many things. Just a few ideas: Try it over cooked chicken. Falafel, of course! Salmon. Meats. Salads and bowls. On the side with Indian pakoras, or breads, or basmati rice? Absolutely of course! Mixed with Greek Yogurt*? Yes! I came up with the idea of mixing these two things and it was amazing together as the yogurt calmed down the spice level and melded things.

AMBA SAUCE is carried in the refrigerated section and comes in a convenient squeeze pouch with a plastic top. A 14-ounce re-closable, pourable yellow bag of Trader Joe’s Amba Mango Sauce is $3.29. A bag lasted me quite some time as a little goes a long way, and it can last for a month or two in the fridge. This is a fantastic TJ product well worth the price. Amba is hard to find in the U.S.

Here’s a super easy tasty sauce mix with Amba I came up with; it makes a smooth, creamy yummy sauce, toning down the spice level but still getting some and you can adjust the ratio of amba to yogurt.

*GREEK YOGURT & AMBA SAUCE

Mix about 1/2 cup of plain Greek Yogurt with about a 1/3-1/2 cup of Amba Sauce. Add chopped garlic mashed with a little salt. Fresh ground pepper. Stir to combine and let it sit in the fridge for a bit. For a GREEN SAUCE version of this which I made, just add chopped parsley or arugula or baby kale, chopped very finely. Let flavors meld in fridge for at least a 1/2 hr or more. Serve on fish, chicken, meats, grilled tofu, or over basmati or jasmine rice, or practically anything! Adjust the ratio of amba and yogurt to your exact liking.

TJ FEARLESS FLYER INFO ON AMBA SAUCE (CLICK)

Trader Joe’s ORGANIC TOFU (& RECIPE)

03 Jun 2019 12 Comments

by promacnyc in All Natural, General, organic, Products, Rave, recipe, Trader Joes Tags: Asian, Food, fresh, healthy, no preservatives, product, Products, Rave, review, tofu, Trader Joes, vegan, vegan gluten free, vegetarian

I can tell by the stats that a good number of visitors to the site are interested in posts about Tofu.

Therefore I’ve been wanting to write up a post reviewing this tofu that I always buy at Trader Joe’s most anytime I go there, along with a simple basic recipe on how to prepare an easy tofu dish. Interest in tofu is well deserved of course, as tofu is an excellent, high-quality protein that is plant-based and is inexpensive. So what’s not to like?

Even if you, like yours truly, are not vegetarian, tofu is a good thing that you should be eating for so many reasons. Tofu is healthy, good for you, good for the planet, and is versatile and easy to use in many ways. If tofu is not already on your typical “mains” or “proteins” list when you go shopping I would suggest tofu be added to your list. How about Meatless Mondays? Thats a good start! In our house we usually make a Japanese “tofu steak” type recipe once a week or so.

“Trader Joe San’s ORGANIC TOFU” in the pink & white package is a good tofu. Not too soft nor too firm, it takes well to being cooked up as described here. Not for most of us Americans tofu pretty much seems to have “no taste” on its own. However what tofu does quite well is absorb flavors. What flavors should you think about? Obvious ones are all Asian flavorings: Soy sauce, ginger, garlic, sesame oil, cilantro…. You can not go wrong with these flavors cooking tofu. What about texture? I like cooking my tofu till its “golden brown” and develops an outside surface texture with a slight bite to the tooth, which it can get if cooked in certain ways. So one of the ideal ways for me to make it is to grill it until golden brown to improve the texture and then serve it with some kind of sauce.

Here’s a very basic and easy recipe to make grilled or sautéed tofu.

1. Take the tofu out of the package, pour off all the water, and set it over a colander or strainer to drain as much water as possible. Let it sit for about an hour. I sometimes put a few plates for a little weight and pressure.

2. Cut the tofu carefully. First into slices about 1/2 inch thick, then if you want smaller pieces, cut those into half. Heat up a non-stick or cast iron pan till it is good and hot with a teaspoon or two of vegetable oil and add the tofu slices (a little sesame oil added now is great for extra flavor). Let it cook for about 10 minutes at medium heat until the tofu looks golden brown when you check it. Flip the slices over and cook the other side till also golden brown. In the picture below I’ve sprinkled on some fresh ground black pepper too.

3. When the tofu slices are browned, now is when you either go one or two ways with sauce or flavoring. One way is to add the sauce (ingredients) to the pan and cook in the sauce till they are absorbed mostly. The other way is to remove the golden brown slices of tofu to a serving plate, then make your sauce and pour it over the tofu and around it. Both ways are good and I would suggest trying both methods and see which you prefer (the pouring over keeps the crispy texture of course a bit more). I like both ways and make it both ways depending on my mood.

How to Make a Basic Sauce: Sauté freshly grated ginger and chopped garlic for a few seconds till fragrant in some veg or sesame oil, then add your liquids: 2-3 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce (Trader Joe’s sells this). Maybe some veg or chicken stock too. A teaspoon of Sesame Oil (TJ). Optional: Mushrooms, Oyster Sauce, Sriracha, Fish Sauce, chopped scallions, pinch of sugar or honey, and Cilantro if you like it. If its very liquid you can add a little cornstarch/water slurry to thicken up the sauce.

Lazy options: If you prefer to just buy a sauce for your tofu steak: Try TJ’s SOYAKI or TJ Ginger Soy salad dressing. Sriracha and Soy. Anything flavorful that might go well with it.

A package of this tofu feeds 2 or 3 with other things (rice, sides) and costs around $2. Cheap!

Marinating also is a good technique for flavor. Here’s a good sounding recipe for Baked Tofu.

https://kalynskitchen.com/baked-tofu-recipe-with-soy-and-sesame/

Trader Joe’s SHISHITO PEPPERS

17 Mar 2019 1 Comment

by promacnyc in Products, Rave, Trader Joes Tags: Asian, Japanese, produce, review, Trader Joes, vegan, vegan gluten free, vegetables, vegetarian

Shishito Peppers are a Japanese pepper variety, quite popular in Japan and just getting a bit known in the U.S..

But that might change soon, as they’re quite delicious — and especially now that you can find them so easily in your local TJ’s Produce Section, instead of having to look for them at a specialized Japanese grocery.

Shishito peppers are even a new “it” food you will see in upscale and trendy restaurants these days.

As a rule they are NOT SPICY (but one might be)

As a rule Shishito Peppers aren’t spicy. That is until you get the Spicy one hiding amongst them! They can be spicy but generally are not. The general rule about them is: “maybe 1 in 10 peppers could be the spicy one”. When you get a spicy one (my favorites) I would say they’re a bit less spicy than a jalapeño in level of kick. Meaning, yes it will be a bit spicy. So be warned, if you’re feeding them to your kid and or to grandma. If you bite into one and its spicy and you don’t like spicy, just put it to the side and the next one will in all likelihood be mild.

The usual way to make Shishito peppers are grill them in a pan over medium fire with a pinch of oil (sesame oil would be great) until they blister or get a tiny bit of char on one side, then turn them to the other side and do the same till cooked.

Add a sprinkle of salt and pepper and they’re ready to serve. They can be a great little side dish, so they will go great with most anything you might serve as the Main. In Japan they are famous as a drinks snack served to go with beer or sake. You can also use them as an ingredient in foods, just as you would put in some green pepper.

LINKS

https://www.foodandwine.com/vegetables/shisito-pepper-recipes#charred-shishito-peppers-garlic-herb-oil

SHISHITO / WIKI

TJ’s sells a bag of them for $2.29 so they’re pretty affordable to try out…

We really love them in our house, and you might too. Give them a shot.

Trader Joe’s ORGANIC BAKED TOFU

15 Jan 2019 17 Comments

by promacnyc in All Natural, General, Products, Rave, recipe, Recipes, Trader Joes, vegetarian Tags: Asian, chinese, healthy, meatless, meatless mondays, Rave, recipe, tofu, vegan, vegan gluten free, vegetarian

RAVE

How about this for a review? Though I am not vegetarian, I buy this all the time. This is a terrific product for anyone. It seems to be one of the more popular products at Trader Joe’s. I often notice shoppers grabbing 2 or 3 packages at a time and sometimes its even sold out. Clearly there is a reason.

TJ’s ORGANIC BAKED TOFU is healthy, tasty and versatile. Its high in protein. It can work as a protein/main that one can use in many ways, so is great for vegetarians and non-vegetarians. BAKED TOFU as the name implies is tofu that’s been marinated then baked, which removes a lot of the water in it and gives it a pleasant, firm, and satisfying, well, “meaty” texture, which is why its great for non-vegetarians and vegetarians alike. Though I’m not vegetarian I buy this all the time because its a great ingredient. This can make a very good substitute for a meat protein like say, chicken? In fact this can be used as the “main” protein in many dishes. This is terrific for use in an Asian Stir Fry dishes (see my Tofu with Broccoli stir fry below for one idea). It can be eaten on its own as the Main. You can eat this just As-Is, cold or room temp, with a nice sauce or dressing such as their Sweet Chili Sauce or Sriracha Ranch Dressing, or Spicy Peanut Dressing…. or make up your own. As you can see from what I did with it, it can still be cooked (see pic below). I sometimes grill it, which I think improves it’s flavor even more. There are two flavors available, TERIYAKI and SRIRACHA. Though I am a big fan of Sriracha sauce I find the Teriyaki version is my preferred of the two versions they have. So if you are trying this for the first time, I suggest trying the Teriyaki version first, then the other. But honestly both flavors are good, do try both at some point and see which of the two you like best. Perhaps you will always buy one of each kind, as I see many people do!

What I did with it here (pictured below) is just cut it into slices and sautéed it in a non-stick pan with some Toasted Sesame Oil for about 5 minutes a side until it was golden brown. I then added Soy Sauce and a little raw Sugar (the two basic elements of Teriyaki sauce) and a good deal of fresh black pepper and cooked that for a few minutes more until the sauce has cooked in and thickened a bit. Basically I wanted some more Teriyaki flavor and some sauce. Fresh Garlic (and fresh ginger) would be great to add too, of course for even more flavor.

If I had added more soy sauce and sugar and cooked it down, that would have made more Teriyaki sauce. I think thats one good way to make it. This can be served with that sauce on the side or spooned over. You can use almost any sauce, prepared ones at Trader Joe’s such as Teriyaki, Dumpling Sauce, SoyYaki, Sriracha, Green Dragon Sauce, or even Sriracha Ranch Dressing. Serve the tofu along with some rice, a vegetable, and salad and you have a great tasty, healthy, fast, easy dinner.

If that’s too much work for you, you can just open the package up and just slice it into cubes and throw it on top of a bed of arugula, Power Greens, spinach leaves, etc., and drizzle your favorite sauce or dressing on top, maybe add some peanuts or cashews and voila – you have a nice Lunch or Dinner in seconds.

Roughly I would say one 7 oz. package serves about 2 people, if you serve with above other stuff. So get another package if you are 4. Some readers report just slicing it up thinly and using in sandwiches, as one might use sliced chicken. As the package says “be creative”. This would be good with the SOBA STIR FRY KIT. You could also use this, or the Sriracha version, as your “main protein” plus veggies with TJ’s very good THAI CURRY SIMMER SAUCE for a Thai curry. In short I find this is great stuff to always keep on hand in the fridge, and I almost always have a package in mine, as it’s already cooked it has a long BEST BY date (about 5-6 weeks) so its not like a meat product. Some more uses: cut into strips, sprinkled with more seasonings (chili powder and garlic powder), stir fried, then added to lots of veggies in an asian stir fry. A 7 oz. package has gone up in price now to $3.69 (current price, May 2019, NYC)

Recipe – Chinese Tofu and Broccoli; cut up broccoli into bite size pieces (don’t throw out the stem! Just peel the stem and slice it up thinly) Par-boil the stems first for one minute in salted water. After a minute throw in the rest of the broccoli and cook for another minute or so till bright green. Immediately remove and rinse veg with cold water; put aside. Cut up the tofu into bite size pieces and saute in a wok (or pan) 4-5 minutes till brown then flip and do the other side. While the tofu browns, make the sauce (2 teaspoons soy, 1 tsp oyster sauce, 2 cloves garlic crushed, 1 inch ginger sliced julienne, 1/2 cup water. Mix in a large rounded tsp of corn starch and stir. After the tofu is all brown remove. Add another tsp oil and stir fry the broccoli till crispy tender. Add the tofu and sauce and cook for about one minute until the sauce is slightly thickened and serve with rice. Optional: top the dish with Lao Gan Ma or TJ’s Chili Crisp.

https://amzn.to/40JQOCI

TJ’s Rice Sticks (and recipe)

03 May 2011 3 Comments

by promacnyc in General, Products, Recipes, Trader Joes Tags: Asian, celiac disease, Food, gluten free, healthy, recipe, rice noodles, rice sticks

Noodles: I love them all. Any kind, any shape. Pasta, Spaghetti, Lasagna, Udon, Soba, LoMein and its cousin Ramen. One of my favorite kinds are fresh rice noodles (Ho Fun, Chow Fun) sold freshly made in large soft blocks. I have my favorite “Rice Noodle Lady” in Chinatown who sells from a open storefront on Grand Street and Bowery that I always buy from whenever I am in that area. She sells packages of rice noodles and other things. My favorite kind have dried shrimp and scallion mixed in. Most things she sells a $1; theres usually a line of people waiting to buy from her.

Fresh rice noodles are amazing but dried Rice Noodles are good too. They come in all shapes and sizes. These “Rice Sticks” or as Trader Joe’s says, “Thai Style Pasta” are a medium wide, flat rice noodle which is versatile, and can be used in a variety of ways for almost any Asian style dish, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese… Simply boiled, boiled then stir fried, added to soups, stews, etc. They have a nice chewy texture (don’t overcook them). The package says Made in Thailand. Ingredients: Rice Flour, water (so good for Gluten free diets).

Here is what I did with them, improvising a dish on the fly in just 10 minutes using some fish filets I had on hand and what I had in the fridge. It has some Thai and Vietnamese flavors.

RICE STICKS WITH SAUTEED THAI FISH & VEGETABLES

3 pieces of fish (I used Tilapia); Rub filets with some Thai red curry paste and salt; Marinate 20 mins.
3 sticks Celery, sliced
1 medium Onion, sliced
3 Dried Shitake Mushrooms, soaked in 1/2 cup boiling water for 30 minutes, sliced (save liquid!)
2 cloves Garlic, chopped
1/4” slice Ginger, chopped

(variation: use shrimp instead)

2/3 package Trader Joe’s Rice Sticks

Sauce:
Thai Fish Sauce (Nam Pla), 3 tbs
Juice of one lemon or lime
Sugar, 1 tsp
Soy Sauce, 1 tbs
Water, 2 tbs
Red Pepper flakes, to taste
Dash of Sesame Oil

Mix ingredients for sauce. Bring pot of water with a little salt to boil. Sauté fish in 1 tsp of oil in a non stick pan. Flip fish after 2 mins to other side. Remove and keep warm. Add 1 tsp oil, and sauté the onions, celery, ginger and garlic about 5 mins. Add sliced mushrooms and their soaking water.

Meanwhile, throw the Rice Stick noodles into boiling water. Cook for 6-8 minutes (taste for doneness, do not overcook).

Add the fish to the stir fried vegetables. Cook 5 mins more on low heat to blend flavors. Drain noodles, plate and top the noodles with the fish and vegetables mixture; Serve with sauce on side to drizzle on liberally. Serves 2.

Bonus Recipe (simple!)

ASIAN SAUTEED RICE STICKS (SIDEDISH)

Cook Rick Sticks according to directions (but only till al dente) Drain. Toss in a non-stick saute pan with a small amount of veg. oil. To rice sticks, add 1 tsp soy sauce, dash of oyster sauce, red pepper flakes to taste, and a drizzle of dark sesame oil; Toss this through, cook gently only 1-2 mins. Plate and top the noodles with 2 chopped scallions and a sprinkle of sesame seeds, and a squeeze of little lemon juice or drizzle of rice wine vinegar. If you have cilantro (and like it) great too!

Enjoy!

UPDATE: I don’t see this in the store! Oh no!