Tuna and Tofu Sauce

     Today a friend in Maine reported that her husband's PSA, second year in a row following his RrP, is 0.00. Full continence and potency too. O Happy Day! she wrote. Puts me in a good mood.
     This afternoon around three, at the health food store for some vitamin D-3, I picked up extra firm tofu, green tea bags (Foojoy China Green Tea, $6.39 per 100, 7 oz) and a bottle of Tofu Sauce. On a rainy Thursday, with something to celebrate, why not?
     Tofu Sauce, imported from Japan, is made from water, soy beans, whole wheat, sea salt, brown rice syrup, cider vinegar, sesame oil, xanthan gum, ginger powder, and cayenne pepper. Fancier than regular soy sauce, and thicker. At 210 mg salt per tsp, you don't want to use too much. Total fat content zero on the label, meaning less than a gram per spoon.
     I could mix all this at home minus xanthum gum (which probably does no good, although not much harm). But why not try this Japanese ketchup?
     Sprinkle on Tofu cubes and serve them in salad, the label suggests. How about hot food Â say, fish?
     By the time I get to the supermarket the only really fresh-looking fish in the cooler is tuna. Excellent. One small piece will go with chunks of the extra firm tofu, this new sauce out of a bottle, yet to be tasted, and what?
     Lately, my husband's treatment has left him with a taste for blander veggies like zuchini in tomato sauce and peas. Once in a while, though, we need dark green and orange. Here's what I came up with:

1 carrot, sliced fine
half a large onion, sliced quite thick
6-8 mushrooms, chunked
1-2 fat cloves garlic, chopped
few slices of fennel/anise (optional)
1 cup white long grain rice
1 teaspoon olive oil
scant 2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon iodized sea salt
teaspoon good quality curry powder

Put all in one pot, bring to boil, turn to simmer. After about 5 minutes add chopped tofu sprinkled with Tofu Sauce. Finish cooking rice, about 12-14 minutes total.

Meanwhile take:
half a small savoy cabbage, sliced
handful of washed, small-cut broccoli florets
half a crisp green apple (Crispin, Granny Smith)
Cook with a cup of water till barely tender. Drain juice from pot and use for fish:

In a non-stick frypan, heat
1 teaspoon olive oil, pour off excess
add half teaspoon Tofu sauce
sear fresh tuna with lid on pan, lightly browning both sides
pour couple of tablespoons of vegetable/apple water into tuna pan
Finish cooking fish, rapidly, with lid on pan, till tender (not too long!).
Serve hot tuna on vegetable-and-tofu rice with cabbage-broccoli-apple combo on the side. Brew green tea.

To Potluck Menu

Tofu Sauce (Shoyu) is imported from Japan by companies including Westbrae Natural, Carson City, CA. Foojoy China Green Tea is imported from China by Foojoy Tea Company, Alhambra, CA 91803, and sells in New York for $6.39 per 100 bags (7 oz).