Silken warm tofu, fresh soybeans cooked in salted French butter, celery seed gastrique

To be honest, I am not a big fan of tofu because of its blandness. However, I am acutely aware of its excellent nutritional health benefits, so I incorporate it into my diet every so often. But the recipe for me has to be spectacular, and this is that recipe.

Let's also discuss gastriques. A gastrique is a dressing or sauce whose base is caramelized sugar mixed with vinegar. The word is derived from the Latin "gaster," which means stomach, and the French coined the word gastrique. As a trivia fact, the word "gastronomy" was not coined until 1800, when the French poet Joseph de Berchoux wrote a poem on good living, an homage to the ancient Greek poem "Gastrologia."

The magic of this recipe is the silken tofu, which is my favourite variety, combined with perfectly cooked edamame and brought alive by the wonderful celery seed-chilli gastrique. Each component adds to the dish in perfect harmony; the edamame adds freshness with rich butter, and the gastrique spice and acid bring the tofu alive. I love how this dish is beautiful and unique to look at and also on your palate. I simplified this recipe by not making the silken tofu at home but buying it ready.

This cookbook has been on my shelf for some time now, and I have finally dared to cook from it. Each recipe is detailed, complex and involves many steps. However, the recipes are superb. Gabriel Hamilton is a self-taught chef who opened the famed Prune restaurant (now closed) in New York, which became a success and was very highly rated. The book is a compilation of recipes from the restaurant. This is a messy cookbook, the chef has notes scribbled all over the pages, images of tape stuck with changes in the menu, and more, but it is an insight into the mind of a brilliant chef.

For more recipes from this amazing cookbook, click here.

Ingredients:

1 pack of silken tofu

For the celery seed gastrique:

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons water

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon celery seeds

1/2-1 teaspoon chilli flakes

For the soybeans:

2 cups soybeans, frozen ok, but bring to room temperature

4 tablespoons salted butter

10 tablespoons water

Grey sea salt, or any good quality large grain sea salt.

To make the gastrique:

Soak the celery seeds and the chilli flakes in the apple cider vinegar for 30 minutes. Have this ready before you begin with the sugar caramelization.

Cook the sugar and water in a small pan on very low heat till the sugars have caramelized and the liquid is a deep amber color. Do NOT stir, and do not undercook. It should be a dark amber colour.

Mix the vinegar into the caramel, being careful—it will hiss, bubble, and spit. Mix in and set aside to cool. Stir well to incorporate the caramel into the vinegar completely.

In a small pot, cook the soybeans, butter, and water until they are almost dry, and the beans are cooked through. You still want the beans to crunch and not be mushy.

To serve:

Heat the beans and add a few scoops to a bowl. Take a tablespoon and scoop the soft tofu in one smooth swipe. You are looking for small, clean spoonfuls. Add 2-3 scoops per bowl. Drizzle the gastrique on the beans and the dish. Finish with a few grains fo grey sea salt or any other large grain salt.