I particularly like this recipe as you can throw in whatever tropical fruits that you may have at home. This dish is very refreshing and irresistible with fresh fruit that explodes in your mouth with creamy silk tofu.
Ingredients: for 2
1/2 Cup bite sized chopped nicely ripe tropical fruits - mango, peach, papaya etc
300g Silken Tofu
2 tsp honey
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp shredded coconut / dessicated coconut
2 tsp of water
Steps Take a heavy pan, add water and 1 tsp of sugar and heat it on a low flame. Stir the mix until sugar melts completely. Add chopped fruits and gently coat them in the sugar syrup. Keep it on the low heat for couple of minutes until fruit softens a little. Switch off the heat and let the fruit sit. You can also prepare this in advance and keep it in fridge for couple of days for later use.
For the tofu cream, put the silken tofu in the blender with honey and 1 tsp of sugar. blend it for 1-2 minutes, it will become smooth and fluffy in no time.
Now place few spoons of fruit in two transparent bowls or broad based glasses till they are 1/3 full. Gently pour the tofu cream over the fruit and fill the glass just below the rim. Top it again with some fruit cubes, cover it with some plastiwrap and keep it in the fridge for at least 1 - 1.5 hrs.
At the time of serving, sprinkle shredded coconut. You can beautify the dish further with a sprinkle of some chopped mint or basil if u like.
Enjoy!
More about Tofu:
Tofu is a low calorie, high protein Asian cheese. Chinese discovered tofu 2000 years ago and have been a staple source of nutrition in Asian kitchens in form of amazing recipes from soups, salads, main course to dessert. Now Tofu is popular worldwide and an excellent choice of nutritional food worldwide.
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=111
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/healthnutrition/p/tofunutrition.htm
Peaches:
I think Taiwan has one of the best quality peaches. They are big, luscious, succulent and super sweet!
Tracing back the history I found that peaches actually originated in China ( not in Persia, not in US) in as early as 10th century BC! This was an emperor's fruit for centuries and only immortals were to eat this fruit. Only in recent era this fruit was made available to the local people. Once Persians brought this fruit to Europe, it quickly spread across the world and gain popularity. It is the second largest commercially produced fruit in US after apples.
Even today, peach has a significant place in Chinese culture and still holds its status for longevity. Friends and family exchange peaches in the summer time to wish each other long life in Taiwan. I was lucky to receive a huge box of peaches from a local friend. Even peach blossoms are very beautiful, I can definitely say that they are as pretty as cherry blossoms. There are festivals held to enjoy the beauty of these blossoms which still does not fail to inspire artists and poets.There are very famous paintings, plays, poems and art in Chinese cultures with peach blossoms as its central theme.
Another interesting fact about this Asian fruit - Young and beautiful new bride was often called peach in China as a slang because of fruit's velvety, smooth and sweet characteristic. Apparently, in English, word peachy came from this slang.
Hope you feel peachy when you enjoy this emperor's fruit next time:)
