By Request Betty Shimabukuro

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Different ways
with aburage

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This week's recipes come courtesy of two familiar faces from days gone by -- Hari Kojima and Lucky Luck.

Karol Yamamoto e-mailed in search of a recipe for aburage (bean curd wrappers) stuffed with somen noodles that she'd had at a potluck.

A search of cookbooks and an Internet exploration turned up just one suitable recipe, at www.suresave.com, the Web site of Sure Save Super Market on the Big Island, which maintains recipes from Kojima's old "Hari's Kitchen" television show.

It is a refreshing combination of local flavors.

Offering another way with aburage is Robert M. "Lucky" Luck. A photocopy of "Lucky Luck's Favorite Island Recipes," dated 1953, arrived in the mail last week, passed on by an acquaintance in Los Angeles.

Luck was a popular entertainer of the time who dabbled in many endeavors, cooking among them. His Stuffed Aburage is a more traditional pork-and-tofu combination.

Note that the somen recipe uses prepared, seasoned bean curd wrapper, the type sold to make cone sushi. The second uses plain aburage, sold refrigerated in Asian markets.

Somen Aburage

1 8-ounce package somen
16 pieces seasoned bean curd wrapper
1/2 pound prepared ocean salad (see note)
1/2 pound kamaboko (fish cake), thinly sliced
1/4 cup Tropics brand Oriental dressing

Cook somen according to instructions on package. Rinse; drain well. Combine with ocean salad and kamaboko. Add dressing. Working by the handful, roughly chop the somen mixture, then stuff into bean curd wrappers. Serves 8.

Approximate nutritional analysis, per serving: 350 calories, 11 g total fat, 3 g saturated fat, 15 mg cholesterol, 550 mg sodium, 43 g carbohydrate, 19 g protein.

Note: Ocean salad is made of several kinds of seaweed and sold in the seafood sections of Asian markets such as Daiei.

Stuffed Aburage

8 aburage, halved into 16 triangles, slit to form pocket
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons dried shrimp
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

>> Filling:
6 dried shiitake mushrooms
1 pound ground pork
3-inch square piece tofu, lightly mashed
1/2 cup minced green onions
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger

Pour boiling water over aburage to remove excess oil. Drain and squeeze dry. Combine 3/4 cup water, dried shrimp, soy sauce, sugar and salt in a wide, shallow pan. Bring to simmer and add aburage. Cover and simmer, turning occasionally, until liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Drain; press out excess liquid.

Meanwhile, make filling: Soak mushrooms in warm water until soft. Squeeze out liquid and chop. Add to remaining filling ingredients. Mix well.

Stuff aburage traingles with filing. Place in single layer in steamer basket over boiling water. Steam 25 to 30 minutes, until cooked through. Serves 8.

Approximate nutritional analysis, per serving: 210 calories, 13 g total fat, 4 g saturated fat, 40 mg cholesterol, 700 mg sodium, 8 g carbohydrate, 17 g protein.

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Send queries along with name and phone number to:
"By Request," Honolulu Star-Bulletin,
500 Ala Moana, No. 7-210, Honolulu 96813.
Or send e-mail to bshimabukuro@starbulletin.com

Asterisk (*) after nutritional analyses in the Body & Soul section indicates calculations by Joannie Dobbs of Exploring New Concepts, a nutritional consulting firm.