By Genevieve Ko, The New York Times
VENICE, Calif. — Few things make food more alluring than knowing you shouldn’t have it: Eve couldn’t resist that forbidden fruit; Hansel and Gretel tore into the witch’s sugary house. In my experience, the reverse also holds true. I love the earthy edge of dark leafy greens and the subtlety of steamed fish — unless someone insists I should be eating them. In that case, they’re no longer satisfying. Pass the fries please.
There’s often an uneasy relationship between choosing foods for health and eating for pleasure. There’s a sense that if something is good for your body, it can’t possibly be what your soul desires. In some cases, thatap very true. (More fries, please.) But sometimes, a dish thatap undeniably nourishing tastes so good, any rebellious impulse drops as the joy of eating rises. Itap no longer a mind game, just another meal you want to savor.
Thatap the effect of this silken tofu dressing, especially when it coats crisp winter chicories, like radicchio, escarole, endive and frisée. Creamy but with an organza lightness, it combines the umami of miso with nutty sesame paste for a deep richness, then sharpens the grounded savoriness with rice vinegar and garlic. The simple blender recipe comes from chefs Travis Lett and Ian Robinson, partners in RVR (pronounced “river”), a Los Angeles izakaya thatap as much an award-winning destination (including being named one of The New York Times’ 50 best restaurants last year) as it is a warm neighborhood spot for its Venice beach community.
It sits among the designer and design shops of Abbot Kinney Boulevard, just a few blocks from Gjelina, the slouchy chic restaurant where Lett transformed the way we eat vegetables with his Mediterranean-leaning, California-dreaming cooking. At RVR, Lett focuses on the restaurantap operations and its “aesthetic, feeling, emotional quality,” and Robinson, who spent five years cooking in Japan, largely runs the kitchen.
Robinson first learned the fundamentals of the cuisine from Japanese chefs at an omakase restaurant in Toronto, where he was born and raised. But it wasn’t the Toronto chefs’ dishes that compelled him to beg for an apprenticeship; it was their trim vigor. Robinson knew he had to improve his health if he wanted to continue his career as a chef.
“I had to choose a culture to help shape my life,” he said. “My appreciation for Japanese cuisine is really deep now. Itap so critical for my well-being. Rice and miso soup is my center. Thatap become my soul food.”
Itap a sentiment Naoko Takei Moore has held her whole life. As the author of the cookbook “Simply Donabe,” she teaches others how to embrace the intrinsic healthfulness of traditional Japanese home cooking and preserves its heritage through the kitchen supplies she sells at her Los Angeles store, Toiro. At the same time, she finds culinary evolution important.
For the many years Lett has been cooking in Los Angeles, Moore has felt a kinship with his approach “because he focuses on using locally sourced vegetables, and thatap so important traditionally in Japanese cuisine,” she said. “I like that chefs try different cuisines and add his or her own twists. I think thatap very exciting.”
This silken tofu dressing is reminiscent of shira-ae, a standard of tofu mashed to bits with sesame and often mixed with vegetables. At RVR, Robinson blends the tofu with more miso than sesame and adds a drizzle of honey and olive oil for a faint fruity sweetness in the ultrasmooth sauce. Itap as good tossed with crunchy leaves or other vegetables as it is as a dip, a sauce for noodles or a sandwich spread. In fact, itap so creamy and swirled with umami, I eat it on its own and feel utterly satisfied, not thinking for a moment about how much lean protein is in every big, silky spoonful.
“This is the food I want to put in the world,” Robinson said. “Itap healthy, but you don’t know it.”
Recipe: Silken Tofu-Miso Dressing
At the restaurant RVR (pronounced “river”), chefs Travis Lett and Ian Robinson toss this dressing with winter chicories from the local farmers market, speckled and striped pink and green. Any crisp leaves from the supermarket, including lettuces and other chicories like radicchio, endive and escarole work well. At their restaurant in Venice, California, they top the tossed salad with shaved Parmesan, anchovy-toasted breadcrumbs, lots of parsley, fresh squeezes of lemon juice and plenty of black pepper. Itap also delicious as a dip for crudités, with roasted or steamed vegetables, tossed with noodles or used as a spread for sandwiches or savory toasts.
Recipe from Travis Lett and Ian Robinson
Adapted by Genevieve Ko
Yield: About 3 cups
Total time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 package (14 ounces) silken tofu (about 2 cups)
- 3 tablespoons miso, preferably barley (see Tips), more as needed
- 2 1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar, more as needed
- 1 teaspoon white sesame paste (see Tips)
- 1 teaspoon honey, more as needed
- 1 garlic clove, minced or finely grated
- 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, more as needed
- 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Salad options: chicory or crunchy lettuce leaves, parsley leaves, lemon wedges, Parmesan and toasted seasoned breadcrumbs (see Tips)
Preparation
1. Using a blender or food processor, blend the tofu, miso, vinegar, sesame paste, honey, garlic and salt until smooth. With the machine running, drizzle in the olive oil and purée until smooth again. Coarsely grind black pepper on top. Dip in a chicory leaf, taste and blend in a little more miso, vinegar, honey, salt or pepper if you’d like. (The dressing can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Whisk well before using.)
2. To use in a salad, toss the dressing with leaves and parsley to evenly and lightly coat. Squeeze lemon juice on top, then grate Parmesan, grind more pepper and sprinkle breadcrumbs all over. Serve immediately.
Tips
Barley miso, used largely in the southwestern Kyushu, Chugoku and Shikoku regions of Japan, is fermented from barley, soy and salt, and captures the grain’s earthy dark brown color, coarse texture and rich taste. It can be found in Asian markets and many supermarkets. If you have only white miso, you can use that instead, but may want to add a bit more after tasting the finished dressing as its umami is not quite as intense.
Japanese white sesame paste, sometimes also labeled neri goma, is ground from toasted white sesame seeds, which gives it a deep nutty flavor. Chinese sesame paste or tahini ground from toasted sesame work as a substitute. If you have only tahini made from untoasted seeds, you can use that instead and add 1/2 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil.
To make anchovy crumbs, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium, add finely chopped anchovies and stir until they melt into the oil. Add coarsely ground breadcrumbs and stir until golden brown and fragrant. Cool until crisp. For vegan crumbs, you can substitute garlic for anchovies.
This article originally appeared in .
