You can't beat this heart-warming $10 dinner

Fresh eggs poaching in "more spicy" Oyster Tofu, one of the many soft-tofu stews that are served steaming hot and boiling rapidly at So Gong Dong in Palisades Park.

Steamed rice in a stone bowl is included. If you have room, use your spoon to pry up the crunchy crust of rice at the bottom for a real treat at the end of the meal.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

A comforting meal of Korean soft tofu, rice and side dishes never gets old, especially when  temperatures plunge and icy winds are blowing.

So Gong Dong in Palisades Park has held the line on a complete meal for $9.99, which is rounded up to $10 on the check and includes the tax.

On Saturday evening, four of us were served hot tea after we were seated in the second-floor restaurant's traditional dining room.

The meal includes a stone-bowl of steamed white rice that cooks to a crisp along the bottom, four side dishes and a fresh egg that you crack into the bubbling broth to poach and eat over rice.

You can order your tofu stew plain or with pork, seafood, kimchi and other items, and ask for it from "no spicy to more spicy."

The side dishes are cabbage kimchi, cucumber kimchi, bean sprouts and spicy raw squid, and as we finished them they were replaced without prompting.  

Fresh eggs with two of the side dishes and a dipping sauce for a seafood pancake we ordered.

Crunchy cucumber kimchi is one of our favorite side dishes.

Expanded menu

So Gong Dong has expanded its menu to include bibimbap, barbecued squid, and tofu soup with noodles or ramyun, and we've tried them all.

But the restaurant's strong suit is soft-tofu, and for $10, you get a meal that is comforting, delicious and filling.

We haven't found the same combination of taste, service and value at any other Korean tofu house in North Jersey, and there are many, in Fort Lee, Ridgewood and other communities.

Pajun is a pan-fried seafood pancake made from rice flour, squid and scallion ($11.99). It can be shared by four or more.

The place-mat menu offers more than a dozen kinds of soft-tofu stew.

So Gong Dong, 118 Broad Ave., Second Floor, Palisades Park; 201-313-5550. BYO (though the waiter on Saturday night wouldn't allow me to drink a beer I brought with me).  

Valet parking or free parking on side streets. Meters in effect until 9 p.m.

So Gong Dong in Pal Park: Now there are three

Soft-tofu stew at So Gong Dong in Palisades Park.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

We had another belly busting dinner at So Gong Dong, the standout soft-tofu house in Palisades Park, home to dozens of Korean restaurants.

On Saturday night, three of us had soft-tofu stew, steamed rice, four side dishes and a fresh egg ($9.99 each, including tax), and I ordered steamed dumplings for the meat eaters ($8.99).

I just managed to finish my Oyster Soft Tofu, which was hot enough to soft boil two small eggs that I ate over the rice. Delicious and comforting.

A seafood pancake.

I noticed a change on the place-mat menu: Three So Gong Dongs are listed now:

• 118 Broad Ave., Second Floor, Palisades Park; 1-201-313-5550.
• 6 St. Marks Place (between 2nd and 3rd avenues), Manhattan;  1-212-533-5363.
• 411 N. Central Ave., Hartsdale, N.Y. (Westchester County); 1-914-397-1790.

Fiery raw squid and raw garlic is one of the free side dishes that come with every soft-tofu stew. The others are cabbage and cucumber kimchis and bean sprouts, and servers will gladly bring you a second set.

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Taking the easy way out with tofu

Image via Wikipedia

I've been eating tofu for years at Asian restaurant in North Jersey and elsewhere, and buying prepared tofu at Korean supermarkets, but I've never tried to prepare it until now.


Since the mid-1990s, when I discovered Korean food, one of my favorite meals out has been soft-tofu stew, accompanied by steamed white rice, crunchy kimchi and bean-sprout side dishes, and a fresh egg to break into the furiously bubbling broth.

On every visit to H Mart, the Korean supermarket once known as Han Ah Reum, I try to pick up a package of prepared braised tofu (photo).


A favorite appetizer of mine at Japanese restaurants is Agedashi Tofu -- a big block of cooked tofu in a soy sauce-based broth.

But last week, I saw firm tofu for sale at Costco in Hackensack ($3.59), one of the new items designed to appeal to its many Asian customers, and brought home a package. 

Inside were three 19-ounce tubs of tofu in water, more than I expected. Firm and extra-firm tofu are best for cooking.


I did some research on the Internet, and went to work, setting out a plate of flour, a bowl with egg whites and a little water, and a second plate with large Japanese breadcrumbs called panko.

Meanwhile, I heated up a cup or so of extra-virgin olive oil in a 10-inch frying pan. I cut the tofu into sticks about two inches long and one inch high.


Then, I placed the tofu into flour, egg whites and panko before putting them into the hot oil. I turned them with two wooden utensils, but could have cooked them longer. Some were light brown, but the last few were dark brown. All were crunchy with a custard-like interior. 

I plated them, added Korean hot-pepper paste with vinegar from a squeeze bottle and went to town. You can add any hot sauce, even tomato sauce, to make the bland tofu palatable. 

I served the tofu with baked prawns in chili spices and organic spinach blanched quickly in boiling water, then sauteed in a little olive oil with salt and garlic powder.


Next, I plan to pour egg whites into a 10-inch pan with olive oil and when they set, add layers of sliced tomatoes, tofu and reduced fat cheese, plus spices. This frittata is finished under the broiler. I see no reason why you can't add spinach, too.

--VICTOR E. SASSON