We play one little fishie, two little fishies at BCD Tofu House in Fort Lee

At BCD Tofu House in Fort Lee, my wife and me received complimentary side dishes and two battered and fried yellow croakers after we placed our order for beef and seafood soft-tofu soups.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Fans of soft-tofu soup with steamed rice and side dishes -- one of the most comforting Korean meals -- have no shortage of choices in Fort Lee and Palisades Park.

But BCD Tofu House stands out by offering organic tofu and a beautifully fried yellow croaker as one of the complimentary sides.

On Saturday night, we ordered soft-tofu soups and asked for two extra yellow croakers ($1 each).

A few minutes later, a server returned, placing six complimentary side dishes and two croakers between us.

Our last visit to BCD Tofu House was in May 2015, so we wondered whether these were the extra croakers or the complimentary ones served with our meal?

We asked a second server, and he brought us another croaker, but I still wasn't satisfied.

After we paid the bill, I asked the woman at the register, and she said one croaker is served with each tofu soup, so she gave us a fourth croaker in a takeout container.

Pay more, get more

BCD Tofu House charges $12.99 for a complete organic soft-tofu dinner, compared to $9.99 at So Gong Dong in Palisades Park, our go-to place for many years.

Still, besides organic tofu, you get more side dishes at BCD Tofu House -- cabbage kimchi, pickled cucumber slices, seaweed, green peppers with shredded beef, boiled greens, spicy raw squid and a delectable whole little fish.

You can get seconds of all the side dishes but the fish just be asking.

My wife especially liked BCD's soft tofu or soondubu because it wasn't as salty as the version served at So Gong Dong.

My delicious Seafood Soondubu was brought to the table with a rolling boil that poached fresh eggs provided with the meal. My soup contained oysters, shrimp, small clams and a large mussel. The soft-boiled yolks were wonderful when broken and eaten over steamed white rice. Servers will put hot tea into the second stone bowl to loosen the crunchy rice crust, unless you tell them otherwise.

We finished two plates of the complimentary cabbage kimchi.

Spicy raw squid.

Shredded beef with green peppers.

A flat-screen TV in the front dining room allows parents to keep an eye on their children in a playroom, but the screams of those who misbehave come through loud and clear to other customers.

BCD Tofu House offers 11 versions of soft-tofu soup.

The easy to miss entrance in the Fort Lee Towne Center mall.

Details

BCD Tofu House, 1640 Schlosser St., Fort Lee; 201-944-2340. Serves alcohol, open 7 days, free parking in lot and garage. Go early to avoid lines.

Photo of Seafood Soondubu on Website doesn't match what's served in Fort Lee. Branches are in New York, Los Angeles area, Seoul and Tokyo.

Here is why you should never, ever put salt in your pasta water

There is plenty of sodium in my organic whole-wheat shells with canned sardines and anchovies -- in the bottled sauce and canned fish I use, and in the grated sheep's milk cheese I sprinkle on before I eat it. So, there is absolutely no reason to add salt to the water I boil to cook the pasta, above. Nor do I use gallons of water; enough water to cover the dried pasta works fine.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss making pasta without salting the water and the appeal of comfort foods at every meal, and provide an update on a shortage of Christopher Ranch garlic at Costco Wholesale. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I'm here to ignore decades of advice from Italy, instructions on the box and American chefs on adding salt to the water I boil for cooking dried pasta.

And while I'm at it, don't waste water. You don't need the several gallons of water called for on the package when you are making spaghetti or other pasta.

Usually, as with the pound of shells I prepared on Thursday night, water to cover the dried pasta is enough.

Adam Weiss, a 37-year-old Ridgewood chef who thinks he will live forever, was quoted in the paper the other day on his "simplest tip for improving home cooking."

"When a box of pasta tells you to put one teaspoon in for a gallon of water, no! It has to be salted like the ocean because ... you want the salt to adhere to the pasta," Weiss claims.

"I use a quarter to half a cup."

Disgusting.

Take sodium out

I certainly don't want to add salt, because every time I prepare shells with canned sardines, anchovies and capers in bottled pasta sauce, I try to reduce the sodium of the dish.

I drain the anchovies and rinse them under the faucet. 

The two to three cans of Moroccan Sardines with Tomato Sauce that go into the sauce I use have the lowest amount of sodium of the three varieties sold at Fattal's in Paterson (99 cents a can).

I also rinse the capers under the faucet.

Bottled pasta sauce contains a lot of sodium. 

I use Kirkland Signature Marinara, sold in 32-ounce bottles at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, adding several ounces of red wine and extra-virgin olive oil, plus red-pepper flakes, dried Italian seasoning, powdered or fresh garlic and black pepper.

There is more sodium in Pecorino Romano, a grated sheep's milk cheese from Italy sold at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, where I get most of the ingredients for the dish.

The organic whole-wheat shells from Italy are sold at Whole Food Market in Paramus for $1.39 (1-pound box).

Adjust cooking time

If you buy the 365 Everyday Value Organic Whole Wheat Shells from Whole Foods, be sure to adjust the recommended cooking time (14-15 minutes) to 10-11 minutes.

The box recommends five quarts of water and "a pinch of salt," if you use the entire pound.

Luigi Vitelli-brand Organic Whole Wheat Capellini also recommends using five quarts of water, but calls for one tablespoon of salt and a cooking time of 3 minutes. 

I usually drain the pasta a little early, add it to the sauce, which I prepare in a large, non-stick pan; combine them well and cook them with the cover on for a couple of minutes to combine flavors.

Other sauces

I've followed the no-salt rule even when I don't use sodium-laden bottled pasta sauce.

When I made my own pesto sauce, using a blender recipe from the late Marcella Hazan, I eliminated the teaspoons of salt she called for, knowing there was plenty of sodium in a chief ingredient -- a half-cup plus two tablespoons of grated Pecorino Romano Cheese.

I also eliminated the butter she used.

Now, I buy Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto from Costco Wholesale and add nothing but the sauce to whole-wheat pappardelle or other pasta.

Costco's pesto contains 26% of your recommended intake of sodium in a quarter-cup serving, so adding salt to the pasta water would be foolhardy.

Organic Whole-Wheat Shells with Sardines, Anchovies, Capers and Pine Nuts is a comforting dish for dinner, above, or for breakfast with an egg-white omelet stuffed with reduced-fat sliced Swiss cheese and Mexican green salsa, below.

After plating and heating up the leftover shells in the microwave, I drizzle on extra-virgin olive oil.

Another comfort dish, mashed sweet potatoes and kabocha squash with extra-virgin olive oil, is a great foundation for two organic eggs sunny side up with shaved Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese from Costco, and Aleppo pepper and za'atar thyme mixture from Fattal's in Paterson.

Grilled wild Canadian sockeye salmon, $8.99 a pound at Costco, and mashed sweet potatoes and squash are delicious accented with bottled Mexican green salsa, above and below. Medium-hot green salsas are available at Hackensack Market, Whole Foods Market, Trader Joe's, Target, ShopRite and other stores.

The salmon spends 8 minutes on a grill pan over medium to medium-high heat, turned once, for medium rare, and 10 minutes for cooked through, and continues to cook when the pan is taken off the heat.

Christopher Ranch garlic

I just got a return call from customer service at Christopher Ranch, which supplies garlic to Costco Wholesale.

On my last trip, the Hackensack warehouse store was out of the refrigerated 3-pound bag of peeled California garlic, which I use with pasta, rice, egg, mashed sweet potatoes and other dishes.

The woman says Christopher Ranch has been unable to keep up with the demand from Costco members, and also supply the other stores that sell its garlic.

The shortage at my Hackensack warehouse store isn't related to the drought in California.

A 3-pound bag of peeled Christopher Ranch Monviso Garlic is only $5.99 at Costco.

Peeled California garlic from Christopher Ranch makes it easy -- perhaps too easy -- to add this healthy ingredient to home-cooked meals, including boiling it with sweet potatoes before mashing, below. Better too much garlic than too much salt.

We brake for soft-tofu restaurants

Image via CrunchBase

A video shows how one Korean home cook makes soft-tofu stew (see link below).

Was it my idea to look around for a soft-tofu restaurant that offers better food and service than the second-floor tofu house in Palisades Park that has served us so many satisfying meals in recent years?

We tried Gamasot Restaurant in Fort Lee last April and Book Chang Dong in Palisades Park this month. On Saturday, we waded into the crowded dining room at So Kong Dong in Fort Lee -- and found it differs from our favorite, So Gong Dong, in more than how the second word is spelled.

The Fort Lee restaurant is where I first tried this Korean comfort food six or seven years ago, but I stopped going there after receiving terrible service on a night when the place was packed. I just happened to be comparing So Gong Dong and So Kong Dong for an article on inexpensive restaurants in The Record.

There is conflicting information on whether So Kong Dong and So Gong Dong are affiliated, but the well-dressed woman at the register Saturday evening said they don't have the same owner. I've heard from Korean friends that So Gong Dong is a section of Seoul where soft-tofu houses predominate. 
 

Both interiors resemble traditional inns, but the Fort Lee restaurant has a showcase of beautiful Korean dolls. It is popular with families, and on Saturday, it filled up quickly between 5 and 6 p.m., and people were waiting for tables.

So Kong Dong offers a variety of soft-tofu stews, steamed rice, five side dishes, a fresh egg and tea for $9, including tax, $1 less than its Palisades Park rival. But if the small parking lot is filled, as it was on Saturday evening, you have to pay 50 cents for one hour of parking in the municipal lot across the street.

I liked the taste of my soft-tofu stew with oysters, which I ordered "very hot (spicy)," but it wasn't bubbling as furiously as I prefer for cooking the fresh egg. My wife and son said their pork version didn't taste as good as at our favorite place. 

They also ordered "Korean BBQ ribs" ($14.99), the same price for what the Palisades Park restaurant lists as "prime beef."

Fort Lee doesn't offer Korean dumplings (mandoo) or a rice-flour seafood pancake (pajun) that you'll find in Pal Park for about $10 each. The dining room of the former and the wait staff both seem smaller. Portions at both places are the same, and both are BYO.

Fort Lee serves one more side dish or panchan and that's a delightful, mildly spicy water kimchi. The others are the same at both places -- cabbage and cucumber kimchis, bean sprouts and spicy raw squid. 

Both places uses a beef or beef-bone broth, although I came across a You Tube video showing a woman making a seafood-vegetable broth at home (see link below).

So, our favorite soft-tofu restaurant remains on top. We plan to revisit Gamasot in Fort Lee soon, and that should do it.

Video shows how to make soft-tofu stew

So Kong Dong Restaurant, 130 Main St., Fort Lee; 201-585-1122.

Restaurant So Gong Dong, 118 Broad Ave., Second Floor, 
Palisades Park; 201-313-8900.

Comfort food says you're home

Ripe ackee fruit. The edible portion is inside.

Image via Wikipedia

After a week or so of  hotel breakfast buffets and unfamiliar restaurants, the simple food I had at home today and at one of our favorite spots was even more enjoyable than usual.

This morning, my wife prepared a special breakfast: ackee and saltfish with boiled green bananas. Ackee is a soft, bland Jamaican fruit we buy in cans, and it serves as a foil to the salty cod fish, hot and sweet peppers, and tomato. The soft bananas are a familiar and filling side dish.

I usually warm some Syrian pocket bread and stuff it with ackee, saltfish and banana -- a decidedly un-Jamaican way of eating it.

Tonight, we drove to Palisades Park for a filling dinner of soft-tofu stew with white rice and side dishes of kimchi, bean sprouts and peppery raw squid at So Gong Dong, a second-floor restaurant overlooking Broad Avenue. The tab, including tax and tip, was $36 for three.

I ordered my tofu stew with mushrooms, my wife asked for shrimp and my son rebelled by ordering pork. We asked for all of them to be prepared "more spicy," the spiciest of three choices.

When the stew is brought to the table in a stone bowl, it is bubbling furiously -- just the right time to break a fresh egg or two into the hot broth. I eat around the egg until a soft yolk forms, then break it over the rice in a separate bowl. Delicious, warm and comforting.

I knew I was home.

At Red Hen Bistro in Wood-Ridge

Image via Wikipedia

When I read in the paper that fish tacos were the most popular dish at the new Red Hen Bistro, I planned to have our one weekly dinner out there Saturday evening. The Wood-Ridge restaurant also offers fish and chips, a dish my son loves almost as much as the tacos.

Well, we were disappointed, and despite trying to eat a healthy meal, we ended up with a lot of fried food bordering on greasy. But Chef-Owner Carlos Valdez promised to make us soft fish tacos the next time, and comped us with a wonderful bread pudding and coffee.

Valdez says he is Mexican, yet his St. Helena fish tacos (3 for $9.95) were served in brittle, fried tortillas that fell apart as we tried to eat them. When we asked for a hot sauce, all the kitchen had to offer was a tepid chimichurri. He said the next time, we should specify that we want two soft corn tortillas for each taco, the way they are served in the Pueblan taco joints in Passaic city.

The fish and chips ($13.95) were another problem. One piece of haddock came in in too much fried batter and was accompanied by roasted, not fried, potatoes. Yet, the delicious roasted potatoes were a welcome break from all the greasy food. 

I started with a refreshing Little Bistro Salad, organic greens, croutons and champagne vinaigrette ($5.95), and we shared an order of excellent truffled frites ($4.95) with truffle oil, herbs and shaved cheese.

We are not dessert eaters, but the complimentary bread pudding with Bing cherries -- served in a puddle of white chocolate -- was delicious and not too sweet.

The menu is filled with comfort food, such as wild mushroom risotto and Croque Madam, a grilled ham, cheese and fried-egg sandwich. A special was cassoulet, the white-bean stew, with crispy duck leg, but we're not eating meat. More detailed menu descriptions would avoid confusion, such as with the fish tacos.

The storefront has a comfortable interior, and you can bring your own beer or wine. But there is only one off-street parking space, and street parking is limited. We parked on a street off Moonachie Avenue. An off-note in the dining room was the constant sound of dishes being washed.

Red Hen Bistro, 525 Moonachie Ave., Wood-Ridge; 

201-728-4501. Open Monday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.