Persimmon in Tofu Dressing 柿の白和え

“Shira-ae 白和え” meaning “white dressing”  refers to dishes in which the dressing consists mainly of tofu. The dishes usually use vegetables or fruit (persimmon being the most common fruit used). But protein such as chicken can also be added. There are variations of how to season the tofu but one ingredient consistently used is sesame; either sesame paste and/or coarsely ground sesame seeds. White miso or light colored soy sauce is often used. You can use either silken (Kinugoshi tofu 絹ごし豆腐 or firm Momen tofu 木綿豆腐). This time I used left-over medium firm tofu, ground re-roasted sesame seeds and hummus which I made a few days ago. For saltiness, I used “Shiro-dashi 白だし*” from the bottle. I used blanched green beans and persimmon (picture #1) which is rather classic.

* Shiro-dashi is a versatile light colored Japanese seasoning made of  light-colored soy sauce and Japanese  dashi-broth which is available in a bottle. 

I served this as a part of the appetizers (picture #2) one evening. The left is “Russian” marinated salmon 鮭のロシア漬け with “ikura いくら” salmon roe.
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Substituting sesame paste with hummus worked very well. This is a good “healthy” appetizer.