Shrimp & Tofu Stirfry

I've heard the buzz on American Idol while I lived in Japan, but I didn't realize how big it was until we recently moved back to the States. This is the fifth season of the show, but it's my first time watching it. After thousands of people auditioned, top 12 (6 guys 6 girls) were chosen, and every week, one person is eliminated by number of votes from telephone and text messaging system.

Last night, the 17 year old Paris Bennett got voted off, and now there are four remaining; soul-patrol, Talor Hicks; rocker Chris Daughtry; guy-next-door type Elliott Yamin, and camera friendly Katharine McPhee. I'm happy with those final four, but let's look back on what I thought when the show started.

TOP 4 I PREDICTED Chris Daughtry Kellie Pickler Paris Bennett Ace Young

TOP 4 I WANTED Chris Daughtry Taylor Hicks Katharine McPhee Jose "Sway" Penala

So my prediction was quite off, but most of the people I wanted to see in the final four made it, so I guess America agrees with me. It will be interesting to see who will end up being the final two. My votes are on Chris and Taylor, but we'll see. I have never personally voted though.

Today, I'll introduce one of my favorite "let's make something with whatever is left in the fridge" dish. I usually have some tofu (see TIP: Storing tofu) and some kind of veggies in the fridge. And I always have frozen shrimp (see TIP: Shrimp) so this makes it perfect. I actually invented one evening when I didn't know what to make for dinner.

IN JAPANESE: Ebi & Tofu itame (I made that up)
CATEGORY: Seafood
COOKING METHOD: Stirfry
DIFFICULTY: Medium
SERVES: 2 people
LENGTH OF TIME: 15 min

INGREDIENTS:
10 shrimp peeled (see TIP: Shrimp)
1/4 pack of tofu diced (see TIP: Storing tofu)
3 mushrooms
1/4 of onion
some carrots
1 clove of garlic finely chopped
1 TBsp vegetable oil
1 TBsp sesame oil
1 TBsp sake
3 TBsp oyster sauce
some ground pepper

HOW TO:
Slice some carrots, mushrooms, onions and whatever veggies you want to include (baby corn, celery, cabbage to name a few). Dice the tofu into about one inch cube, and finely chop the garlic.

Heat up your wok or frying pan on high with vegetable oil and sesame oil, and after the tip of the wok/pan is hot, put the chopped garlic (if that doesn't sizzle then your pan is not hot enough!) and let it sizzle so the oil will have garlic flavor soaked in.

Dump in onions and carrots first, stiry fry for about a minute, then add mushroom and shrimp, and stirfry until the shrimp begins to turn into a nice pink color. Add some sake, and after that evaporates, add the tofu and carefully stir so you don't break the tofu too much.

When that's mixed well, throw in oyster sauce and some ground pepper to flavor, and stir until oyster sauce is evenly coated around the veggies, shrimp and tofu. It might be easier to serve this on top of bowl or rice and eat with spoon if your tofu has crumbled like shown on my photo.