Tofu Chicken Soup Recipe?

Hi all.
I have been recently introduced, however slowly, to the miracle that is tofu.
I had miso soup and loved it but Pie Dude hated it (this is especially great for me when we got out for sushi, as he passes his soup along to me without hesitation). Then I made chocolate mousse with silken tofu and we both enjoyed that. But I was scared to try anything like a stir fry which would have me eating it in large chunks, because the mere texture of tofu made me doubtful of it's tastiness, and I also doubted the purported characteristic of it tasting like the other stuff it's cooked with. That is, until I went to Ruby of Siam the other day and had their chicken soup. It was great! The tofu was cut into large dice, like the chicken was, simmering in a clear broth with veggies and 'shrooms, but it did taste like chicken, not gelatinous old bandages like I feared. I would love to duplicate this recipe at home. Does anyone have a recipe that is quick and easy to make in my own kitchen?

Thanks!

I love tofu...if I wanted to throw something together I might make something like this:

Not so much a recipe as some general ideas---

Dunlop's "everyday stock" where she adds pork to chicken stock

If just homemade chicken stock, then you will have your shredded chicken reserved for later addition, or you will have poached chicken pieces to shred and add to the store bought broth...

add thick slices of fresh ginger, rough-chopped scallions, and/or dry shiitakes that have been reconstituted(also add some of the hydrating liquid), rough chopped: these ingredients can simmer in a stock for awhile without becoming bitter, or experiencing off-putting texture change(in the case of the shiitakes)

add your cubed "firm" tofu and reserved chicken in the last twenty minutes of a gentle simmer

add minute amounts of MSG to the broth

be sure to season with a light hand

upon serving, strain out the slices of ginger

fresh chop more scallion

dollop the merest hint of sesame oil into your bowl

also, offer soy sauce as a condiment to season a la minute

A few other possible additions:
* Sliced mushrooms, or whole straw mushrooms (I've seen them fresh at H-Mart)
* For a more Thai flavor, trade out the ginger for galangal, and lemongrass or keffir lime leaves
* Several thai clear soups I've had have a tart component such as diced tomatoes or pineapple
* A little white pepper

JoelF wrote:A few other possible additions:
* Sliced mushrooms, or whole straw mushrooms (I've seen them fresh at H-Mart)
* For a more Thai flavor, trade out the ginger for galangal, and lemongrass or keffir lime leaves
* Several thai clear soups I've had have a tart component such as diced tomatoes or pineapple
* A little white pepper

It didn't even register with me upon first reading that the o.p. liked a soup from Ruby of Siam. Your thoughts are definitely the way to go. I was thinking more "Chinese."

w/o getting into Tom Yum/Tom Kha specifics...I'd probably swap out the soy sauce for fish sauce and include that and palm sugar in the simmering broth

maybe some cilantro as garnish

Christopher Gordon wrote:...and/or dry shiitakes that have been reconstituted(also add some of the hydrating liquid), rough chopped: these ingredients can simmer in a stock for awhile without becoming bitter, or experiencing off-putting texture change(in the case of the shiitakes)

I'm a bit confused: can the shiitakes sit for awile, or is that a bad idea? Also, I'm thinking of getting 64oz of broth for two people to eat for two days. Does that sound like the right amount? How much of the other ingrediets should I get? I'm guessing three chicken breasts, 16oz tofu?

Your amounts of chicken and tofu should be fine. Rehydrated shiitakes(in my experience) can sit for awhile refrigerated...if they are to soak in water longer than a day I would change the soaking water every 24 hours...I recently went this route(unintentionally...things got put off) and my mushrooms retained their integrity three days in with a minor loss of perfume.

You may wish to poach your chicken breasts separately(in water or separate stock with a bouquet garni of ginger, white peppercorn, and shallot): reason being...cooking the chicken in your serving broth will demand skimming the froth that arises and even still may lead to an unnecessarily cloudy soup...

good luck