Yesterday, on Easter Sunday of 2010, my best friend got baptized.

And yesterday, half the world across, I rejoiced with her for her baptism: the celebration of entering the Kingdom of God.

Her name is Jing Wen, and we’ve been best friend ever since I met her in primary school in Singapore. I can’t tell you how overjoyed I am that she has been baptized, especially because it wasn’t easy leading her to the Lord. But as always, God has been faithful. As always, He proved to me how intricately, beautifully, and miraculously He will seek out those whom He loves.

A while ago, Jing Wen wrote a special post on her blog dedicated to me. As I read it, tears filled my eyes. I was touched not just by her gratefulness and appreciation for me, but also because I was absolutely humbled and awed by God’s grace. I knew, deep in my heart, that it was not my doing that led her to Christ. I was merely a messenger God used to convey His love for her.

But God’s work is so incredibly amazing and beautiful. He somehow used both of us to benefit one another. Jing Wen restored my ability to laugh and enjoy simple things in life like friendship. This played a big role in my recovery, because simply being in a better mood improved my motivation to recover. Meanwhile, I harnessed the power of my entire church to pray for her. Every week, I would ask my church to keep her in their prayers. And though they have never met her, they prayed for her fervently.
And ultimately, God answered our prayers. Jing Wen not only restored fellowship in church, but she started to actually enjoy it. She fell in love with the brothers and sisters in church, and has found a great source of support and comfort in them. Whenever she’s dealing with an issue, she knows who to turn to.
The more I think about it, the more overwhelmed I am by the power and grace of God. I am utterly grateful to Him, and shaken to tears by the way He ties and weaves these relationships together so that we affect each other in such poignant ways. Our God is truly wonderful!

But it’s time to adjust my taste buds so that I can still at least tolerate them. So I made the following dish with that in mind, by incorporating both tofu and rice.

Lime-Dill Tofu Steaks with Strawberry-Dill Salsa

Lime-Dill Tofu Steaks:

• 1/2 block tofu
• 1/3 cup Kikkoman ponzu soy sauce (or equal parts soy sauce and rice vinegar)
• 1 bunch fresh dill, chopped
• juice of 1 small lime, fresh-squeezed
• 1 tablespoon honey

Strawberry-Dill Salsa:

• 1/2 cup chopped strawberries
• 1/4 red onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 bunch fresh dill, chopped
• juice of 1 small lime, fresh-squeezed
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1-2 teaspoon  balsamic vinegar

Others:

• 1 clove garlic, mined
• 1/3 cup button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup cooked rice
• handful feta cheese, crumbled

For the tofu, slice it into one inch thick slabs, and press the liquid out of it with clean towels. Next combine all ingredients except the tofu in a bowl and whisk. Add the tofu slabs in, marinate for about half an hour.
For the salsa, just mix everything together in a bowl and toss to coat. Set aside.
Then in a skillet, cook the garlic and mushrooms. Pour in the marinade from the tofu, and let the mushrooms absorb the flavors. Next, add the tofu and cook on both sides until done:

Arrange the tofu and mushrooms on top of cooked rice. Top with strawberry salsa, and sprinkle with feta cheese.
Now, why can’t all Korean food be as pretty? I’m a Korean so I can say this—Korean food aren’t exactly known for its exquisite and artistic presentation. It’s known more for it’s ability to satisfy and warm you up with its red spicy paste and hot steaming stews. If you get a bird’s eye view of a Korean dining table, you’ll notice that 80% of the food is red, with splotches of white for the rice.
 

This dish may also have a lot of redness, but it’s a fresh, popping kind of redness from the in-season strawberries. So pretty!
So I’m a total snob. I eat with my eyes first. But the taste was pretty good, too. I have to admit, I’m still not the biggest fan of rice and tofu…but this was very much edible. Rather tasty, in fact.
I loved the burst of lime in every mouthful, which balanced so well with the sweetness of the strawberries. The fresh seasonal dill also infused the dish with its distinctive fragrance.
Such an aromatic dish!
I’ll say one fact about tofu is that it is absolutely flavorless. That’s why you need to marinate the heck out of it, and this lime-dill marinade was awesome.
The rice was still blah. Well, rice will be..rice. Maybe I should have stir-fried it, but I didn’t want to overwhelm the dish with too many flavors. I guess I just really do not like rice. But if someone places it before me, I guess I will eat it.
Oh well, I still really enjoyed it! I’m a sucker for beautiful food and sweet and savory combinations.

Related posts:

1. Pissed Off Wednesday
2. Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: Korean Fusion Street Food BYOB
3. The Nomad Gourmand Comes to Singapore
4. The Yank from Eating Disorder to Recovery
5. High School Reunion

Tagged as: cheese, feta cheese, herbs, mushrooms, onion, rice, salsa, soy sauce, strawberries, tofu, vegetarian