Kizuna Family Recipe Series - Recipe 1

We bring you Kizuna's Family Recipe Series, a series that features recipes collected from our Kizuna community members! Stay tuned for more recipes throughout the weeks...

Food is important to our community. Whether it holds symbolic and ritual meaning, stories and histories, values, or connections, food is more than just the sum of the ingredients. 

Often, the Japanese American community and the Little Tokyo community are characterized by our food. But it can sometimes be a decontextualized food, and a food that isn’t always reflective of our community experiences. 

Often, the Japanese American community and the Little Tokyo community are characterized by our food. But it can sometimes be a decontextualized food, and a food that isn’t always reflective of our community experiences.

Core to many of our community’s food experiences is the concept of family. We share recipes from members of the Kizuna community, ranging from staff and board members to counselors and participants to mentors and leaders. Each recipe is accompanied by a description from the contributor about why the dish is important to them, their family, and/or their community. 

We hope that you see some familiar recipes, but also some new ones. Take a moment to read their stories, and maybe take another moment to try them out in the kitchen for yourself. Maybe one day you’ll find yourself passing on one of these dishes to one of your own family members. 

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TOFU SALAD RECIPE

Recipe Submitted by Craig Ishii* 

*Original recipe from the Orange County Buddhist Church cookbook Generation to Generation, A Family Cookbook 

“I chose to include this recipe because it’s something that my mother and other Dharma School teachers at OCBC make during every church festival as part of the “workers lunch.” It has a lot of memories for me in both the preparation and also just watching people eat, enjoy, and work hard for the church.” - Craig

INGREDIENTS

Salad:
- 2 blocks (16 oz) tofu
- 3 lettuce leaves, shredded
- ½ cucumber, sliced
- ½ package (4 oz) alfalfa sprouts
- 6 mushrooms
- 1 can (7 oz) water packed tuna, drained (optional)
- 1 medium tomato, diced
- 1 stalk green onion, finely chopped 

Salad dressing:
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup salad oil
- ¼ sesame oil 

DIRECTIONS:

Assembling the Salad: This salad is made in layers. Slice tofu into thirds; drain on paper towels. Cut tofu into cubes. Place tofu in a serving dish large enough to hold tofu in a single layer. Layer the remaining ingredients in the order listed.

Salad Dressing: Combine ingredients; mix well. Pour over layered salad just before serving.

Illustrations by Sophie Wang