Dried Tomatoes
What They Are
Dried tomatoes are just what they sound like: Tomatoes that have been dried just like one might dry apricots, figs, or strips of meat. They're sometimes "sun-dried".
How to Eat Them
As is. Rehydrated in water or stock. Marinated in red wine or any of a million types of vinegar. Or juice.
Whole. Julienned. Minced. Roughly chopped. On pizza. Tossed with lime juice, coarsely chopped avocado and red onion. On an antipasti platter.
Tomatoes—like cucumbers, peppers, okra, etc.—are fruits, and many are among the sweeter of the "fruits" we eat as vegetables. The right handling or the right varietal might just be amazingly good in a trail mix or pineapple salad or apple-cranberry bake or …
Tomatoes aren't usually considered "Asian" food, but the right dried tomato could be tasty where cherries are usually called for. Or tamarind. Or plum. Or some of the milder little dried fish …
Where To Find Them
They're available in plastic bags (e.g., Melissa's®), oil-packed, and sometimes on the supermarket olive bars among the selection of diverse olives and other oddments.
Or you can make your own: Cut them in half. Place face up on a rack on a pan. Salt. Bake in a low oven—250°F or so—for a couple of hours until they're as dry as you want them.
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