This was an experimental dish recently and I was quite pleased with the outcome. What I had in my fridge that day were 2 pieces of firm tofu (beancurd), about 200 grammes of lean pork, some oyster mushrooms and other vegetables. This time, rather than cooking another "usual" tofu dish, I decided to make patties out of it, not unlike burgers.

The main ingredients here are tofu and pork whilst the rests adds to the colour and gives its distinctive taste. The end result is a tofu meat patty which is crispy on the outside and yet, juicy and semi-firm on the inside. My daughter liked it very much. It is tasty eaten with rice and also great for tea time snack or parties. I think it will taste even better if it is dipped into some freshly pounded red chilli and garlic with a squeeze of lime. I intend to continue modifying this recipe and will add them in this blog in due course. Nevertheless, I hope you will try this recipe as I loved it!

This is my recipe for Deep Fried Tofu Meat Patties


Ingredients

• 2 pieces firm tofu
• 200 grammes of lean pork mince
• 1/4 piece of carrot (diced as finely as possible)
• An equivalent amount of spring onions (chopped finely)
• An equivalent amount of oyster mushroom or any other type of mushrooms (chopped finely)
• An equivalent amount of dried prawns (chopped / pounded finely)
  
• 1 large egg
• 2 cloves of garlic (chopped finely)
  
• 3 tablespoons of corn flour
• Oil for deep frying

Seasoning

• 2 teaspoons of oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon of worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon of light soya sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon of white pepper powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper powder

Method

In a mixing bowl, combine and mash up the tofu, pork, carrot, spring onions, mushrooms, dried prawns, garlic, corn flour and seasoning and mix well in one circular motion. Set aside for 30 minutes.

Place mixture in a stainless steel bowl or deep plate and steam it for 10 minutes. The mixture, especially the meat, should be at least 70% cooked after steaming. Remove from steam and place bowl over cold water (to cool it rapidly).

When mixture has sufficiently cooled down, break the egg onto mixture and stir it in one circular motion till egg is evenly distributed. Add some corn flour if mixture is runny.

Heat oil in wok for deep frying. To fry, scoop one heaped tablespoon of mixture and using another spoon held on another hand, push / slide the mixture into the oil. Fry till patty becomes golden brown. Place fried patties on absorbent kitchen napkins to absorb excess oil prior to serving.

For more recipes on tofu / beancurd, click on Beancurd below.


Technorati Tags : Recipe , Tofu , Pork , Chinese Food

This is a healthy dish to eat and fairly simple to cook. The ingredients are kept to a minimum for simple cooking and it is delicious eaten with plain white rice or porridge. As I have mentioned before, tofu (beancurd) comes in many textures and for this recipe, I use the firm white tofu which comes in a size of 6cm x 6cm x 2 cm (W x L x H) blocks.

You can whip up this dish in 30 minutes wherein the majority of the time spent is actually towards marinating the minced pork. You can substitute the pork with chicken. I have not tried minced beef or minced lamb though. If you wish to spice up the dish a bit, you can add a little (perhaps 1 teaspoon) of chilli oil when you start frying the minced pork for that added kick.

This is my recipe for Tofu with Minced Pork


Ingredients

• 3 pieces firm tofu (quartered)
• 100 to 150 grammes of minced pork
• 3 cloves garlic (chopped)
  
• Spring onions (cut to 6cm lengths or thereabouts for garnishing)
• 2 tablespoons of cooking oil (palm oil preferred)
• 50 ml water or more
• Cornstarch (mix 1 tablespoon corn flour with 4 tablespoons water)

Marinade for minced pork

• 2 teaspoons light soya sauce
• a couple of dashes of white pepper powder
• 1 teaspoon of corn flour

Seasoning

• 1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon dark soya sauce
• salt to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon of white pepper powder

Method

Marinade minced pork for about 30 minutes.

Heat oil in wok and stir-fry garlic till beginning to brown. Add minced pork and stir-fry till cooked. Add tofu, water and seasoning and lightly stir to mix well. Close lid and let it cook for another 2 minutes (add more water if gravy drying out).

Before serving, and sprinkle spring onions evenly and add cornstarch bit by bit if gravy too runny for your liking.

For other tofu dishes, click on the label "Beancurd" below.


Technorati Tags : Recipe , Chinese Food , Tofu , Beancurd

I like eating beancurd / tofu very much and this is one of the dishes I usually choose when I have economy rice at the food stalls. Tofu comes in many forms - firm, soft, with egg, etc. Japanese tofu is usually very smooth in texture and rather soft to the touch. One of the most common Japanese tofu available is the ones sold in tubes.


These tofus usually has eggs as one of the ingredients and it is slightly salty to taste rather than neutral. Bearing in mind that it is already "tasty" on its own, the gravy should not be overpowering in taste. Otherwise, you would have missed out on the tofu's original taste.


In this recipe, I have cooked a gravy based on finely cut mushrooms (dried chinese mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms to be exact) and wood-ear fungus. I also throw in some julienned carrots for a contrast in colour as well as to provide natural sweetness to the gravy. The crunchiness of the wood-ear fungus and the smooth smoky taste of the mushrooms provide an interesting biting experience. I ran out of spring onions when I was cooking this dish but you may wish to throw in some for added colour as well.

This is my recipe for Japanese Tofu with Braised Mushrooms and Wood-Ear Fungus


Ingredients

• 2 tubes of Japanese Tofu (slice across the tube in the middle using a very sharp knife, gently push the tofu out onto a plate. Cut the tofu into 1.5 - 2 cm thickness)
• 2 - 3 pieces wood-ear fungus (pre-soak in water to soften it and thereafter, cut into thin strips)
• 4 - 5 pieces dried chinese mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms (pre-soaked and thereafter cut into thin strips)
• 50 grammes of carrot (julienned)
• 50 - 100 grammes minced meat (pork or chicken) - optional
  
• 3 cloves garlic (chopped)
• Oil for deep frying
• 1 cup water / stock
  
• Corn starch (prepared using 2 tablespoons corn flour mixed with 4 tablespoons water)

Marinade (for minced meat)

• 2 teaspoons light soya sauce
• a couple of dashes of white pepper powder
• 1 teaspoon of corn flour

Seasoning

• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• Salt to taste
• 2 teaspoons chinese cooking wine

Method

Marinade the minced meat for 30 minutes.

Deep fry the tofu on high heat till golden brown. (Tip: Place cut tofu on plate and dust / sprinkle 3 teaspoons of corn flour to lightly coat the tofu before frying. The tofu will turn out crispy on outside). Remove and line on plate.

Use 1 1/2 tablespoons of the oil previously used for deep-frying and heat it up in a wok. Fry the garlic with minced meat till minced meat is cooked. If no minced meat is used, fry the garlic with wood-ear fungus and mushrooms on medium heat till garlic browns. Add carrots and stir-well. Add oyster sauce, water and close lid to bring to boil. Once boiled, reduce to medium low heat to simmer for 5 minutes and add salt to taste. (The longer your simmer, the better tasting the gravy will be). Add cornstarch gradually to thicken gravy to your desire.

Pour gravy over the pre-fried tofu and serve hot with rice.


Technorati Tags : Tofu , Beancurd , Recipe , Chinese Food , Mushroom

Further to my last post on Long Beans Rice, I did mention there that it tastes great with soup. I am referring to Kiam Chye Tau Foo Soup which is basically Salted Mustard Leaves and Beancurd Soup in Hokkien dialect. Somehow or rather, the salty, sour and sweet nature of this soup complements the Long Beans Rice well.

Remember the water used to boil the belly pork in the Long Beans Rice recipe? The stock is used for this soup and in fact, you can retain a couple of slices of the pork to enhance the flavour of this soup. Nothing goes to waste! See the Long Beans Rice recipe for the preparation of the stock.

This is my recipe for Kiam Chye Tau Foo Soup.

I like beancurd (aka. Tofu). It is so versatile and many recipes can be created out of it. You can fry it, steam it, boil it, mash it with ingredients etc. And the best thing is, it is relatively cheap and highly nutritious.

There are many types of tofu. Some are hard in texture and some soft. I have a prior recipe here for Simple Tofu with Dried Prawns. In this recipe, however, I use the soft type of tofu which is measures approximately 6cm x 6cm x 2cm (W x D x H) and more ingredients are used.

This is my recipe for Beancurd with Minced Pork. Though it suggests minced pork, I have added other ingredients to give it some colour. Feel free to experiment!


Ingredients

• 3 pieces soft beancurd. Alternatively, you can use Japanese Beancurd.
• 100 grammes minced pork (season with 1 tsp soya sauce and a dash of white pepper)
  
• Carrot (cut to strips. Amount up to your liking)
• Chinese dried mushroom (pre-soaked and cut to strips) or other button mushrooms. In fact, any type of mushroom will do or you can omit it altogether.
• Spring onions (cut to 2 inch lengths)
• 2 bulbs garlic (chopped)
• 2 bulbs shallots (sliced thinly)
• 2 tablespoons of cooking oil (preferably palm oil)
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup corn starch (add 1/2 cup water to 3 teaspoons of corn flour)

Seasoning

• 1 - 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• White pepper powder (to taste)
• 1 teaspoon light soya sauce
• 1 tablespoon chinese cooking wine

Method

Fry shallots in cooking oil till brown. Remove shallots. Heat up the remaining oil and fry the garlic till beginning to brown. Add minced meat and stir fry for about 30 seconds.

Add carrots and mushrooms and continue stir frying for a minute. Add seasoning (minus the chinese cooking wine). Add water till it completely covers the ingredients and let it boil.

Once the water boils, place beancurd gently on top of the sauce / meat and cover the lid (in a way, you are steaming the beancurd whilst cooking the rest of the ingredients / gravy) for 2 to 3 minutes. Ensure that the gravy does not dry out.

Open lid, remove beancurd gently and place on a plate. Add chinese cooking wine to the meat sauce and stir to mix well. Add corn flour to the meat sauce to to thicken sauce to your liking. Add spring onions, give it a good stir and pour the meat sauce over the beancurd. Sprinkle fried shallots over the dish.

Serve hot with rice.


Technorati Tags Beancurd , Dinner , Lunch

Tofu is also known as beancurd and comes in many varieties. It can be sold uncooked or even deep-fried. I always have a fondness for tofu and this is one of the simplest recipes for tofu which I would like to share with you. (I will take a photo the next time I cook this dish so that I can share with you how it looks like)

Ingredients

• Soft white tofu (approximately 5 inches long, 3 inches wide and 3 inches height) or alternatively, 1 tube japanese tofu
  
• 4 shallots (sliced thinly)
• 50 gms of dried prawns (pre-soaked 10 minutes before cooking and minced)
• 3 tablespoons cooking oil
• Water to boil
  

Sauce

• 1 1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce

Garnish

• Chopped spring onions (amount up to you)
• Chopped red chillis (optional)

Method

Toast minced dried prawns on a frying pan at medium heat (no need to put oil) till brown and fragrant. Remove and place aside.

Fry shallots with cooking oil till golden brown, remove from oil and allow to dry. Keep oil aside.

Boil sufficient water in a pot and gently place tofu into the boiling water (ensuring that tofu is covered by the water). Boil the tofu for 1 minute. Remove tofu gently and place on plate. Drain excess water.

Drizzle oyster sauce and approximately 1 1/2 teaspoons of the oil over the tofu. Sprinkle fried dried prawns and fried shallots over the tofu together with chopped spring onions / red chilli.

Serve with rice.

Truly simple, isn't it?