Steamed Tofu on Egg with Fish or Shrimp

On most days I have tofu, eggs, fish and prawns in my refrigerator. I just have to get creative and make delicious dishes out of them. One of such dishes is steamed tofu on egg with slices of fish or shrimps on it. I was able to savour three different tastes in one bite - taste of the egg, tofu and fish/prawn. I had added fried garlic on the fish version. For the prawn version, the coriander made the dish very aromatic. Besides fried garlic, we can sprinkle green onions, fried shallots, parsley or coriander on top of the dishes.

Ingredients:

• 2 tube of egg tofu or plain tofu
• Fish slices or shrimps, the number depending on the number of tofu cylinders.
• For marinating fish slices or prawns:
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 egg and 1.5 times of water
• For seasoning the egg:
• 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tbsp sesame oil for greasing the plate for steaming
• Topping
• fried onions, or 
• chopped parsley, or
• chopped coriander, or
• chopped green onions or
• fried shallots, or
• bird's eye chili

Instructions:

• Fillet the fish (snapper, grouper or threadfin) and slice it thinly or peel and de-vein the shrimps. (I left the tail on the shrimps.)

• Marinate the fish or shrimps with soy sauce, salt, pepper and sesame oil for at least 30 minutes.

• Beat egg into a bowl. Add water and seasonings. Sieve.

• Grease a steaming plate with sesame oil.

• Arrange the tofu cylinders on the plate.

• Slowly pour the egg onto the plate of tofu.

• Arrange the fish slices or shrimps on top of the tofu.

• Boil water in the steamer.

• Once the water has boiled, transfer the plate to the steamer.

• Steam the tofu with fish slices/shrimps over low heat (we want a silky egg layer).

• Remove the plate from the steamer once the fish/shrimps and egg are cooked. (Should not take more than 5 minutes. Otherwise the fish/shrimps will be overcooked.)

• Sprinkle the following on top:
• fried onions, or 
• chopped parsley, or
• chopped coriander, or
• chopped green onions or
• fried shallots, or
• bird's eye chili.

• Drizzle some soy sauce on top if the dish is not salty enough.

• Serve with rice.

Tofu Omelette

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As we know an omelette is a dish made from eggs. The fillings that can be included are up to our imagination - chives, potato long beans, spinach, onion, prawns, etc. One day I ran out of idea of what to cook and finding a piece of tofu in my refrigerator I decided to try making tofu omelette. It turned out to be so delicious that I have cooked it a couple of times, the first time with just chilli padi and the second with coriander and chilli padi. I will try to add other fillings later.

Ingredients:

• 1 piece of tofu
• 1 egg
• 1 piece chilli padi
• 1 small sprig coriander or green onion (only green part)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 3 tbsp cooking oil

Instruction:

• Half the tofu horizontally and slice the tofu into 4 mm thickness or just slice the tofu into 4 mm thickness. Set aside.

• Cut the chilli padi into small pieces and roughly mince them.

• Cut the coriander and mince it. (Or, cut the green onion into small pieces.)

• Crack the egg into a bowl and beat it with the salt, soy sauce and pepper.

• Add the chilli padi and coriander (or green onion).

• Add the tofu to the bowl of egg and coat all pieces with the beaten egg.

• Heat up a frying pan with cooking oil.

• Use a spoon to scoop the tofu, piece by piece, into the pan. Arrange the tofu anyhow you like.

• When the bottom is cooked, turn over the omelette and cook the other side.

• Once the omelette is done, slide it from the pan to a serving plate.

• You may decorate it with some coriander or green onion on top of the omelette.

Poon Choi

Step 1 - Blanch the Napa cabbage

    

Step 2 - Blanch the Shiitake mushroom

Step 3 - Blanch the prawns

Step 4 - Blanch the carrots

   

Step 5 - Blanch the Enoki mushrooms and scallops

Step 6 - Cut and place the tofu and blanch the abalone and broccoli

Poon Choi is a traditional Hakka festival meal which consists of many ingredients layered in an interesting manner in a big pot, preferably a claypot.  It is usually prepared and served during Chinese New Year as the meal signifies abundance and prosperity. However, nowadays it is prepared and eaten at any time of the year. Ingredients to prepare Poon Choi differ from family to family. But the first layer of Poon Choi is usually the Napa cabbage. The other ingredients include prawns, fish slices, scallops, squids, abalone, sea cucumber, tofu, various types of mushroom and tofu. Carrots and broccoli add colour to make it more attractive. The quantity of the various ingredients below may be varied according to one's preference.

Ingredients:

• 8 leaves of Napa cabbage, cut into 3-inch length
• 5 big prawns (White prawns are preferable. However, I used tiger prawns at this particular time.)
• 5 pieces of big fresh scallops
• 5 pieces of abalone (braised ones as the sauce will be used in the soup of the Poon Choi). I have used those brined ones as I have ran out of the braised ones. However, I have kept the braised sauce from earlier cans that I have opened.
• 5 pieces of Shiitake mushroom (soaked overnight)
• 1 packet of Enoki mushroom
• 2 tubes of soft tofu (egg or plain)
• 5 slices of carrots
• 3 broccoli florets
• 4 pieces of shallots, sliced.

Method:

• Boil 2 litres of water in a pan.

• First, blanch the Napa cabbage. Layer them onto the base of the claypot once they have softened.

• Boil the Shiitake mushrooms till they are soft. Arrange them to the side of the claypot.

• Next, boil the prawns for about 8 minutes. Boiling them any longer would render them hard. Arrange them to another side of the claypot.

• Boil the carrots till they are soft. Arrange them in the centre on top of the Napa cabbage.

• Next, blanch the Enoki mushroom. Arrange them to another side of the claypot.

• Next, blanch the scallops and then arrange them to the side of the claypot.

• Cut and steam the soft tofu. Arrange them in the claypot.

• Blanch the broccoli and place them on top.

• Next, preparing the soup:

• Fry the shallots till they are fragrant.
• Remove the crispy shallots leaving the oil behind.
• Pour the water used to blanch or boil the ingredients to the oil.
• Add the sauce of the braised abalone.
• Let the soup boil.
• Season it with salt (if the soup is not salty enough) and pepper.

• Leave the soup in the pan till the Poon Choi is ready to be consumed. Re-heat when necessary and pour it into the claypot.

• The Poon Choi is ready to be served.

Claypot Tofu with Tomatoes and Mushrooms

Sequence of Cooking:

I have seen this dish being cooked on Instagram and Facebook. Looking at the ingredients, I was sure that the dish would be appreciated by my husband and children. True enough, all of them love it. It is also suitable for vegetarians.

Although no measurement is given, the dish looks easy enough to cook. Since then I had cooked this dish a few times to try out with different quantities of the various ingredients. The recipe below is the result of these trials.

Ingredients:

• 400 g tomatoes, cubed
• 1 packet enoki mushroom (2 would have been better), remove ends
• 4 pcs of large brown button mushroom, sliced
• 1 box of tofu, cut into pcs
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup of water
• 1 tbsp black vinegar
• 1/2 tsp pepper powder
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• Cornflour slurry (2 tbsp cornflour + 4 tbsp water)
• Garnishing - green onion

Method:

• Add cooking oil to claypot. Let it heat up.

• Add tomatoes to the claypot. Fry.

• Add salt.

• Add water. Let boil.

• Add enoki mushroom to 1 side and button mushroom to the other. Add tofu either on top of the mushrooms or to one side next to the mushrooms.

• Beat egg and add it to the claypot.

• Add pepper, black vinegar and sesame oil. (Dont hv to stir.)

• Thicken the sauce with corn flour slurry and garnish the tofu with tomatoes and mushrooms with green onion.

• Serve hot with white rice.

Braised Beancurd Stick and Napa Cabbage

If you have made your own soya bean milk before, you would have noticed a layer of skin forming on top of the surface when you are boiling it.  This is how fresh beancurd sheets are made. These sheets are rolled or folded into long tubes and dried to form dried beancurd sticks. They are also known as dried bean milk skin rolls, dried tofu skin rolls, Yuba, fu Zhu or tofu bamboo. They need to be rehydrated before you are able to use them. They can be braised, stewed, cooked in soups or stir-fried. Mildly flavoured, they absorb the flavours of whatever ingredients they are cooked in. They are delicious as one of the ingredients of vegetarian dishes.

Here, I have braised the beancurd stick with dried Shiitake mushroom and Napa cabbage.

Ingredients:

• 50 g dried beancurd sticks
• 150 g Napa cabbage
• 3 pcs Shiitake mushrooms
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper powder
• 500 ml water
• 1 small stalk of green onion, cut into 1 cm length
• 1 pc bird's eye chilli, cut into small pieces

Method:

• Rehydrate the beancurd sticks with hot water. For the beancurd sticks to be very soft, I prefer to rehydrate it overnight. When they have softened cut them into 4-inch length.

• Cut the Napa into 1-inch length.

• Soak the Shiitake mushrooms till they are soft. Slice them thinly.

• Heat the work with cooking oil.

• When the oil is hot, add the mushroom to the wok and fry till they are aromatic. Then add the chopped garlic and fry till it is fragrant.

• Add the beancurd stick and Napa cabbage to the wok. Stir-fry them for a few minutes.

• Add water to the wok.

• Cover the wok and let the ingredients simmer for about half an hour or till the beancurd sticks and Napa cabbage are very soft and the sauce is greatly reduced.

• Season with salt and pepper.

• Dish them up and decorate the dish with green onion and bird's eyes chilli.

• Serve hot with rice.

Minced Pork over Steamed Egg and Tofu

 

We have steamed egg and steamed tofu. We also have braised minced pork. Why not combine them together to create a new dish. I am sure your family members will love this dish; mine do. The steps are simple and the whole process does not take long. The ingredients are easily available.

Ingredients:

For steamed egg:

• 2 eggs
• water, equivalent to the same amount of the eggs
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp pepper, or more
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1/2 piece of tofu (can use 1 piece if you love tofu)

For the minced meat

• 150 g minced pork
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp cooking oil
• 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce, or more for a darker braise 
• 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 3/4 cup water

Method:

• Prepare a steamer of boiling water.

• Crack 2 eggs into a bowl.

• Add the equivalent amount of water to the eggs.

• Add salt, light soy sauce, pepper and sesame oil.

• Beat the eggs till all the ingredients are incorporated.

• Cube the tofu and add them into the eggs.

• Steam the eggs for 15 minutes or till they are cooked.

• Add oil to a pot.

• Add chopped the garlic to the pot and saute them till they are fragrant.

• Add the minced pork and fry them.

• Add dark and light soy sauces, salt and pepper.

• Add water.

• Braise the pork till they are cooked and the sauce has been reduced by a fair bit.

• Remove the steamed egg from the steamer.

• Scoop the braised minced meat on top of the steamed egg.

• Serve.

Spicy Tofu

 Tofu is a common source of plant-based protein. Thus, it is commonly found in vegetarian dishes. There are different varieties of tofu according to its softness and texture. The softest ones are usually steamed and drizzled with garlic oil, green onions and light soy sauce to form a dish. Or, they are cut into cubes to be cooked in soup. The harder ones are usually cut or sliced and stir fried with vegetables. They can also be deep fried and cooked into a dish on its own like what I have done.

Ingredients:

• 2 pieces of semi-hard tofu
• 1 onion, slice into rings
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp chili paste
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1-1 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Cooking oil for deep frying
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted

Method:

• Slice the 2 pieces of tofu into 2 horizontally. Then cut them into triangles.

• Heat up a kuali with cooking oil.

• Deep fry the triangles till they are golden brown.

• Drain and remove them from the kuali into a bowl and set it aside.

• Remove the cooking oil from the kuali leaving about 1 tbsp of oil behind.

• Add onion rings to the kuali. Fry them till they are transparent. Remove and set them aside them.

• Add garlic to the kuali. Fry them till they are fragrant.

• Add chili paste and continue frying till the chili is fragrant.

• Add water to the kuali. Then add the seasonings - light and dark soy sauce and salt.

• Let the sauces boil. Once the sauces start to boil, return the deep fried tofu to the kuali.

• Braise the tofu till they are softer and the sauces have reduced.

• Return the onion to the kuali and fry them till they are mixed with the tofu.

• Dish up.

• Sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds on the tofu.

• Serve.

A Simple Stir Fry of Mustard Green, Long Cabbage and Carrots

 

Cooking for our family need not be a tedious affair. We can simply stir fry vegetables with either garlic alone, chicken, pork, beef, seafood or bean curd and turn them delicious dishes. I like to fry sawi with just garlic and Chinese cooking wine. For kailan, I stir fry it with prawns, squids and pork slices. I stir fry chives with cubed taukwa, long beans with preserved radish, broccoli and caulifower with prawns and Shiitake mushrooms. The list goes on.

Yesterday I stir fried green mustard, long cabbage and carrots with Shiitake mushrooms, egg tofu and pork slices and it turned out to be a colourful and yummy dish.

Ingredients:

• 1 long cabbage leaf, washed and cut.
• 1 small mustard green leaf, washed and cut.
• 2-inch carrot, sliced thinly.
• 1 Shiitake mushroom, soaked overnight & sliced
• 50 g pork slices
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 inch ginger, sliced
• 1 cylindrical egg tofu
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• Cooking oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1/8 cup water
• Corn flour/tapioca flour/potato flour for coating

Method:

• Heat up a wok with cooking oil. Cut tofu into 1-cm slice. Coat the slices with one of the flours. Fry them till golden brown. Remove them and set aside.\

• Remove cooking oil from wok and add sesame oil.

• Add ginger slices. Fry till fragrant.

• Add chopped garlic. Fry till fragrant.

• Add Shiitake mushrooms and sliced pork. Fry till the mushrooms are fragrant and the pork slices are almost cooked.

• Add carrots, long cabbage and mustard green and fry till they are cooked.

• Add water to the vegetables if they are too dry.

• Add fried egg tofu.

• Add seasonings of salt and light soy sauce.

• Add some water to the remaining flour that was used to coat the egg tofu. Add it to the wok to thicken the sauce. Once the sauce boiled, the dish is done.

• Dish up to serve.

Egg Tofu with Mixed Vegetables

      

I always have egg tofu and mixed vegetables in my fridge, the egg tofu is usually for steaming with pork or braising with fish and the mixed vegetables for frying rice. Having these ingredients ready, it was easy to dish up Egg Tofu with Mixed Vegetable, a delicious dish for either lunch or dinner. 

Ingredient:

• 2 tubes of egg tofu
• 150 g mixed vegetables
• 6-8 pcs of prawns, shelled and de-veined
• 1 egg
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3 tbsp corn flour / tapioca flour / potato flour
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp white pepper powder
• Cooking oil

Method:

• Heat wok with cooking oil.

• Cut egg tofu into 1-cm height.

• Coat with flour and gently put them into wok.

• Fry them till both sides are golden brown. Ladle up and set aside.

• Remove oil from the wok leaving about 2 tablespoons.

• Add garlic to the wok and fry them till they are fragrant.

• Add prawns and mixed vegetables to the wok and fry them till the prawns are cooked and the mixed vegetables are softer.

• Add water to the wok and let it boil.

• Beat the egg and drop it into the wok stirring the water in a circular movement.

• Add fried egg tofu to the wok.

• Add light soy sauce, salt and pepper to the wok.

• Let the sauce simmer for about 10 minutes.

• If the sauce is too watery, add some water to the remainder of the flour which was used for coating the egg tofu earlier, stir it and pour it into the wok, gently stirring the ingredients.

• Dish up and serve.

Stir-fried Beansprouts

    

       

Bean sprouts are a vegetable grown by sprouting mung beans. Firstly, the beans are washed. Then they are placed in a container with holes (for water to drip through) which has been lined with a cheese cloth. The container is then placed in a dark place. An important step in sprouting the beans is to water them daily till the roots grow out.

Bean sprouts is a popular vegetable in our region. They can be stir-fried to be served with rice, deep-fried into fritters, added to fried noodles (white flat noodles, bihun or yellow mee) or added noodle soup. They can also be used in salads. In stir-frying, bean sprouts are usually fried with tau kwa and tofu puffs. In some cases, chives are added to them. The dish is then sprinkled with bits of deep-fried salted fish. Bean sprouts are usually served with chicken rice. In this case, the bean sprouts are blanched and drizzled with fried shallot oil and sprinkled with fried shallots and green onion. I usually like to stir-fry bean sprouts with deep fried tau kwa, tofu puffs, Shiitake mushrooms and tri-colour peppers. These ingredients add sweetness and colour to the dish.

Whichever way they are used in, bean sprouts, according to WebMD, are an excellent source of antioxidants which protect against cell damage and may reduce the risks of cancer and heart disease.

Ingredients:

• 350 g bean sprouts
• 2 pieces of tau kwa, sliced and deep fried
• 1 piece of Shiitake mushroom, soaked and sliced thinly
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 4 pieces of tofu puffs, soaked and sliced
• 1/3 red capsicum, sliced lengthwise
• 1/3 green capsicum, sliced lengthwise
• 1/3 yellow capsicum, sliced lengthwise
• 5 tbsp cooking oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce

Method:

• Heat up kuali with cooking oil.

• Fry the sliced tau kwa till they are golden brown.

• Dish up the tau kwa and set them aside.

• Add Shiitake mushroom slices to the kuali.

• Fry till the mushrooms are fragrant.

• Add chopped garlic to the kuali and continue to fry till they are fragrant.

• Add bean sprouts and tofu puffs to the kuali.

• Fry till the bean sprouts are half cooked and the tofu puffs are soft. (Add some water if necessary.)

• Add the capsicum.

• Fry till the bean sprouts are cooked while the capsicum are half-cooked and are still crunchy.

• Return the tau kwa to the kuali.

• Add salt and soy sauce to the kuali.

• Give the ingredients a quick stir.

• Dish them onto a serving plate.