Tauhu Goreng - Deep Fried Tofu With Peanut Sauce

If  I ever have to pick a favourite food, I would choose Tofu (bean curd) without even the slightest momentary hesitation. My colleagues have all come to know that whenever we choose to eat at an Asian restaurant during our travels, I have to have a Tofu dish. It is fortunate that Tofu is a common and popular ingredient in most Chinese, Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian, Japanese and Korean restaurants. It is even more fortunate that so far, none of my travel companions, are averse to Tofu dishes in Asia. Tofu has to be the most neutral and comforting ingredient one can work with. On its own, its taste is so neutral that it is impossible for it to offend any palate.

However, I do realise that the nutritious protein component has acquired a somewhat irksome reputation in the west as a tasteless, uninteresting health freak food. Here in Asia, we use Tofu in more interesting and creative ways. There are countless recipes out there that feature the humble ingredient. Off the top of my head, I can already recall posting at least 4 or 5 Tofu dishes in this space.


The recipe I feature today is a popular tofu snack in SE Asia.  This can be served as an appetizer or a tofu salad dish. For myself, a larger Tofu square would be enough to be my meal. The slightly spicy peanut sauce is the integral element that lends an exotic appeal to this otherwise plain and simple dish.

Totally easy to prepare and great to be served at parties. I used the recipe featured in Shermay Lee's The New Mrs Lee's Cookbook Vol. 2. The instructions are simple and easy to follow but the peanut sauce turns out a tad too thick. I could possibly thin it down a little more with water and add a dash of lime juice to it the next time I prepare this again.



Recipe :

Bean Sprouts          100g
Cucumber               1
Firm Tofu                400g (2 pieces) (If you purchase this from an Asian grocery store, look for Taukua)
Oil for deep frying

Peanut Sauce
Garlic                     4 cloves
Red Chilli               2
Palm Sugar             2 tbsp (can be replaced with brown sugar)
Salt                        1/4 tsp
Rice Vinegar          1 tbsp (those used for sushi is fine)
Dark soya sauce     2 tbsp (try to use the darker version. This is different from the light soya sauce commonly
                              used for flavouring)
Water                     8 tbsp (I would suggest to add more water to adjust the flow of the sauce)
Roasted ground peanut 160g

Method:

1. Blanch bean sprouts in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and keep aside.
2. Wash cucumber and slice it.
3. Place garlic and chilli in a food processer and grind it to a paste.
4. Place (3) in a saucepan with the rest of the peanut sauce ingredient. Heat up and cook until sugar dissolves completely. (if you like your sauce to be smoother and less chunky, you can process the cooled down sauce in the food processor again)
5. Heat up,in a wok, enough oil to at least half immerse the tofu. The oil needs to be very hot. Normally, we insert the tip of a wooden chopstick to check for small bubbles before we put in the tofu.
(before deep frying, sandwich the tofu between 4 pieces of kitchen towel and lay a heavy tray on the the tofu. This will dry out the excess moisture in the tofu and prevent too much splattering when you deep fry it)
6. Deep fry tofu until golden brown. Be patient and do not try to turn the tofu before it has formed a crust - otherwise the tofu will crumble.
7. Lay a plate with sliced cucumber. Lay fried tofu on top (pre-cut) , top with bean sprouts and peanut sauce.

Crab Roe Tofu 蟹粉豆腐, Shanghai Charms and a $60 CSN Giveaway

If you haven't noticed, China is getting rich. Even though more than 90% of the chinese population is still struggling to make ends meet, there is a very significant number of Chinese who are so cash rich that they can afford to swarm the Louis Vuitton boutique in Singapore and clear out the shelves in one single shopping spree. China is where one would find the newest and most avant garde architectures and ID today. Hotels and restaurants in Shanghai and Beijing are trying to outdo each other with visually breathtaking interior designs.(though quality is of secondary priority now, appearance is King.) I have always liked Chinese/Asian elements and seek to incorporate these into my living space. Though, with the generally small space we have here, one needs to be careful not to weigh down the interior with over-the-top designs. 6 years ago, when I moved into my apt, I had fun tearing down the whole apartment and building everything according to my very own 'vision'. My inspirations were basically gathered from the hotels and restaurants I have been to during my business travels. During my recent business trip to Shanghai, I did not have good food but found consolation in being stuck in a very nice hotel for the whole week. The bathroom at the Sofitel Shanghai delighted me immensely. I loved the way they had incorporated the Chinese elements into the bathroom.





I loved the simple lines of the Chinese Screen doors that separated the bathroom from the bedroom and thought the use of a traditional Chinese Chest as storage under the sink was quite brilliant. Yes, I would definitely file these away for future reference and I am bookmarking these beautiful bathroom sinks which I found on CSN's Just Vainities on-line bathroom store for the perfect finishing touch to the Asian theme bathroom!



Shanghainese food is not one of my favourite Chinese cuisine but there are a couple of dishes that I do look forward to having. Among them are the famous Xiaolong Bao(小笼包),Braised Lion Head Meat Ball(红烧狮子头) and Crab Roe Tofu (蟹粉豆腐). When I was using Taba Ng Talangka for my spaghetti dish last week, I realised I could totally work this into the Crab Roe Tofu. Braised with crab meat and tofu, the Taba Ng Talangka imparted the distinct sweet flavour that can only be associated with seafood. It was so flavourful that all you need is a bowl of steamed white rice and you will find yourself scraping at the very last rice grain at the bottom of the bowl.










Now that I've had an extremely satisfying dinner, it's time to go shopping! I have a US$60 CSN voucher to be given away to a lucky reader. Just leave a comment at my this post and let me know what item interests you. You can select from many CSN sites available. I know these giveaways are usually opened to US/Canandian residents only because CSN does not ship outside US and Canada.(Canadian readers have to pay for freight upon check out) However, I would like to exercise some flexibility here.For readers who are not based in US/Canada-if you are able to find a US based friend or forwarder whom you can send the item to, you will eligible for the giveaway as well. The mailing address needs to be an American address - that's the criteria-so be a good sport and abide by the rule. You can shop at any one of the CSN stores available.Some of their more popular sites have been www.cookware.com, http://www.toysandgamesonline.com/, www.luxebycsn.com and www.allmodern.com
Have fun shopping and good luck!

The Giveaway will be opened for a week and will end on 28th July US EST time.


Recipe :

Chinese Tofu                  1 square
Chicken Stock                2 cups
Cooked Crab Meat        1 small bowl
Ginger                             2 slices
Garlic                              2 cloves
Taba Ng Talangka           3 tsp
Salt & Pepper
Chinese Rice wine            1 tbsp
Tapioca Starch                 1 tsp
Water                               1 tbsp

Method :

1. In a hot wok add 1 tbsp of oil. Fry garlic and ginger until fragrant. Add crab meat and stir fry quickly. Add Chinese Rice wine.
2. Add Tofu and chicken stock. Cover to braise until stock boils again. Add Taba Ng Talangka and cover and braise again for 5 mins.
3. Add Salt and Pepper to season.
4. Mix starch with water in a bowl. Add starch mixture little by little into boiling tofu, checking for thickness.
5. Dish out and serve with steamed white rice.

3 Cups Tofu 三杯豆腐

I believe the best 3 Cups Chicken (三杯鸡) I've had to date was prepared in Taiwan. My Taiwanese colleague had told me that every Taiwanese restaurant would most definitely have this dish on their menu. A restaurant which does not serve 3 Cups Chicken is not an authentic Taiwanese restaurant. Indeed, the Taiwanese have mastered this so well, that you can order almost anything to be cooked in this manner. In addition to the chicken, I've had 3 Cups Frog Legs (三杯田鸡), 3 Cups Eel (三杯鳗鱼), 3 Cups Eggplant （三杯茄子) and my favourite of all, 3 Cups Tofu (三杯豆腐).

The 3 Cups in the recipe denotes equal portions of Sesame Oil, Soya Sauce and Chinese Rice Wine. The Soya Sauce imparts the taste to the dish while the sesame oil and rice wine seduce the palate and senses with their heady fragrance... hence, very often, one is already sold by the warm, comforting smell even before tasting it. The single main ingredient in the dish is fried with all 3 cups of liquid and left to absorb the flavour over strong fire braising until all the liquid dries up and the whole dish tether dangerously at the brink of being burnt. In Taiwan, a 4th intoxicating element is added to the dish and that is Basil leaves (九层塔). The herbal infusion is so addictive that I have come to decide that any 3 Cups dish prepared without Basil leaves is just not right.

I have never cooked any 3 Cups dishes and would not have been motivated to do it if not for seeing a recent post by 3 Hungry Tummies.(and yes, she used Basil Leaves!) Instead of using Chicken, I decided to try my hand at doing this with Tofu. A little more challenging because Tofu unlike meat dishes, will take longer to absorb flavours. The best 3 Cups Tofu dishes I've had in Taiwan are the ones that manage to draw in the flavours (入味).

Hence armed with the basics from 3 Hungry Tummies' post, I proceeded to prepare my Tofu dish. My Tofu had alot of flavour but I suspect that I could have chosen the wrong Tofu for this dish. Using pressed Tofu (板豆腐) , this is firmer and not as smooth. The Tofu I remembered from Taiwan was softer in the center. I am now thinking, if I had used Silken Tofu, I will end up with a Tofu that would be softer in the center. Well no full marks for this attempt but at least I had the heady fragrance envelope the whole neighbourhood - my neighbour actually knocked on my door and asked me what I was cooking.... (smile)


Recipe :

Tofu                 1 Square cut into cubes

Garlic               8 cloves
Spring Onions  4 stalks (with bulb) cut into 5cm length
Ginger              3cm slices
Basil Leaves     1 cup

Light Soya Sauce            3 tbsp
Sesame Oil                     3 tbsp
Chinese Rice Wine          3 tbsp
Sugar                              1/4 tsp
Water/ Chicken stock      1 cup

Method

1. Deep fry tofu cubes in oil at 160C to get nice brown crispy skin.
2. Drain and set aside.
3. Heat up a wok to smoking. Add sesame oil. Fry garlic, and ginger briefly until fragrant. Add Tofu, Soya Sauce,and sugar. Fry over high heat for 1 min.
4. Add water/chicken stock. Continue to fry until half of the liquid is evaporated. Add wine,spring onions and cover. Braise until liquid is almost dry. Add in Basil leaves and stir fry quickly and dish out.