Tofu Tuesday - Ferment It

Fermented White Beancurd with Chilli in Sesame Oil

According to the omniscient Wikipedia, fermented tofu is made by allowing cubes of dried tofu to fully air-dry under hay and slowly ferment from aerial bacteria and fungal spores. Lovely.

Fermented tofu is sometimes referred to as Chinese cheese. It's pretty pungent stuff - it does smell a bit fruity, like a well-aged blue cheese. I have known others to eat it straight from the jar, which I have considered in the name of blog-testing, but... well... I can't. It just doesn't smell too good. In a recent episode of the F Word, Gordon Ramsey described it as a Chinese delicacy and blind-folded James Corden for him to eat raw. I didn't particularly agree that it was a delicacy (it's obtained quite easily and cheaply) but I did feel sorry for him.

However, when used to cook vegetables in, particularly stir-frying water spinach and other leafy greens, it's completely transformed.

The basic base to stir-frying vegetables with this fermented tofu lies in ginger, garlic and chilli. I finely dice equal amounts, and fry it in a little oil. Add one or two cubes of the fermented tofu and mash a little. Add the vegetables, maybe a splash of water or rice wine and stir-fry until cooked.

The fermented tofu makes the vegetables very fragrant, and your kitchen a little stinky, so keep your windows open. I like the smell of it frying but then again, I also like the smell of shrimp paste frying.

There is also fermented red beancurd which is mainly used in braising meats, as far as I can tell. I haven't used it... yet!

Squid - The Perfect Budget Food

One of my earliest memories of being on holiday was with my parents when we went to Phuket. There was a beach cafe we stumbled upon where you could sit at the bar on tall stools actually on the beach. My parents befriended the lady behind the bar, and she served us a massive great platter of calamari, completely fresh. It was gorgeous, and it's one of those times that I wish I were just a little bit older so my memory would be clearer.

Squid is the ultimate budget food, perfect for me as I seem to be perpetually budgeting. I buy 1kg bags of frozen cleaned and prepared squid tubes and tentacles for about £2.50 in Chinatown. It's also diverse - a really quick cooking at a high heat as well as a long, slow braise will result in sweet and tender meat. So far I haven't as yet stewed it, but that is next on the list.

So here's a recipe for Squid in Black Bean Sauce.

For One

200gr squid and tentacles, washed
1" ginger, chopped finely
1 fat clove of garlic, minced
1 red chilli, sliced
1 tbsp black beans, or 1 tbsp black bean sauce
1 tbsp rice wine
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp black or balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp light soy sauce
2 spring onions, sliced
1/2 tbsp cornflour, slaked
1 orange or green pepper, chopped roughly

Score the insides of the squid carefully, and then chop into chunks. Combine the black beans, rice wine, soy sauce, sugar and vinegar in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Heat up some oil and fry the ginger, garlic and chilli until fragrant but not burnt. Add the pepper and fry till softened. Next, add the squid, fry for a minute, then add the black bean sauce mixture, the cornflour, and cook until thickened. Garnish with spring onion and serve with rice.

The dish has a great texture, something I seem to be obsessed with recently - slightly crunchy peppers contrasts well with soft and tender squid. Black beans are very versatile and it's easy to knock up a sauce with it using ingredients that last forever. Pick some up if you see them.

Soba Noodles with Peanut Sauce

Jenn came up to visit this weekend and so I thought cook up this simple little dish that I know she likes. Peanut sauces, either as a dipping sauce, or with chicken skewers or noodles, occupy a central place in the pantheon of North Americanized Asian cuisine and are always very popular. I find that restaurants often make the sauces a little too sweet, so I had a fun time trying to balance the different flavors making up this sauce.



Recipe (Adapted from Ted Allen's The Food You Want To Eat, published at leitesculinaria.com)
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
1/3 cup roasted peanuts
1/3 cup light soy sauce
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon mirin
2 medium garlic cloves
1 small cucumber
1/2 pound soba noodles
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 scallions, sliced

Dry roast the sesame seeds in a wok or cast iron pan under medium for 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently. In a small food processor, blend the peanuts, sesame oil, half of the sesame seeds, peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar, mirin and garlic until the consistency of a thick sauce. Slice the cucumbers in half lengthwise, scoop out the insides with a fork and slice into U-shaped pieces. Cook the noodles in boiling water as directed on the package. Drain, rinse in cold water, and re-immerse in some boiling to reheat. Drain again, mix in with the sauce, cucumber, scallions, cilantro and remaining sesame seeds. Serve hot or cold.

My Guilty Pleasure

I don't feel guilty or ashamed about most things I like to eat (including Spam) but Cup Noodles usually make me feel a little seedy. Maybe because you eat them out of a cup, or perhaps it's because I usually eat them when hungover.

Today is no exception; a terrible hangover had me straight for the noodle cupboard. It's one of those hangovers that has me chugging the tea like no tomorrow (why oh why don't they make pint-sized mugs?) and an insatiable hunger. A full-on fried breakfast consisting of fried bread, bacon, eggs, bubble & squeak and fried tomatoes did little to help me on my way. By the time I'd waddled home from the caff it was time for round two.

Cup Noodles are infinitely superior to the Pot Noodle. Pot Noodles are horrors - with flavours like Chicken Satay, Curry and Sweet & Sour, you only need to try them once to know they're not right. Cup Noodles even have dehyrated pieces of sweetcorn, seaweed, spring onion and fake crab stick - how can that be bad?

The shame is over. I will eat my Cup Noodles with pride.

Siu Mai

Siu mai is one of the most popular dim sum dishes, and quite rightly so. The mixture of pork and prawn, mixed into a paste gives it a springy texture whilst the mushrooms gives them a good savoury depth. If you have access to Chinese ingredients, such as wonton skins, then siu mai is very easy to make and you should definitely give it a try. Wonton wrappers are made with a fine wheat dough and lye water. I don't bother making them myself - life is too short.

Siu Mai

Makes about 24 dumplings

200gr minced pork

150gr chopped raw prawns

3 dried shiitake mushrooms, redydrated and chopped

2 spring onions, chopped finely

Soy sauce to taste

Sesame oil

Pinch of ground white pepper

Won ton skins

Mix all the filling ingredients well, until it becomes a paste. Leave for half an hour in the fridge. When it comes to making the dumplings, place a wonton wrapper on top of an O made by your thumb and index finger, like the picture above. Add a tablespoon of the mixture to the wrapper and push down to make the dumpling. You may have to trim some of the wrapper off (I did). Finish by topping with a dice of carrot, or a pea.

To cook the dumplings, steam on greaseproof paper in a steamer for roughly 10 - 12 minutes. Serve with black vinegar with matchsticks of ginger and/or chilli sauce.

Seared Sesame Seed Tuna Sandwich

I just ended my rotation at the 'sandwich station' of the restaurant. Sandwiches are often very underrated, and considered to be the cheap relative to a fancy meal. The sandwich station at the restaurant is a way for us culinary students to re-think this all-time lunch favorite. I decided to try making a gourmet fresh tuna sandwich, with velvety avocado and a soy and scallion marinade.

Up to now, we had only been assigned recipes that had been tested by our chefs and that we tried to execute as best we could for our customers. This was thus a new opportunity to get creative, and come up with a different sandwich special to be served every day.

Since then I have begun my last month of school culinary .. so, if all goes well, I will be adorned with a chef's hat in a month exactly!




Recipe:
Tuna loin
Sesame seeds
2 scallions
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
2 teaspoons of lemon juice
1/2 avocado, sliced
Salt and Pepper
Olive oil and canola oil
Bordelais bread

Cut the bread into thin slices. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill to obtain a nice grill mark and set aside. Season the tuna loin on all sides, generously, with salt and pepper. Pat with an even coat of sesame seeds making sure all sides are covered. Place a pan on high heat. Once it's warm, drizzle in some canola oil. Once the pan is steaming hot (and the oil starts to fume) delicately place the tuna loin inside. Make sure the oil is hot enough or the tuna will stick to the pan. Sear the tuna on all sides until the sesame seeds are nicely golden. Leave to rest on a cooling rack.
In a bowl, mix the soy sauce, lemon juice, rice wine vinegar and sesame oil. Taste and adjust seasoning and acidity. Add the thinly sliced scallions.
Carefully slice the tuna. Layer the tuna on the bread alternating with the slices of avocado. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with the marinade. Enjoy!

Tofu Tuesday - Steamed Tofu With Mushrooms & Prawns

Tofu Tuesday is under way. As much as I'd love to make agedashi tofu again (seriously - I'm craving it) it wouldn't make for very interesting blogging. So I ploughed on with a new recipe.

Having a google around, there weren't many tofu recipes I found particularly interesting. Many of them are vegetarian recipes which uses tofu as a protein element. I'm not against vegetarianism, far from it in fact, but I wanted to use tofu as a centre piece, rather than using it to replace something else. Since I deep-fried last week, I also wanted to use a different method of cooking it. I combined some ideas from this recipe, and also a recipe Josh from Cooking The Books sent me, to come up with this.

Steamed Tofu With Mushroom & Prawns

To serve one

5 raw shelled prawns

5 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 1/2 an hour.

1/2 box of firm silken tofu - I use this brand

1 spring onion, sliced on the diagonal

1 red bird's eye chilli, sliced

1 inch ginger, grated

2 tbsp oyster sauce (or to taste), loosened with a little hot water.

1 tsp sesame oil

Slice the tofu very carefully into 5 slices. Layer on a plate to fit in the steamer with the rehydrated mushrooms and prawns, alternating. Scatter the ginger, chilli and spring onion on top. Steam for roughly 10 mins, or until the prawns just turn pink. Once cooked, drain the juices from the plate and pour the loosened oyster sauce over the tofu and drizzle the sesame oil on top.

I served this with white rice and choi sum stir-fried in chilli, garlic and ginger. The tofu was lovely - really clean-tasting and quite refreshing, not at all heavy. The contrasting textures between the soft tofu, the succulent mushrooms and the slight crunch of the prawns was very pleasing; the tofu did it's job well.