Foodarrific» Tofu

Chinese New Year reunion dinner

chili queen — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 13:41:49 +0000

This year, for our CNY reunion dinner, I decided to slave in the kitchen this year instead of subjecting ourselves to those rip-off festive restaurant prices. My dishes are very simple so it’s not too hard to whip up something pretty quickly.

Stirfried Kailan with Crispy Scallop Bits

Stir-fried Kai-lan (Chinese kale) is a common everyday dish. I merely funky-ed it up with a topping of crispy dried scallop bits. Surprisingly my say-no-to-veggie brood loved this .

Claypot Pork Ribs and Tofu

We’re big fans of Claypot Tofu (recipe here) and I cook this quite often for regular meals. Here I used pork ribs with carrot flowers and wolfberries and turned it into something special.

Spicy Thai-style Crispy Chicken

I topped my easy-peasy and very popular Thai-style Crispy Chicken (recipe here) with shredded carrots, cucumbers and onions.

Braised Mushrooms with Phoenix Claws

Don’t jump now. Phoenix claws are actually just plain old chicken feet.

Lotus Root Soup with Japanese Baby Scallops

This turned out so sweet and flavorful I surprised even myself .

You’ll agree there’s nothing very fattening here so no need for us to start reading phentermine reviews ! In fact, I cooked everything here with fresh ingredients and very little sodium, practically no sugar or added MSG.

first draft of my Chinese New Year reunion dinner menu

chili queen — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 14:16:18 +0000

Twas one night when my brain went into overdrive and kept me awake long enough to plan out my Chinese New Year reunion dinner menu. Last year, we dined out on Chinese New Year’s eve.

This year, I’ve decided to go back to my usual practice of cooking reunion dinner at home. I’m planning a simple menu of gourmet, restaurant-style dishes which can easily be whipped up at home.

Claypot Tofu with Pork Ribs and Veggie Medley
Fish Fillet with Ginger and Spring Onions
Roast Chicken, Thai Style
Stir-fried Kailan with Dried Scallop and Wolfberries
Lotus Root Soup

Of course, this menu may change. It’s only the first draft. I might be tempted to tinker with it as CNY draws nearer, or if I let my kids have their say. Hopefully the final menu won’t make us so guilty that we’ll all go jump on an elliptical the next morning!

yeong tow foo, or stuffed tofu

chili queen — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 03:12:19 +0000

Many years, when I worked in the city, my colleagues and I would drive out for lunch to Ampang which is famous for their yeong tow foo, or stuffed tofu. Well, that was years ago and although Ampang Yong Tow Foo franchises and copycats have sprung up everywhere, I haven’t eaten any in a long time.

Recently I bought fresh yeong tow foo at the market. They are fresh and sold loose so I get to make my own selection. They’re usually sold at the grocery stores in prepacked trays but they cost a bit more and you don’t get to pick what you want.

I bought lots of different shaped fishballs at the market the other day. The big fried ones and the white comma-shaped ones are a hit with my kids. I only bought 3 stuffed chillies for myself .

The long dark brown ones are foo pay, or soy sheets wrapped around fish and meat paste. I like those too. And of course, I must have my hot chilly dipping sauce. We typically eat yeong tow foo on its own without rice or noodles, so this is absolutely a no-carb meal!

You might not find me driving into town to buy a Sony Vaio but I might for a taste of yong tow foo once in a while. In this case, I don’t even have to drive into the city, I can have them in the comfort of home.

If you have time, you can actually make your own fish paste at home for fish balls and to stuff the soy pockets yourself. Yeong tow foo is great for parties and potlucks because everyone loves ‘em, kids and adults. Just be sure you have different dipping sauces for kids (tomato sauce) and adults (chilly sauce).

four foods on Friday 66

chili queen — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 22:36:18 +0000

Isn’t Friday just great! I’ve got a whole weekend to figure out next week’s menu. Not that I ever do that. Still .

#1. Are your Kitchen utensils nylon, silicone, wood or other?

I have all sorts.

#2. Do you prefer dishes washed in a dishwasher or by hand?

Definitely a dishwasher, I hate doing dishes.

#3. How many sets of dishes do you have?

I’ve got two sets of Corelle and a bunch of odd ones that I’ve collected from redemptions and giveaways, and some that I couldn’t resist buying because they were either too cute or too cheap.

#4. Share a recipe that calls for only one pot or pan.

The first recipe that comes to mind whenever anyone says one pot is my all-time favorite Claypot Tofu with Mushroom and Shrimp. It’s easy to make, healthy, very yummy and you sure won’t have to jump on any fitness equipment afterwards .

If you’d like to play Four Foods on Friday, we’d be thrilled to have you. Just go over to valmg’s blog at Fun, Crafts and Recipes for details.

crispy stuffed taupok

chili queen — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 16:15:34 +0000

I bought some taupok, or tofu puffs from the market because I was thinking of trying my hand at making my own vegetarian curry. But I changed my mind when my neighbor said she’d get me a tub of vegetarian curry from the temple.

So I decided to stuff the taupok with some meat and fry it. I think some restaurants serve this as an appetizer or hors d’oeuvres. Taupok is a roughly 2-inch square tofu puff that’s hollow inside.

So what you need is:

10-15 taupok, cut into half
100 grams of ground pork
2 cups of cooking oil
salt and pepper to taste

The first thing I do is to season the ground pork with some salt and pepper, and leave aside while I cut the tofu puffs into halves.

Using a teaspoon, I stuff the ground pork into the hollow of each taupok half. Then I heat up the cooking oil on high heat and drop the taupok in, one by one.

I kept my stuffed taupok very basic as I was in a bit of a rush. But if you’re planning to serve these as hors d’oeuvres, you can pretty up the stuffing with shredded carrots and green (spring) onions.

I serve these hot from the wok with chilli sauce and ketchup right out of the bottle, provided there’s still any left after the kids are done pinching .

claypot tofu with mushroom and shrimp

chili queen — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 16:23:34 +0000

Tofu is a chef’s gift. It’s so versatile you just can’t go wrong. When I can’t think what else to cook, it’s always tofu that comes to mind. And there’s a million things you can do with it.

The claypot tofu is one of our family favorites. It’s a one-dish meal, so easy and it’s got everything in it. When my kids were teething toddlers, I would feed them just the tofu with rice and a bit of gravy.

The idea of using the claypot is to keep the dish piping hot while you eat. So yes, this makes the perfect winter dish. Bleh, I wish we had winter here. I break out in perspiration whenever I eat this !

Okay, on with the recipe. As usual, I don’t really measure my ingredients so these numbers here are just to give you a rough idea. Go ahead and adjust the proportions to your liking.

3-4 squares of tofu, cut into smaller cubes and fried lightly ahead of time
10 medium-sized shrimps, deveined
a handful of dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked in water to soften (you can also use fresh mushrooms)
1 carrot, thinly sliced into 3″ lengths
spring (green) onion and cilantro, cut into 3″ lengths
1 clove garlic, diced
2-3 tablespoons oyster sauce
sesame oil
salt and pepper to taste

Before I do anything else, I typically heat up some oil in my claypot and lightly fry the tofu cubes on medium heat. Frying hardens the outside of the tofu slightly so the cubes hold up better and won’t disintegrate to bits when you add all the other ingredients. When browned, carefully lift them onto a dish and set aside.

Add some oil to the claypot and give the garlic a quick stir or two till you can smell the fragrance. Turn up the heat. Add the carrots, shrimps, and mushrooms and saute for a few minutes.

Next add the tofu cubes and oyster sauce. Add 2-3 teaspoons of flour to 1/4 cup water to make a light gravy (yes, the gravy is super-tasty!) and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. I try not to stir the ingredients too much to avoid breaking up the tofu.

Season with a few drops of sesame oil and salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with spring onions and cilantro.

Remove the claypot from the fire straight to the dinner table and serve it directly from there. Be careful now! The claypot is very, very hot and so are its contents.

Be VERY careful handling it especially if you have young kids around. You want it keep the pot far from their reach so they won’t accidentally burn themselves touching the sides.

So simple, so yummy, so healthy, so soft even toothless toddlers and seniors will love it. What can I say?