Tofu with Coriander

This is an old recipe of my husband's family. They love tofu (tokwa) very much and he loves fresh coriander in dishes. So it was inevitable that they are combined for this tasty serving. Freshly boiled rice is great with this family-style Filipino dish. I bet it's my late mother-in-law who came up with the idea. She was quite inventive in cooking for family.

It is important to stir the dish very gently once the tofu is added. Mashed up tofu will not make this dish visually appealing.


Tofu with Coriander

125 g  belly pork - sliced thin*
2 tsp cooking oil
350 g  firm tofu (about 2 squares) - cubed
1 tsp minced garlic
1 medium onion - sliced
1 medium tomato - sliced
1 tsp sea salt or 2 tsp patis (fish sauce)
freshly ground black pepper
2/3 cup water or chicken stock
1 cup chopped fresh coriander - reserve about 1-2 Tbsp for garnish

1. In a wok or pot, cook the pork with about 1/3 cup of water. Simmer until the water has evaporated and pork is rendering fat. Add the oil and fry the pork in low-medium heat until golden brown.
2. Push the fried pork to one side. Saute the garlic and onion until onion is soft.
3. Add the tomato. Stir and cook until tomato is soft.
4. Stir back in the pork to the middle. Add the salt or patis and black pepper, then stir to combine all.
5. Add the tofu and carefully stir to mix it in. Cook in low-medium heat for about 2 minutes.
6. Pour in the chicken stock or water, bring to boil then lower heat to simmer for about 5-7 minutes.
7. Add the coriander and carefully stir to combine everything.
8. Cook for another 2 minutes.
9. Dish up and sprinkle with the rest of the fresh coriander.

*Note: You may also use raw prawns or shrimps instead of pork.

Fried Savoury Beancurds

I found another beancurd recipe to use up a box that was soon to expire. This one has a very tasty and slightly spicy batter. And I suspect this is very similar to the fried beancurd we used to have in a Chinese restaurant in the basement of the old Makati Cinema Square in Pasong Tamo Ave. down in Makati. That one had a very nice sauce which complements it well. I guess I'll have to concoct that next to complete the similarity. The book The Food of China yielded this nice dish.


Fried Savoury Beancurds

500 g  beancurds
100 g  minced pork (optional)
1 cup plain flour
1 egg - beaten
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp chicken stock powder
1 Tbsp chilli sauce
water to mix
oil for deep frying
freshly ground black pepper
shredded green onions or chopped herbs (for garnish)

1. Combine flour, egg, salt, sugar, chicken powder, chilli sauce, pork and enough water to make a batter with the consistency of double (heavy) cream.
2. Cut the beancurd into pieces of 1/2 inch thick, about 2 inches long, and 1 inch wide.
3. Heat oil in a wok or saucepan until slightly smoking.
4. Dip the beancurds in the batter then slip them one by one and in batches in the oil. Deep fry for about 3-4 minutes or until golden brown.
5. Garnish with black pepper and herbs.

Peking-style Fried Bean Curd

A work colleague of mine requested that I post vegetarian dishes and here is one. As usual this is courtesy of my esteemed Chinese Cuisine cookbook by Huang Su-Huei. This is my kind of recipe - very simple, very easy to do and very few ingredients. It originally called for the tofu to be fried in a wok but I always do it in a non-stick pan and just drizzle a little oil. It works perfectly.

Tofu, also known as soy bean curd or tokwa, is made by curdling soy bean milk. Curdling is aided by calcium sulfate - a naturally occuring mineral. After curdling, the mixture is then pressed to form tofu. So essentially, tofu is soy bean cheese.

Here in the west, there are two types of tofu - the firm one (this comes in blocks) and the silken one (called taho in Phils.). Although when we were in Hong Kong, they have an even firmer type of tofu which are in rounded pieces similar to buffalo mozarella except the former is flatter and squarish in shape. The extra firm and firm ones are good for general cooking. The silken one has a very soft, smooth and creamy texture and is used a lot on desserts.

Also in Hong Kong, there are hawkers who fry and sell preserved tofu right on the street. The problem is they f*&%$ng stink big time! Oh, I swear you could smell it from a mile back! This is very prevalent in the area of Battery Path going to St. Paul's church - uggh! However a lot of people I know (Chinese, Gweilos, even Pinoys) insist that they taste great. Must be the durian syndrome in them.


Peking-style Fried Bean Curd

3 pieces of 2 1/2- inch square bean curd (tofu)
1/2 cup flour
1 egg - beaten
1 Tbsp green onion - chopped
1 Tbsp ginger root - chopped

*Sauce:
1 tsp cooking wine
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 cup stock (or 1/2 stock cube dissolved in 1/2 cup hot water)

1. Combine ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Heat a little oil in a non-stick frying pan.
3. Cut the bean curd into 1/2-inch thick slices. Coat with flour and then dip into the egg.
4. Fry bean curds over medium heat for 1 minute each side or until golden brown.
5. Wipe clean the frying pan and sprinkle half of the green onions and ginger in the pan.
6. Arrange the fried bean curds on top then pierce the bean curds with a fork to allow liquid to seep through.
7. Sprinkle the rest of the green onion and ginger on top of the bean curds and pour in the sauce. Turn on heat and bring to boil.
8. Turn down the heat to low and cook uncovered until almost all the liquid is absorbed by the bean curd.