Japanese Tofu with Braised Mushrooms and Wood-Ear Fungus

I like eating beancurd / tofu very much and this is one of the dishes I usually choose when I have economy rice at the food stalls. Tofu comes in many forms - firm, soft, with egg, etc. Japanese tofu is usually very smooth in texture and rather soft to the touch. One of the most common Japanese tofu available is the ones sold in tubes.

Japanese Tofu

These tofus usually has eggs as one of the ingredients and it is slightly salty to taste rather than neutral. Bearing in mind that it is already “tasty” on its own, the gravy should not be overpowering in taste. Otherwise, you would have missed out on the tofu’s original taste.

Pre-fried Japanese Tofu lined on the plate before the gravy is poured over it

In this recipe, I have cooked a gravy based on finely cut mushrooms (dried chinese mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms to be exact) and wood-ear fungus. I also throw in some julienned carrots for a contrast in colour as well as to provide natural sweetness to the gravy. The crunchiness of the wood-ear fungus and the smooth smoky taste of the mushrooms provide an interesting biting experience. I ran out of spring onions when I was cooking this dish but you may wish to throw in some for added colour as well.

This is my recipe for Japanese Tofu with Braised Mushrooms and Wood-Ear Fungus

Ingredients

• 2 tubes of Japanese Tofu (slice across the tube in the middle using a very sharp knife, gently push the tofu out onto a plate. Cut the tofu into 1.5 - 2 cm thickness)
• 2 - 3 pieces wood-ear fungus (pre-soak in water to soften it and thereafter, cut into thin strips)
• 4 - 5 pieces dried chinese mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms (pre-soaked and thereafter cut into thin strips)
• 50 grammes of carrot (julienned)
• 50 - 100 grammes minced meat (pork or chicken) - optional
• 3 cloves garlic (chopped)
• Oil for deep frying
• 1 cup water / stock
• Corn starch (prepared using 2 tablespoons corn flour mixed with 4 tablespoons water)

Marinade (for minced meat)

• 2 teaspoons light soya sauce
• a couple of dashes of white pepper powder
• 1 teaspoon of corn flour

Seasoning

• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• Salt to taste
• 2 teaspoons chinese cooking wine

Method

Marinade the minced meat for 30 minutes.

Deep fry the tofu on high heat till golden brown. (Tip: Place cut tofu on plate and dust / sprinkle 3 teaspoons of corn flour to lightly coat the tofu before frying. The tofu will turn out crispy on outside). Remove and line on plate.

Use 1 1/2 tablespoons of the oil previously used for deep-frying and heat it up in a wok. Fry the garlic with minced meat till minced meat is cooked. If no minced meat is used, fry the garlic with wood-ear fungus and mushrooms on medium heat till garlic browns. Add carrots and stir-well. Add oyster sauce, water and close lid to bring to boil. Once boiled, reduce to medium low heat to simmer for 5 minutes and add salt to taste. (The longer your simmer, the better tasting the gravy will be). Add cornstarch gradually to thicken gravy to your desire.

Pour gravy over the pre-fried tofu and serve hot with rice.

Stir-Fried Pork Tenderloin with Enoki Mushroom

I like to eat enoki mushrooms. They are also known as “kim cham” mushrooms (meaning golden needles in hokkien) as they are longish with a small cap. These mushrooms are sometimes added to soups like Bak Kut Teh and commonly used in Japanese cooking. The stems have a crunchy bite despite it being rather thin and needle-like in appearance. It has a mild and delightful flavour and compliments well with meat dishes.

Enoki Mushroom

I usually cook enoki mushrooms with meat, pork tenderloins to be exact. You can substitute the meat with chicken breasts. The enoki mushrooms are added in towards the end of the cooking time as too much cooking will render the stems tough and stringy.

This is my recipe for Stir-Fried Pork Tenderloin with Enoki Mushrooms

Ingredients

• 200 grammes of pork tenderloins (sliced thinly)
• 1 packet of enoki mushrooms (cut off and discard the bottom of the cluster of mushrooms and gently rinse them to remove any dirt)
• 1/2 piece of carrot (julienned) - for added colour to the dish
• 3 cloves garlic (chopped)
• 2 tablespoons of cooking oil (preferably palm oil)
• 50 ml of warm water
• Corn starch (prepared using 1 tablespoon of corn flour mixed with 5 tablespoons of water)

Marinade

• 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce
• a couple of dashes of white pepper powder
• 1 teaspoon of corn flour

Seasoning

• 3/4 tablespoons of oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon of chinese cooking wine
• Salt

Method

Marinade pork tenderloin for about 30 minutes.

Heat oil in wok on high heat and stir-fry the garlic till beginning to brown. Add pork tenderloin and carrots and stir-fry till meat is almost cooked. Add oyster sauce and salt to taste followed by water and bring gravy to boil. Then add the enoki mushrooms and chinese cooking wine and stir well for 30 seconds.

If it is too dry to your liking, add a little bit more warm water. If the gravy is too runny, add a tablespoon of corn starch at a time.

Serve hot with steaming white rice.

Stir-Fried Yau Mak with Garlic

I like vegetables. I think I am okay with all types of vegetables except the obvious bitter ones eg. bitter gourd. I know it is good for health but I usually give it a pass. Not with green leafy vegetables though.

There are many varieties of lettuce around and most of them can be eaten raw or cooked. If you intend to stir-fry the lettuce, make sure that your wok is really heated up to very high temperature (smoking) so as to minimise cooking time and to prevent too much water oozing out from the leaves. The idea is not to have the vegetables swimming in a pool of gravy. You also lose a lot of essential vitamins and minerals by prolonged cooking of the vegetables. Here, I use a type of lettuce known as “Yau Mak” which is a slightly smaller version of the romaine lettuce. I should have taken a photo of it before the leaves were separated and rinsed.

This is my recipe for Stir-Fried Yau Mak with Garlic

Ingredients

• 2 pieces yau mak (or to your desired amount but bear in mind that they will shrivel and reduce in size as you cook, separate leaves and rinse well. Drain in colander to remove excess water)
• at least 5 cloves of garlic (chopped)
• 4 cloves of shallots (sliced thinly)
• 3 tablespoons of palm oil

Seasoning

• 1 1/2 tablespoons of oyster sauce

Method

Heat up oil in wok and fry shallots till golden brown. Remove fried shallots aside.

Add garlic into remaining oil and stir fry for about 10 seconds followed by yau mak. Give it two or three stirs and add oyster sauce. Stir till leaves are evenly coated with sauce. I like the leaves crunchy, so I do not usually stir fry them for more than 1 minute.

Sprinkle fried shallots prior to serving.

Pork Porridge with Dried Oysters

Let’s cook porridge / congee today! I like to eat porridge especially on for lunch on weekends. It is light and suitable on hot days especially when you want to eat something non-oily. When I plan to cook porridge for lunch, I will usually drop by at the wet market in the morning to buy yau char kuey (fritters) to compliment the porridge.

Porridge can be cooked with many different types of ingredients. Actually, the types of ingredients are only limited by one’s imagination. Here, I have added minced pork, pork liver and dried oysters. The dried oysters add a little sweetness to the porridge whilst the other ingredients each have its individual taste. I also like to break an egg into the bowl prior to pouring boiling hot porridge over it. It is a taste I acquired since young (runs in the family).

Give this recipe a try. If some of the ingredients are not your type, feel free to omit them or substitute them. If you need clarification, just post them in the comments below.

This is my recipe for Pork and Dried Oyster Porridge

Ingredients

• Approximately 50 to 100 grammes of rice (rinsed once and pre-soaked in water for 30 minutes)
• 100 grammes of minced pork
• 50 grammes of pork liver (sliced)
• 5 to 10 pieces of dried oyster (pre-soaked in water for 30 minutes and cut into half)
• 1 to 2 pieces of yau char kuey (cut across like in the picture above)
• 4 cloves of shallots (sliced thinly)
• 3 eggs
• 3 bowls of Water
• 2 tablespoons of palm oil
• 3 teaspoons sesame oil

Marinade (for minced pork)

• 3 teaspoons of light soya sauce
• a couple of dashes of white pepper powder
• 1 teaspoon of corn flour

Seasoning

• 2 teaspoons light soya sauce
• Salt
• White pepper powder

Garnishing

• Chopped spring onions
• Chinese salted vegetables or Tung Chai
  

Method

Marinade minced pork for 15 minutes or more.

Place water in a cooking pot and add rice. Cover with lid and bring to boil. Unlid and reduce heat to medium low and cook till rice becomes porridge / cooked and broken (approximately 20 minutes). Add a little hot water when it becomes too dry. You shall strive to cook it a little runny in consistency. Midway through cooking, add the oysters.

Meanwhile, place cut yau char kuey into a toaster oven to toast it till crisp. At the same time, heat oil in wok and fry the sliced shallots till golden brown. Remove fried shallots and set aside.

Once you have cooked the porridge, bring to boil again and add the minced pork (using a teaspoon, scoop one teaspoon of minced meat at a time) and stir. After you have finished adding all the minced pork, add the pork liver and stir the porridge till pork liver is cooked (no more blood oozing out - yes, I know it sounds gross but it’s delicious, I tell you!). Add seasoning to taste.

To serve, break an egg into bowl (you will have about 3 servings here) and pour boiling hot porridge over the egg. Drizzle one teaspoon sesame oil and add garnishing. If you still have some of the oil used to fry the shallots, drizzle a bit as well. Finally, sprinkle the toasted and crispy yau char kuey and fried shallots over the porridge.

Enjoy! I know it may sound a bit complicated but it is actually very easy to cook if you try it.