This is definitely for the soy fans! A match made in heaven using tofu with soybeans, which is actually the raw ingredient used to make tofu. Add in a handful of cilantro, and you got yourself a very tasty and nice-looking dish!

The recipe was inspired by Ching-He Huang, who is a TV chef on the BBC2 series “Chinese Food Made Easy”. She is also a food writer and entrepreneur.

The preparation for this recipe was definitely simple, but the actual cooking took a bit of time, as the tofu needs to be browned. It was definitely worth it, and it provided a different type of texture for the tofu, as it wasn’t very soft, yet not too hard for it to be crunchy.

This recipe makes use of Chinkiang black rice vinegar, an ingredient I’ve never used before.



It is made from glutinous rice, and dark in color. As Ching-He mentions, it gives it a little bit of sour. She also mentions that if you don’t have this (or don’t want to shop for it), try balsamic (or rice) vinegar!

As for the edamame beans, we just made use of the frozen pack you can find at grocery stores:



450 grams seems like a lot to use up, but I didn’t feel like saving a portion of it. Even from the photo, you can notice that there was a ton of beans.

Enjoy the recipe, and have a great holidays everyone!!

The video does explain the recipe, but I will provide an outline below:

• a pack of frozen edamame beans (I used 450 g, but 300 g should be sufficient)
• small tub of tofu (mine was 450 g, which was enough for two people)
• small bunch of cilantro (coriander)
• 2 teaspoons of light soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons of dark soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons of Chinkiang black rice vinegar (or use balsamic/rice vinegar)
• dried chili flakes, chopped (optional)
• 1 or 2 red chili’s (optional)
• 1-2 tablespoons of cooking oil

• Cut the tofu into small bite-sized pieces. In the video, they were vertical slices, but I preferred to cut them into more “squared” pieces.
• Chop the red chili into small pieces.
• Chop up the cilantro.

1. On a pre-heated wok (or pan), add the cooking oil. Once ready, add the tofu, and wait until they turn brown. Flip them over, and brown the other side. In the video, they made it seem very instant, but it did take some time for each side.
2. Add 1 teaspoon of: light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and the Chinkiang vinegar (or one of the substitutes). Don’t be alarmed when the tofu drastically changes color - that is the role of the dark soy sauce :)
3. If you have chili flakes, sprinkle them on top of the tofu. This will add color and coats the tofu like red specks. The tofu is now ready, and can be transferred to a plate. Spread evenly, as the edamame will be placed on top of the tofu later on.
4. Re-heat the wok (or pan), add cooking oil. If you had chili’s, add them to the wok (or pan) along with the frozen edamame beans. Season with 1 teaspoon of light soy sauce, and the Chinkiang vinegar (or one of the substitutes).
5. Once the beans are hot enough, add the cilantro, and give it a good mix. After a few seconds, place everything on top of the tofu, and serve!

I actually got an e-mail request for this dish, and finally here it is!

This is a famous Sichuan dish, commonly named “mapoh tofu” (麻婆豆腐) is a spicy dish that usually contains tofu and grounded meat (beef or pork). It’s so popular, it has it’s own Wikipedia page! I first learned about this dish when I was a kid. While watching some Chinese cartoons, one of the shows was about a young cook. He would master certain dishes, and one of them being Mapoh Tofu!

As you can see from the Wikipedia article, there are many variations with this dish, which is what makes it great. But the common ground are the chili’s, it’s what makes this dish tasty! However, I’m not that big of a fan of chili’s, so they were not used. The coriander (though not needed), definitely adds extra flavor!

I actually have an earlier post (thanks Weeknite Meals), called Spicy Tofu! It’s actually quite similar.

• around 200 g of ground pork (or substitute with any grounded meat product)
• 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
• tofu to your liking (I bought a small tub and used 3 chunks, about 400 g)
• Hot sauce (Sriracha) to taste, but stick to 1 teaspoon for now (we can’t reverse this if it’s too spicy!)
• salt and sugar
• 1 teaspoon of chicken broth powder mix
• 1 teaspoon of light soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons of corn starch
• handful of green onion and coriander chopped (for garnish)
• 1-2 tablespoons of cooking oil

• Take the tofu, and cut into small bit-sized cubes, perhaps 1/2-inch cubes. Place them on a plate to allow any excess water to be drained. Let’s aim to have them as dry as possible.
• No marinade necessary for the ground pork, however feel free to mix in soy sauce and sugar if need be.
• Place the corn starch in a small sauce bowl, and mix with 2 teaspoons of water. Set aside for later use, as we will be adding this mixture near the end to thicken the sauce.

1. In a preheated wok (or pan), heat the cooking oil, then add the garlic. Once the garlic starts to turn a little brown, add the ground pork and saute.
2. When it is all cooked, I like to tilt the wok (or pan) on an angle, and remove the excess oil. Completely your choice! Usually I find these ground meat to contain a lot of excess oil. If you want to do this, I suggest turning off the heat first.
3. Add the following: Hot sauce (Sriracha), 1/2 cup of water, salt to taste (I put 1/2 teaspoon), chicken broth powder mix, 2 teaspoons of sugar, and light soy sauce. Saute.
4. Add the tofu into the wok (or pan), and no need to saute, allow the tofu to soak in the sauce and come to a boil. You should flip them a couple of times, but they can break into smaller pieces. Allow a few minutes to cook.
5. While the sauce is boiling, add in the corn starch mixture that was prepared earlier on to thicken the sauce.
6. Garnish by sprinkling the coriander and green onions!

Here’s another vegetarian dish, also using tofu as a main ingredient! I read a recent article about the value of having regular soy intake, and it really has changed my view on tofu! I try to eat as much as I can now, it seems.

No special ingredients are required, and this dish can be completed within 15 minutes, from start to finish.

From the image above, it may look like the tofu is covered with oil, but it’s actually just the natural juices of the tomatoes. Very healthy dish!

• 2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
• about a pound of tofu
• 3 garlic, chopped
• a pinch of salt
• 2 teaspoons of chicken broth powder
• 1 tablespoon of cooking oil
• some green onions for garnish (optional)

• Clean and cut tofu into small pieces. Allow it to dry

1. In a preheated wok (or pan), heat the cooking oil, then add the garlic. Once the garlic starts to turn a little brown, add the tomatoes.
2. Fry the tomatoes on both sides until you start to see the juices come out. Add a little bit of salt, and 1 teaspoon of the chicken broth powder.
3. Now add the pieces of tofu into the wok (or pan), and a bit more salt and the rest of the chicken broth powder (1 teaspoon). Perform a taste test, and add more salt (or chicken broth powder) if needed.
4. Flip the tofu, turn down the heat and cover the wok (or pan) with a lid for a few minutes. We are aiming to have the natural juices of the tomato come out, creating a bit of a sauce.
5. Serve and garnish with green onions (if available).

The house-hunting is taking up a quite a bit of my time, that’s why it seems like my recipes have been coming along slowly on this site. I apologize to everyone, I’d like to get back to my usual routine of consistent posts.

This recipe is actually super easy, with minimal preparation work. We will be making use of fish paste, an ingredient that is usually used to spread on vegetables, such as bell peppers, and then pan-fried.

I took a sample photo of two different containers of what the fish paste looks like. It was near the tofu and seafood section, so that might be where you want to start. The container is tiny, and looks like the same type of container you would find potato salad in.





Notice the first photo has no ingredient label! We used it anyway, even though we don’t know what exactly “Fish Paste - All Kinds” really mean :) The second photo, on the other hand, seems more descriptive.

As for the tofu, we just bought the small container that contains 6 pieces, but we only used 3 pieces.

• 300 g of fish paste
• 3 pieces of tofu (about 420 g)
• 1 teaspoon of chicken broth powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of corn starch
• 1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil
• green onions for garnish
• pinch of salt and pepper

• Allow the tofu to settle on a plate so that it dries. Remove any excess water.
  
  

1. Place the fish paste and tofu on a plate/dish, and add the chicken broth powder, corn starch, sesame oil, a pinch of salt, and a pinch of pepper. This plate will be placed in a steamer, so choose an appropriate sized plate.
   
   
   
   
2. Using a large spoon, mash the ingredients together into a unfirom mixture. This can take a couple of minutes. Once thoroughly mixed, make the surface nice and flat.
   
   
   
   
3. Prepare the food steamer. I should note that I use a stove top steamer that has water filled at the bottom, so the cooking time may vary. Once the water comes to a boil, place it in the steamer for approximately 8 minutes (or until cooked).
4. Garnish with green onions.

This is Part 2 of my adventures of trying out stir-fry recipes from other people’s blogs. This one is called Spicy Tofu. I grabbed this recipe from another amazing blog: Weeknite Meals. This blog is beautifully designed, and has great home-made recipes. Check it out if you have time! I spent a lot of time browsing all her recipes :)

As for the dish itself, it was amazing! I used corn starch (instead of tapioca starch), which I don’t do too often when marinading meat in a stir-fry, and it turned out very soft and delicious! I strongly recommend going to an Asian supermarket to purchase the ground pork, as you can tell the butcher the exact quantity of the ground meat you need (in this case, 1/4 pound).

I should note that I did make one small adjustment, and that was using only one tablespoon of soy sauce in total (as opposed to four as you will see). Keep in mind that you will also be using some black bean paste, which is also salty. So the amount of condiments should always be “as needed”, and do a taste-test near the end to check if more or something is needed.

• 1.5 tablespoons of tapioca starch (can substitute cornstarch)
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 1/4 pound (115 grams) of ground pork
• 1 pound regular tofu (medium firmness)
• 1 leek or 3 green onions cut into short lengths
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon Chinese salted black beans (fermented black beans, also called Chinese black beans), or to taste
• 1 tablespoon of chili bean paste, or to taste
• 3 tablespoons of stock (chicken broth)
• 1 tablespoon of cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons of water
• 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce
• freshly ground Szechuan pepper
• 2–3 tablespoons oil for stir-frying, as needed

• Marinade the ground pork with the tapioca starch (or corn starch) and 2 tablespoons (or to taste) of soy sauce. Let it sit for 20 minutes.
• Cut the tofu (bean curd) into 1/2 inch (1 cm) square cubes, and blanch (drop into boiling water) for 2–3 minutes. Remove from boiling water and drain.

1. Heat wok and add oil. When oil is ready, add the marinated pork. Stir-fry the pork until the color darkens. Add salt and stir.
2. Add the salted black beans. Mash the beans with a cooking ladle until they blend in well with the meat. Add the chili paste, then the stock, bean curd, and leek or green onions.
3. Turn down the heat. Cook for 3–4 minutes.
4. While cooking, take a small bowl and mix 1-2 teaspoons of cornstarch, with 1-2 teaspoons of water. While the sauce in the wok has come to a boil, add the mixture and stir gently. This will thicken the sauce. Serve with freshly ground Szechuan pepper.

I get to finally add my first tofu recipe! This is a very tasty dish filled with lots of flavor, as you will see from the abundance of items in the Ingredients section. The main sauce will be Black Bean Garlic Sauce, which can be bought from your local Chinese grocery store.



This sauce is great to keep on the side, as it’s great for other wonderful stir-fry and steamed dishes (stay tuned for more!)

As for the tofu, we usually buy the tofu from a Chinese grocery store that is in a plastic tub. But I was in a rush this afternoon, and instead picked up tofu from my local grocery store by “Mandarin Soyfoods”:



As you can see, the package is quite thick, and contains 450 g! Definitely enough for this dish. I’m planning on doing a 36-sec video on this dish, so keep an eye out for that :)

Edit: The video has been uploaded —> http://tumblr.com/x1tb3uihx

• 450 g of tofu
• 150 g of ground pork
• 2 chopped garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon ginger cut into matchsticks
• 3 tablespoons chopped scallions
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/3 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 teaspoon chicken broth mix
• 2 teaspoons of cooking oil
• 2 and a half teaspoons of corn starch
• 1 tablespoon of black bean garlic sauce
• 2 teaspoons of soy sauce
• 1/3 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)

• We are going to start off by marinading the ground pork with the salt, 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, 1/3 teaspoon chicken broth mix, garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon of cooking oil, 1 teaspoon of soy sauce, 2 teaspoon corn starch and 1 tablespoon of the chopped scallions. Mix well to have it nice and uniform.

1. In a small pot, boil the tofu for about 5 minutes (or until it floats). Drain the tofu and let it cool for about 15 minutes. Cut the tofu into bite-sized cubes.
2. In a small sauce pan, heat the rest of the cooking oil, then add the garlic and ginger. Next, add the black bean garlic sauce, along with the rest of the sugar, chicken broth mix, and corn starch into the pan. Mix well and set aside.
3. Spread the tofu pieces evenly on a fairly wide plate (or bowl). This plate will be placed in a steamer, so choose an appropriate sized plate. Add the rest of the soy sauce over the tofu. Next, spread the sauce mixture prepared from Step #2 over the tofu. Then take the ground pork meat mixture, make mini meat balls and place them on top of the tofu.
   
   The photo below is a sample of what the plate looks like just before steaming:
   
   
4. Prepare the food steamer. I should note that I use a stove top steamer that has water filled at the bottom, so the cooking time may vary. Once the water comes to a boil, place it in the steamer for approximately 15-20 minutes (or until the meat is cooked).
5. Finish off by garnishing with green scallions.