Stir-Fried Romaine Lettuce Heart with Tofu

I prefer the romaine lettuce heart which sold three in a packet instead of the romaine lettuce sold individually.  I found it more suitable for stir-frying as it hold it's shape better and provided more crunch to the dish.  This veggie has to be cooked quickly to preserve the green color or else it will turn black and it will look unappetizing.

For vegetarian, just omit the dried small shrimps and add the tofu for protein.  You can also read more about dried small shrimps here.  It has calcium and magnesium which said to prevent osteoporosis, reduce blood cholesterol level, regulate the blood flow and help in hypertension.  We only use a little bit of this in each dish.

Ingredients:

1 Romaine lettuce heart, washed and cut

1.5 Tbsp. dried small shrimps, washed and drain (you can also use dried shrimps)

3 cloves of garlic, slice

1/2 block of firm tofu, cut

Oyster sauce to taste, about 1-2 Tbsp.

Method:

1.  Heat up your wok, when heated, add in some cooking oil.  When the oil is hot, add in the dried small shrimps, fry until crispy.  Half way through add in the garlic.

2.  When the dried small shrimps is crisp and the garlic is slightly golden, add in the romaine lettuce.  Quickly stir-fry it.  Add in the tofu and mix well.

3.  Add oyster sauce to taste.  Add a little water if you want.  Mix well and serve hot!

Stir-Fried Garlic Chive Flowers with Frozen Tofu (韮菜炒凍豆腐)

I saw a frozen tofu post at Food 4 Tots and was so intriguing that I just had to try it out.  Frozen tofu was new to me and after I tried it, I really liked it.  Frozen tofu is also known as Thousand Layer Tofu (千葉豆腐) and is pretty common in Taiwan.  Simply drain the tofu, wrap in cling wrap and into a ziplock bag and freeze. Just thaw overnight in the refrigerator and squeeze out the excess water before using.  The resulted texture was spongy and porous as ice crystals develop within the tofu when freeze.  Thus resulting in the formation of large cavities that seem to be layered.  The spongy thaw frozen tofu can absorb the sauce or marinade really well, therefore the end result was more flavorful than the normal tofu.  I was sold at first try and hope you will try it too.  The nutritional value of tofu is not lost if you freeze it.  What a great way to store the tofu that near or just pass the expiry date. ;-)

This is a picture of my thawed and water squeezed out tofu, preparing for cutting.  Really looked like a sponge huh?

I served up my frozen tofu with garlic chive flowers or kucai hua as we Malaysian called it.   You can easily spot garlic chive flowers at the Asian supermarket.  It has a distinct flavor and most kids don't like it.  So, one woman was surprised when she saw that my girls ate this.  Well, they were trained to eat Asian food when born, so to me it's good for them.

Ingredients:

1 bunch of garlic chive flowers, pluck and discard the callous bottom part, washed

1/2 block of frozen tofu, sliced

1 medium carrot, sliced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

Soy sauce to taste

1/2 tsp. chicken powder (optional)

Method:

1.  Heat up a wok, add in some cooking oil of your choice.  When hot, add in the garlic, stir-fry until fragrant. 

2.  Add in garlic chives and carrot and stir-fry until soften.  Add in sliced frozen tofu.  Mix well.

3.  Add soy sauce to taste and chicken powder.  Stir to mix well.  Serve hot!

Sambal Fried Tofu/ Sambal Fried Beancurd

This dish paired well with rice or coconut rice (nasi lemak), the spiciness from this dish would get you going and asked for extra rice.  Cut the extra firm tofu into pieces, pat dry and pan-fried in oil until golden brown.  Then, prepare your favorite sambal sauce and add in the fried tofu.  Sorry, I won't be sharing with you my  sambal sauce recipe.  But I am sure you already have your favorite sambal recipe that you cooked for your family that could be used in this dish.  I also tried it with pan-fried hard boiled eggs which was equally delicious.

I used a spoon to scoop off the chili and onion from the tofu before passing it to my girls.  I gave them 3 pieces each which they finished it all with glasses of water.  Not bad I would say because this sambal was really spicy, even I was sweating from eating this.  I think they have discovered that spicy food are delicious thus they have developed the tolerance for it.

Spicy Beancurd with Chicken

Sometimes I just needed my spicy food!  I could hardly go more than a day without any spicy food.  That's why I always have a bottle of my homemade chili in oil in the refrigerator on days that I cooked non-spicy food so that I could have that as a condiment.  If you are new to my blog and want my chili in oil recipe, you can do a search within my blog on the right panel.

I could proudly say that both of my girls are well trained in handling spicy food now.  They can eat this with no problem.  They can even eat the spicy Korean instant noodle and one day even brave enough to want to sample my chili in oil.  For your information, my chili in oil is extremely spicy and I was shocked that they wanted to try it.  I gave them a dot to try because they asked for it.  They quickly searched for water after they had it, yeah even my 4 years old dare to eat my chili in oil. :D

This dish was easy to make as well, just required an extra step in pan-frying the tofu first.  If you want it healthier, you don't have to pan-fry the tofu.  I did it for the texture and crunch.

Ingredients:

1 skinless and boneless chicken breast, thinly sliced and marinated it with salt, white pepper, cooking wine, sesame oil and cornstarch.

1/2 firm tofu, sliced and pat dry with paper towel

2 scallions, only the white bottom part, thinly sliced

1 small piece of ginger, minced

2 tsp. LKK hoisin sauce (you can use other brand)

2 tsp. LKK chili bean sauce (you can use other brand)

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. sugar

Method:

1.  In a medium heat wok with oil, pan-fry the tofu until golden brown on both sides, dish out and set aside.

2.  In a heated wok, add in some oil.  When heated, add in the ginger and scallion and stir-fry until fragrant.  Add in chicken and stir-fry until cooked.  Add in the fried tofu slices.  Mix well.

3.  Add in the sauces and seasonings.  Stir to mix well.  Do a taste test and adjust accordingly.  Serve hot.

Stir Fried Konnyaku Slice (炒半边腰花)

I went to my Asian market when they were having a cooking demonstration day.  I discovered this Konnyaku slice or 半边腰花 at the Lee Kum Kee's cooking booth.  Frankly it was my first time seeing this vegetarian thingy but it reminded me of the kidney that my mom used to make soup.  I got a sample and really loved the texture of this springy Konnyaku slices.  I loved it so much that I bought a packet of this and the LKK sauce that went with it.  I will show you the picture of the packet and the LKK sauce in the next page.  It was my first time trying this sauce as well and really loved it.  The store manager told me they used this sauce to pour on their steamed fish.  Now I know what sauce the restaurant used for their fishes.  Hehehe...

I pan-fried some cut firm tofu and then stir-fried with these Konnyaku slices with the LKK sauce.  Very easy to make and the sauce went well with rice.  The Konnyaku slice can be found at the frozen section of the market.  Just thaw it in the refrigerator a day before use or take some out and soak in water to thaw.

This is a picture of the thawed Konnyaku slice, I bought it for $4+, forgot the exact price.

Ingredients:

1/2 or 1 packet of Konnyaku Slice

1/2 firm tofu, cut into one inch slices, pat dry with paper towel

Lee Kum Kee's seasoned soy sauce for seafood to taste

Method:

1.  In a heated wok with oil, pan-fry the sliced firm tofu until golden brown on both sides.  Dish out and set aside.

2.  In the same wok, add in the konnyaku slices and stir-fry for a while.  Then add in the fried tofu slices and season with some LKK seasoned soy sauce for seafood (about 2 Tbsp.), add a little water if you want.  Serve hot!

(This sauce is salty and sweet)

Crispy Tofu with Sauce

For variation,  I sometimes pan-fried my tofu.  Even though it was not as healthy and we all should eat less fried food, but sometimes it was okay.  As long as I kept fried food in moderation.  This pan-fried tofu was crispy, it was great eating it plain with Thai sweet chili sauce as a dipping sauce.  But I wanted to play with a sauce to pour it on top.  I loved the combination of LKK chili bean sauce and hoisin sauce so the above was my result.  Such an easy dish but fulled of flavored and great with brown rice.  Try it and feedback to me ya!

Ingredients:

2 pieces of regular tofu or firm tofu, cut into pieces, like picture above

Rice flour to coat the tofu, as needed

1 piece of ginger, minced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

2 scallions, chopped

LKK Chili Bean Sauce, about 2 tsp.

LKK Hoisin sauce, about 2 tsp.

1 tsp. sugar

Method:

1.  Place a piece of paper towel on a plate, place cut tofu on top and cover with another piece of paper towel.  Press it to absorb as much water from the tofu as possible.

2.  Heat the wok with some cooking oil, medium heat for pan-frying.  Pour some rice flour into a plate.  Coat the dry tofu pieces into the rice flour and slowly drop into the medium heat oil and pan-fry until crispy and golden brown on both sides.  Dish out and place on a plate with paper towel to drain the excess oil.  Finish the rest of the tofu.

3.  Take the crisp tofu from the paper towel and place on a plate.  

4.  In the same wok, add 1 Tbsp. of oil and fry the ginger, garlic and scallion until fragrant.  Add in the chili bean sauce, stir-fry until fragrant, then add hoisin sauce and sugar.  Stir well and pour on top of the tofu.  Serve hot.

Braised Pork with Dried Whole Chestnut and Tofu

I recently made some chicken glutinous rice and needed to add some dried chestnuts.  Since I was going to soften the chestnuts anyway, I thought I just cooked the whole packet and freeze half for later use.  I just defroze the soften chestnuts in the refrigerator overnight for this dish.  I bought this natural dried whole chestnut and thus the color was brown.  Not good looking but tasted the same and healthier since it was not whiten.

This was like a braised soy sauce pork except I added a handful of dried chili peppers (not the bird eye dried chili) for some kick.  Since my girls were eating this, so not much to create a huge kick, just a little that I didn't much notice but my little Edda said the tofu tasted spicy.  Probably because I didn't soften it in warm water first, I just added some to stir-fry with the oil.  Perhaps that was why it was less spicy.  You can certainly add more if you like it spicier.  You can also omit the dried chestnuts or substitute it with Chinese mushroom.

Ingredients:

2-3 boneless pork chops, cut into small pieces

12 dried whole chestnuts, rinsed and simmered for 1 hour until soften. (do it a day before)

1 block of extra firm tofu, cut into pieces

1 handful of dried chili

4 cloves of garlic

1 piece of ginger, smashed

1 or 2 star anise

Sauce:

LKK premium dark soy sauce, Hua Tiao Chinese cooking wine, Kikkoman soy sauce, 2 tsp. brown sugar, a little salt to taste.

Method:

1.  Heat up a cooking pot, add a little oil.  Stir-fry the ginger and garlic until brown.  Add in the dried chili and star anise.  Stir a little.  Add in the pork, pan-sealed it.  Add the Hua Tiao cooking wine, stir a little.  Add in enough water to cover 3/4 of the meat.  Add in the dark soy sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar and a little salt.

2.  Add in the chestnuts, stir to mix well.  Place the cut tofu on top, scoop some of the sauce to coat the tofu.  Cover and let it simmer for 3 hours or until the pork is tender.

3.  After 3 hours, lightly give it a quick stir to mix in the tofu, be careful not to break it.  Serve hot!

Stir Fried Cabbage With Tofu

Another simple and healthy home cook dish from me. I would buy cabbage if I did not go to the Asian supermarket to get my vegetable for the week as cabbage has a long fridge life. With cabbage on hand, just add some colors and some tofu and oyster sauce, a delicious and healthy meal awaits you. You can't go wrong with oyster sauce, so stock up on Lee Kum Kee's oyster sauce for easy Chinese stir-fry. I don't like other brands so I always stick to my trusted LKK brand for my oyster sauce. Look for it when you shop at your local Asian supermarket next time.



Ingredients:

Regular tofu, cut
Cabbage, cut
Carrot, cut
Green bell pepper, cut
Garlic, chopped
Oyster sauce to taste

Method:

1. In a heated wok, add in some cooking oil. When hot, add in garlic, fry until fragrant but not burn. Add in cabbage, carrot and bell pepper. Stir-fry well.

2. Add in oyster sauce and a little water. Mix well. Add in tofu and fry to mix well. Serve hot!

Creamy Corn Tofu

I created this dish by accident one night. I had a block of silken tofu for dinner but had no idea how to cook it. I looked through my pantry and saw a canned of creamy corns and thought why not? It should pair well together as we loved the creamy chicken corn soup with tofu. And I was right, this dish was so easy to put together and guarantee deliciousness. Smashed the silken tofu and served the rice with lots of creamy corn sauce. You can have this dish along and be satisfied. If you don't have the chicken stock granules, you can substitute it with a little sugar. Try this dish on one of your lazy nights, hey it's healthy too.



Ingredients:

1 canned of creamy corns
1 pack of soft tofu or silken tofu, sliced in half diagonally
2 scallion, chopped
Salt to taste
Chicken stock granules to taste
1/2 cup water

Method:

1. In a heated wok, add in 1/2 cup of water and one canned of creamy corns. Stir to mix well and let it boil. When boiling, add in the salt and chicken stock granules. Mix well.

2. Then, slowly slide in the silken tofu. Scoop the creamy corn sauce on top and heat up the tofu. Let it boil for few minutes or until the tofu is hot. Turn off the heat and add in the scallion. Serve on a big plate.

Kailan with Tofu

Another easy home cook meal from me. I tried Chai Hsin with tofu before and really liked it, so decided to stir-fry it with kailan this time. It turned out very good too. I guess now I can stir-fry the tofu with various kind of different Chinese greens and can come out with a healthy and delicious dish that good eaten with rice. What best is you only need oyster sauce to season it or just salt and soy sauce would do.

Ingredients:

Chinese Kailan, washed each leaf separately and cut thinly (I only used the leaves here)
Firmed tofu, cut like above picture
1 small carrot, sliced
2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped
Oyster sauce to taste

Method:

1. In a wok, heat up with some oil. When hot, add in garlic and fry until fragrant but do not burn. Add in kailan and stir-fry well. Add in carrot and stir-fry for a minute.

2. Add in tofu, oyster sauce and a little water. Stir well to mix, be careful not to break the tofu too much. Dish out and serve hot.

Steamed Tofu with Minced Meat

My initial plan was to bake some meat balls. Then, I saw a blog post at Babe in the City on this steamed tofu and thought why not since I had some soft tofu. I marinated my minced pork with ShaoHsing rice wine, sesame oil, salt, white pepper, garlic powder, chopped carrots, ginger and scallions and some cornstarch water. Then, I cut out the soft tofu, lay it on a steaming tray and used a melon scoop to scoop a hole in the middle of each tofu. The scooped out tofu I added them into the minced meat mixture (don't want to waste you see) and mixed it well.





After that, I used the melon scoop and a spoon to make meat ball shape balls and placed it on top of each tofu. Lastly I drizzled some soy sauce, ShaoHsing rice wine and sesame oil before putting it to steam at high heat for 15-20 minutes, or until the meat balls are cooked. Serve warm!

This steamed dish was very fragrant with the Shao Hsing rice wine and sesame oil. What best was it was well received by my two girls. Got to make them loved tofu at young age. ;-)

Vegetable With Tofu

Goodness in one plate again, well be another delicious vegetarian dish, protein and fiber combo. For this dish, I would recommend regular or hard tofu so that it can maintain its' shape. The vegetable I used for this is Chai Hsin (Asian green) and carrot. Again, another easy stir-fry dish using only oyster sauce as seasoning. Evy loved this, not only she ate the veggie but lots of tofu.

In a hot oil, add in chopped garlic, stir-fry for a while, add in the stems (harder part) of the veggie, fry for a little while, add in the greens, fry until soften. Add in a little water and tofu. Then season with oyster sauce, quick stir and serve hot. Quick and easy and I believe anyone can cook this.

Tofu with Ground/Minced Pork Asian Style

This is one of the common household dishes. Most Malaysian Chinese families should have their own version. I cooked this dish often for my family and I was surprised I haven't posted this recipe before. This is a good one dish meal too but often time I would serve it with another Asian green with or without a chicken herbal soup. I often cook a minimum of two dishes, one make up of protein/seafood and the other of fiber and about 2 soups in a week, one is herbal, and the other one can be of anything.





Ingredients:

1 box of regular Tofu, cut into cubed
Ground/minced pork, about 1/2 lb.
4-5 Chinese dried mushroom, soak in hot water to soften, drained and chopped.
1/2 Carrot, chopped
3 cloves of Garlic, chopped
1/4 cup Frozen green peas

Seasonings:
Oyster sauce
Cooking wine
Dark soy sauce
White pepper
Sesame oil

Method:

1. Heat up wok with oil. When heated, add in ground pork and garlic. Stir-fry until pork is no longer pink. Add in Chinese mushroom, carrot and green peas. Stir-fry for awhile.

2. Add in cubed tofu and seasonings to taste. Add a little water if need to (for sauce). Stir- fry well and dish out to serve hot.

Tofu Glazed with Salted Bean Sauce

I loved this Crab Classic, chunk style imitation crab meat! It came in Lobster Classic too but the only difference I can see is more red coloring added (since it's redder in color), other than that, everything looks identical to me (I forgot to look at the back of the ingredients list, might have a little lobster meat added instead of king crab?). I always buy more and freeze it in my freezer when it is on sales for buy one gets one free (it can freeze up to 9 months). Crab Classic is made with a mixture of seafood, mainly Alaska Pollock. So this is an excellent source of protein and omega 3 fatty acids. Not only that, the shape holds well so it's great in stir-fry, in soup and in spaghetti. A great food to substitute for meat/poultry and for the vegetarians who don't eat meat/poultry but do take seafood.





Ingredients:

1 packet soft tofu, sliced like above picture
1/2 packet of imitation crab meat, separated (Crab Classic, chunk style)
1/2 cup of frozen corns
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 stalk green onion/scallion, thinly sliced
Chopped onion (I added this just to finish the little bit of onion that I have in the fridge but not required)

Sauce:
1 Tbsp. salted yellow bean, smashed
1 Tbsp. oyster sauce
1 tsp. dark soy sauce
1 tsp. sugar

1/4 cup water
Oil for cooking

Method:

1. Cut the tofu and lay it nicely on a plate. You can have it cold or you can heat it in the microwave for 2 minutes to warm it up before pouring in the sauce.

2. In a heated wok, pour in a little oil. Add in garlic, stir-fry until golden but be careful not to burn it. Add in imitation crab meat and corns, stir-fry well. Add in salted yellow bean and fry for a while then add in the rest of the sauce ingredients. Fry well, add the water and let the sauce thicken a little and pour it on top of the nicely arranged soft tofu.

Pan Fried Crispy Tofu

Had some leftover tofu and decided to pan-fry it. Tofu can be quite bland so remember to season generously yet not over board. Best to enjoy the crispy tofu with a condiment such as this Thai sweet chili sauce or ketchup.




Ingredients:

Regular Tofu, cut into slices like above

Season with:
Sea salt grinder
McCormick Italian herb seasoning grinder
Peppercorn Medley grinder
Rice flour or cornstarch for coating

Serve with:
Thai sweet chili sauce

Method:

1. Cut the tofu and pat dry with paper towel on both sides. Season generously with seasoning listed on both sides except rice flour/cornstarch. Let it season for at least 30 minutes.

2. In a plate, pour some rice flour/cornstarch. In a medium heat skillet, heat some oil. Coat both sides of seasoned tofu with flour and slowly put into the heated oil. Pan-fry both sides of tofu until golden brown. Drain on paper towel. Serve with Thai sweet chili sauce or ketchup.

Korean Spicy Tofu Stew

Remember the other day I bought lots of bay scallops and finding way to use them? Since I also bought some imitation crab meats and tofu, I just combined them into my spicy Korean soup. The key ingredient here is Gochujang, Korean red pepper paste. You can easily buy this at any of the Korean grocery store. This paste alone is pretty spicy but I always want an extra kick and added a few dashes of cayenne pepper powder. Guess who besides the parents loved this soup?



My little Edda enjoyed this spicy soup very much. Even me the mother thought this soup was spicy and yet this little fellow finished a bowl and requested for more! I had some leftover for the next day so ladled the rice with this soup and some tofu and crab meat for her and she finished everything in her bowl. WOW right? As for the big sister, she won't even dare to touch the soup!

For recipe, click here. Oh, I also added an egg into the soup this time.

Tofu with Corns

My cooking is getting easier and easier these days BECAUSE I am addicted to Taiwan Idols Drama Series!! I have no idea I can watch Taiwan series on You Tube until my hubby recommended one for me to watch. And since that one, I was hooked!! HELP!! I have been watching Chinese series from China on T.V. all these while and have no idea that the Taiwan actors and actresses are so handsome and pretty compared to the China one. I saw a clip while in Malaysia and remembered mentioned it to my older sister, wow the actors are getting very good looking. And now I know that was actually a Taiwan idols drama series. So, my cooking has been majorly affected by my addiction and not to mention baking because what baking, I want to watch my series!! I am so afraid to start on a new series, or else everyone will suffer in my household!

Okay, okay, enough rambling. Here sharing with you my lazy and easy tofu with corns dish.

Ingredients:

1 packet soft tofu
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
Frozen corns, about 1/2 cup
2 green onions/scallions, cut
Black bean in chili oil, about 1 Tbsp.
Salt & sugar to taste

Method:

1. In a wok, heat up oil. When heated, add in garlic. Stir-fry until slight brown and fragrant, add in frozen corns. Stir for a minute, add in tofu and black bean in chili oil. Season to taste with salt and a little sugar. Add in scallions, mix well and dish out to serve.

Scallops Mapo Tofu

I was trying something new. Instead of the usual ground meat, I replaced it with chopped sea scallops. I know I shouldn't use sea scallops in this dish, a bit wasted to cut the beautiful big scallops into small pieces. But then again, everything still go into the tummy, so it didn't really matter. But of course it's cheaper to use bay scallops as you don't even have to cut it into small pieces but to just use it as it is, cost wise, it's so much cheaper too.

I bought the LKK mapo tofu spicy bean curd paste recently and decided to give it a try. Hmm... I haven't gotten use to the paste yet and it needed more to make it tasty. I added some sugar, sweet dark soy sauce and some spicy chili bean paste and still find the flavor not to my liking. I will post the recipe once I perfected it. First time using this paste and I still need to play around with it.

Easy Cold Tofu

This is one super easy home cook dish that I ever came out with. So easy that everyone can make this and no skill needed. Just cut some soft tofu and use the sauces that you already have at home and it's ready if you like it cold. If you prefer it hot, warm it in a microwave oven for 2 minutes and you have yourself a delicious dish.

Ingredients:

1 box of soft tofu, sliced into pieces (I only used half packet above)
Drizzle some oyster sauce on top
Drizzle some dark soy sauce on top
Drizzle some sesame oil on top
Sprinkle lots of fried shallots on top (I used store-bought crispy shallots that I keep in my freezer once opened, ready to use whenever I needed some, very convenient!)
Chopped fresh scallions for color (I didn't have any but would add this if I have some)
Chopped fresh red bird eye chilies (optional, for extra spiciness and color, and if you don't have kids sharing your food :P)

I don't think I need to write down the direction/method here. Try it for your family dinner tonight!

Easy & Delicious Stir-fried Tofu

I like healthy food. Healthy food to me is that the dish has to be colorful, with lean skinless chicken breasts, fish or tofu. I also cook with lots of fresh garlic, ginger, scallion, shallot or onion. The above dish is healthy to me because it has celery, carrot, straw mushroom and tofu. It's a vegetarian dish actually. This dish is so easy to cook with only two seasonings and yet the taste is so divine. Tigerfish cooked a similar version recently too.





Ingredients:

7oz soft tofu, cut into cubes
1/2 can of straw mushrooms, drained
1 medium carrot, sliced
2 sticks of celery, cut
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup of water
2 Tbsp. of cooking oil

Seasonings:
2 Tbsp. oyster sauce
2 Tbsp. Japanese white rice wine

Method:

1. Heat the wok with oil. Add in garlic, fry until golden. Add in celery and carrot. Stir-fry until almost cooked. Add in the straw mushrooms. Stir-fry well and add in the seasonings and water.

2. Lastly add the cubes tofu, fry until heated through and mixed well with the sauce and veggies. Serve hot.