Pan Fried Tempeh with Chili Anchovies

I have always wanted to try tempeh-a soy product but never had the guts to do so. Finally, I decided to give it a go after spotting some in our of our local oriental stores.

To be very honest, I do not think I am a fan of the taste of it- though I do like the texture. Maybe it's the way I cooked it. I paired it with some lovely chilli anchovies which made it nicer but I am not sure if I will give it another go.

It has a slight nutty but strong after taste. I think the chill and peanuts does mask the flavour well.

Have you tried tempeh before? How did you cook it?

Pan Fried Tempeh with Chilli Peanut Anchovies (serves 4)
100 grams Tempeh sliced and pan fried
1 cup of fried anchovies
2 chilli chopped
1/2 cup of peanuts
some chopped chives

Roast peanuts in pan. Add chill and some oil. Toss anchovies and chives through it. Top it on tempeh. Serve with rice.

Spicy Bean Paste Tofu and Pork Mince/ A version of Mapo Tofu

A simple humble jar of Soya Bean Paste (Tau Cheo) seats in my fridge. Before chatting with my girlfriend from KL/Singapore, I would have never guessed there are so many ways of using this sauce. Together, I have used this paste to create at least 4 dinners (which means 4 lunches too!).


Most people would have heard of Mapo Tofu. This is pretty much it except I did not add any sichuan chili to it or black beans to it. It's just as simple and quick to cook though and I certainly enjoyed the slight saltiness/nutty taste to it.

I'm pretty amazed by how versatile this sauce is. I wished I would have discovered it earlier! Still, it's never too late than ever is it??

Spicy Bean Paste Tofu and Pork Mince/ A version of Mapo Tofu
500 grams of soft tofu
250 grams of pork mince
2 chili padi chopped
1 red onion diced
1 generous tablespoon of garlic
3 tablespoon of tao cheo sauce
1 tablespoon of dark soya sauce
pepper
1/4 cup of water if needed

Saute onion, garlic and chili. Cook pork mince. When it is done, add tofu and bean sauce. Cook and simmer for around 10 minutes, adding water if needed. Season with dark soya sauce and pepper. Serve with rice and vegetables.

Japanese Tofu with Spicy Pork and Egg Budget AU$15

 When the theme for this month's S$20 (or AUS$15) budget meals was announced to be Tofu, I got excited. Afterall, it is a humble ingredient that can be prepared in so many ways.

My favourite tofu, would be the silken egg tofu. The one that comes in a tube. I love to coat it with some cornflour and pan fry it, creating a slight crisp coating on the outside, but soft silky tofu on the inside. I fried up some mince, made an omelette and added the pre prepared tofu on the top.

While it looks messy, it is one of our favourite easy dish to have. The combine texture of crisp, soft, eggy..etc just makes it worthwhile.

I made ribs and lotus soup ( I realised I forgot to purchase some peanuts if not I would have added it there!) to pair with this dish. By boiling it in the morning before we head to work and placing it in the magic cooker, we were delighted to have a hot soup ready for us to drink when we got home in cold weather. A quick and simple bak choy stir fry was also made.

The Pork Ribs and Lotus soup was a bargain- Only $2.60 to make. We picked up some cheap pork bones which happened to be ribs for $3 for a big packet. We divided the packet into threes- So more soups for us! Lotus root was frozen though-nevertheless, it was $2.50 for a big packet (60cents). Enough to for at least another 2-3 meals. I added some dried scallops that was in my freezer which I estimated it to be around $1.

Bak Choy was $1 a bunch

Japanese Tofu with Spicy Pork and Egg was a little more pricey- around $7. On hindsight, probably one tube of tofu was enough but I got too carried away! So total cost of meal = AU$10.60. Not bad for a complete meal for 4.

Japanese Tofu with Spicy Pork and Egg (Serves 4-5)
2 tubes of Japanese Tofu
1 cup of corn flour
oil
200 grams pork mince
1/2 cup of hua tiao jiu
3 tablespoon of soy sauce
2 chili padi chopped
5 eggs
3 tablespoon of milk or soy milk

Slice tofu, coat it with corn flour lightly, shaking excess flour out. Fry tofu in hot pan with some oil. Turn after 2-3 minutes. Remove from pan and place tofu in plate lined with paper towels. Set aside.

Meanwhile, sauté chili padi with pork mince. Add the hua tiao jiu and soy sauce. Cook till mince is done.

Beat eggs with some milk. Pour eggs into pan. Cook till nearly set. Place tofu on the top of the omelette. Serve warm.

Hosted by Ellana from Cusine Paradise, this is my entry to Budget Meals.

Sambal Tofu Stir Fry

I was inspired by Noobcook's dish recently and made a similar but totally different version of it. In fact, I cheated so badly that I wonder if I should still link back to her blog! ;p But it was a very quick and easy stir fry with some sambal, tofu and veges. I used oyster mushrooms which I lurveeeeee.

I didn't use belachan and totally regret it. My sambal actually came from a jar! But hey, it works and made a good simple dinner. ;p

Sambal Tofu Stir Fry 
1/4 cup of sambal of your choice
1 tofu cut in cubes

1 red onion sliced
chinese chives a bunch sliced
1 tsp of garlic

Heat oil in pan and pan fry bean curd first. Drawn on some papertowels. In the same pan, saute onion, garlic and sambal. Add veges and tofu. Add around 1/4 of water if too dry. Serve with white rice.

Ma Po Tofu

The best thing about Chinese cooking is that it can be as simple as you want it to be or as challenging as we want it to be. More often than none, I choose the simple way.

Tofu is often perceived as boring. Not so in Chinese cuisine. I love my tofu as spicy as possible and the look of ma po tofu certainly appeals to me. Served with warm rice, it is the basis for good comfort food after a hard's day of work isn't it?

Ma Po Tofu 

2 firm tofu diced
300 grams of chicken mince (pork mince will be perfect for this)
handful of dehydrated shitake mushrooms diced
1 chili diced
1 red onion diced
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
1 big bunch of spring onions sliced
1/2 cup of Spicy bean paste
1/2 cup of Shiao Xin Wine
pepper

Fry garlic, chili and onion till nice and soft. Add in chicken mince and cook-breaking it up in pieces. Add mushrooms and tofu. Add all sauces and simmer. Adding stock or water if needed. Finally add in spring onions and toss through. Serve with hot rice.

Soya Sauce Chicken and Japanese Tofu with Broccolli

I don't deny that despite my variety of cuisine that I blog, nothing beats 1 meat, 1 vege and rice (bonus with soup!). My Chinese roots dictate that nothing is more comforting that soup, rice and dish cooked in a "Chinese" style.

I have previously blogged about soya sauce chicken but nevertheless love it anyhow! For the vege dish, I pan fried some japanese tofu and fried it with broccoli. Nothing too fancy, but the satisfication level is high. When my teeth sank into the chicken, it was the sense of "ah.. this is what I have been waiting for."

Soya Sauce Chicken (Serves 4-5)

7-8 Chicken drumsticks trimmed of fat
1 tablespoon of chopped garlic
1 tablespoon of chopped chili
olive oil

1/4 cup of oyster sauce
1 tablespoon of kikoman soya sauce
1 tsp of dark soya sauce
2-3 tablepoons of hua tio jiu
1 tsp sugar

1/201 cup of water

Saute garlic and chili. Brown chicken over moderate heat.

Mix sauces in a jar.

Once the chicken is browned, pour sauce mix over it. Pour around 1/2 cup of water into the wok/pan. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Check every 10 minutes if it requires more water. Turn the chicken so that it is well coated in the mixture.

Japanese Tofu with Broccoli

1 tube of Jap tofu sliced
corn flour
1  brocooli chopped
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
3 tablespoon of oyster sauce
few tsp of water

Coat Jap tofu with corn flour. Pan fried till golden brown. Set aside. Saute garlic and add broccolli, add the water and cook till nearly done. Add soya sauce, pepper and the tofu. Serve hot with chicken.

Tofu Mushroom Stir Fry

My favourite food these day consists of one pot meals. Anything that can be stir fry is added into my shopping trolley.

I'm also a big fan of tofu. It's a substantial additional to a meal. Not to mention, the protein that goes with it.

For this particular dinner, I chose to pan fried few pieces of tofu cut into small cubs. Upon draining them with papertowels, I stir fry chilli, garlic shoots, mushrooms and prawns. The result was a comforting satisfying dinner...that didnt take long to wash up!

Tofu Mushrooms Stir Fry
2 cubs of tofu blocks cut into smaller pieces.
oil for frying

1 cup of small prawns
1 tsp of garlic
1 small chili chopped
1 bunch of garlic shoots-chopped into bite size
2 cups of chopped mushrooms

Seasoning
2-3 tablespoons oyster sauce
2-3 tablespoons of water
salt,
1 tsp of sugar
pepper

1) Heat oil in pan and fry tofu till brown. Drain on paper towels.

2) Heat 1 tsp of oil and fry chili and garlic. Quickly add the prawns and cook till nearly done. Fry up the garlic shoots and mushrooms. Add tofu last. Add seasoning and simmer for a few minutes.

3) Serve with hot rice