Braised Chicken and Beancurd in Fragrant Sauce

Original Recipe by Amy Beh

½ a chicken, chopped into bite-sized pieces

4 pre-fried chicken feet, claws cut off and chopped in two

6 dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked

2 pieces soft beancurd, cubed

1 whole pod garlic with skin on

5 slices ginger

5 dried chillies, soaked

1 star anise

4 cm cinnamon stick

5 cloves

1 tbsp white peppercorns

1 tsp oil

1 tsp sesame oil

Sauce ingredients

700ml fresh chicken stock

2 tbsp oyster sauce

3 tbsp fragrant braising sauce

1 tbsp rock sugar

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

Lightly sprinkle some cornflour over the beancurd cubes and deep-fry until golden brown. Dish out and put aside.

Heat oil and sesame oil in a wok and fry ginger until fragrant. Add chicken, chicken feet and mushrooms. Stir-fry for a minute. Add combined sauce ingredients and bring to the boil.

Put in garlic, dried chillies, star anise, cinnamon stick, peppercorns and cloves. Cover and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes.

Add beancurd and let it simmer for a further 8-10 minutes. Dish out and serve hot.

Hot braised beancurd with minced meat

Ingredients
2pc Japanese tofu
200gm minced meat
20gm chopped black mushroom
50gm chopped bamboo shoot
5gm chopped red chillies
Salt, pepper
3gm sugar
3gm Sichuan sauce
5gm tomato sauce
5gm cooking oil

Method
1. Heat oil in wok. Add in all chopped ingredients and fry for two minutes.

2. Season to taste, add beancurd and thicken gravy with tomato sauce.

Bitter gourd with prawns and beancurd puffs

Ingredients
1 medium-sized bitter gourd cut into thin slices
300g prawns, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
7 beancurd puffs or tow foo pok
1 red chilli, chopped
1 rounded tablespoon black bean with garlic (Lee Kum Kee)
1 tsp sugar
200ml water

Method
1. Add a heaped teaspoon salt to the bitter gourd slices, stir and squeeze them with your hands. Rinse off with water, and drain in a colander.

2. Scald tow foo pok with boiling water, and drain. Cut each into two with scissors.

3. Heat oil in wok, fry garlic, add chilli and black beans. Fry till fragrant.

4. Add prawns and stir-fry till they are pink. Add bitter gourd.

5. Stir-fry, then add in water, tow foo pok and sugar. Cover and cook for five minutes.

Note: You could add salt if it is not salty enough.

Beancurd skin roll with huai shan

Ingredients

6 sticks of fresh huai shan, 1cm thick, 7cm long
2 teaspoons kei chi
1 chicken thigh deboned and cut into small pieces
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsps soya sauce
2 tsps ginger juice
2 tsps sesame oil
1/2 Tbsp Hua Tiao wine (optional)
Beancurd skin (fresh fu pei), cut into large long pieces
6 sticks of yam, 1 cm thick, 7cm long
3 Chinese mushrooms, soaked in water and cut into quarters
1/2 tsp cornflour mixed with a little water

Method
1. Marinate the chicken with the salt, soya sauce, ginger juice, sesame oil and wine and leave aside for 15 minutes.

2. Steam the chicken with the mushrooms and kei chi for 30 minutes over boiling water. Leave to cool.

3. Steam the sticks of yam on a separate plate till cooked. Ladle some chicken gravy over the yam.

4. Spread out the beancurd skin on a board. Put on it a stick of yam, a stick of huai shan, some kei chee, mushroom and chicken. Roll up. (It should have a double layer of skin. Repeat with the rest of the beancurd skin.)

5. Steam the rolls over boiling water for 10 minutes.

6. Thicken the remaining chicken gravy with cornflour mixture in a small pot over the fire. Drizzle over the beancurd skin rolls.

Home-made Beancurd

Original Recipe by Amy Beh

500 ml soya bean milk (non-sweetened)
½ tsp salt
5 eggs
1 tbsp cornflour
22cm square tray

Line the tray with cellophane paper. Combine soya bean milk, salt and eggs, and beat lightly (make sure there are no bubbles).

Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into the prepared tray. Ensure there are no traces of egg white residue.

Bring water to the boil in a steamer. Once the water boils, reduce the heat to low and place the tray in the steamer. Steam for 20 minutes until the beancurd is set and cooked. Remove and leave to cool.