Onsen Tamago (Tofu with Hot Spring Egg) -AFF featuring Japan

Okay, let's not dwell on how long I've gone missing here haha! But at least I/m back for now for a good reason. :) I realize I need some food events or even my blogger friends to get me going on my blogging lately. Well, thanks to them, Alan & Wendy etc, coming up with this Asian Food Fest and here am I again haha! Okay, enough jibbing, let's get to business! I am posting a really simple, tofu lover's, yet just so delicious dish; Onsen Tamago. In English, it means Tofu with soft boil egg. The name itself already gets me hungry! :P

I do apologies on the poor lighting on the picture...probably because I haven't been using my DSLR for too long hahaha! Anway, the dish came out lovely! Happy with the result but maybe the egg needs a wee bit more work and practice. ;) I got this recipe from the book "Harumi's Japanese cooking", author is Harumi Kurihara...quite a delightful read I must say haha!

Ingredients for Onsen Tamago (Serves 4)

600g soft/silken  (2 packs)

2 hot spring egg (recipe follows)

5g dried fish flakes (bonito flakes)

1/4 cup / 50ml soy sauce

2 tbsp mirin

1 tbsp sake / Japanese cooking wine

grated fresh white radish (my own addition)

chopped spring onion (optional)

grated ginger (optional - I omitted this)

• Drain the tofu and wrap in kitchen paper to remove excess water.
• Make the dressing by combining the dried fish flakes, soy sauce, mirin and sake in a sauce pot. Cook over low heat until mixture boils. Remove from fire and let mixture cools and strain. Note: If you cannot find the fish flakes/bonito, use a little concentrated fish stock to give a slight fish flavor to the dressing.
• Cut the tofu into 4 pieces and place one piece in each bowl.
• Scoop out a hollow in each piece of tofu.
• To make hot spring eggs (onsen tamago): place the room temperature eggs into a wide neck flask or any container that will hold heat. Add boiling water to cover them. Leave for 10 minutes.The yolks should still be runny with the white just cooked.
• Gently crack the egg into the cavity of the tofu squares.Place grated radish (if using), spring onion and grated ginger along side the tofu.
• Gently pour the soy dressing over the tofu and serve. Yummy!!

This couldn't be a simpler dish to prepare. I love how the runny yolk adds on to the flavor of the dish when it is cut up and enjoyed together. So delish! And the addition of the grated white radish was added bonus! It gives the dish a slight kick to the overall taste. And soy bonito sauce is fabulous! So flavorful...I can make this anyday and go with plain tofu and taste so so good.

Do give this awesome dish a try...highly recommend it!

I am happy to submit this to this month's Asian Food Fest #1 Oct 2013 : Japan, hosted by Alan from travelling-foodies

Get in the fun guys and join in the event. Added bonus is a give away by our dear generous Alan! Hahaha! 

Signing off now, cheers and will post soon!

Stuffed Golden Purses，金钱袋 (Braised Stuffed Tofu)

Happy Dragon Year Everyone! Hope everyone had a wonderful break and ny celebration during the past week. \(^o^)/ Although this year was kind of rush due to the short "intermission" from Christmas, but I still manage to have a nice reunion with my love ones. Plus my long break from blogging too, about 2 weeks to be exact. I bet some of my readers might have already given up hope on me, lol! Apologies! However, truth be told, it will probably be lesser posts from me from now on as I feel the need to spend more time with my kiddos. But no worries, I will still be posting, just less. ;P

Before the Lunar New Year is over, I want to post up a savory dish that I made awhile back. And I believe this dish is a presentable one to serve during new year. Its actually Stuffed Braised Tofu but I changed its name to Stuffed Golden Purses (金钱袋), to make it sound more festive, lol!

I bet many of you out there know what Yong Dao Fu (酿豆腐 ) is. This stuffed tofu is pretty similar to that, just that instead of stuffing it with the usual fish paste, I used minced pork and loads of other ingredients. My family loves any kind of tofu dishes, so this was a good one to serve up to them. If you too love tofu dishes, read on!

Ingredients for Stuffed Golden Purses (Braised stuffed tofu, makes 6)

3 squares of Dao Gua (pressed tofu)

Filling:

250g fresh ground pork (can be replaced with any meat of your choice)

100g fresh prawns, peeled, devined and dice small

3 dried mushrooms, soaked till soft and diced small

1 tbsp minced ginger

2 tbsp diced green onion

Marinate:

salt & pepper

2 tsp light soy sauce

1/2 tsp caster sugar

1/2 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp cornflour

Seasoning:

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

1/2 cup of water with 1 tsp cornflour mixed in)

Method:

• For the pressed tofu, take one and cut diagonally into 2 triangles, repeat for the other two tofu. The using a spoon, scoop out the a cavity in the cut surface, about 1 tbsp worth, see picture. (Those scooped out tofu can be added into the filling if desired.)

• In a mixing bowl, add in all the ingredients for the filling and marinate. Mix well and let sit for at least an hour in the fridge before use.

• After an hour, fill the tofu cavity with the filling and try to stuff it full so it will look nice and packed. (Just like what you wish your wallets to be, lol!) See Pic 1.

• Pat the stuffed tofu some cornflour and heat up a frying pan with about 1 cup of cooking oil. See pic 2 and 3 above.
• Pan fry the tofu till golden brown, dish up and drain on paper towels. See pic 4 above.
• Pour away the oil the pan and lower the heat to small. In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients in seasoning and pour into the pan and let it simmer till it thickens a little. Add in the stuffed tofu and let it coat with the seasoning sauce. After 2 to 3 minutes, dish up and sprinkle some fresh chopped green onions over as garnish if desired.

This is a nice homey dish that you can serve up any time. You can even add in some chopped water chestnut into the filling to enhance the texture too! Do try it when you get the chance. ;)

I am happy to submit this Stuffed Golden Purses (Braised Stuffed Tofu) to Aspiring Bakers #15: Auspicious Dishes for CNY (January 2012) which is hosted by Wen's Delight.

Okay folks, gonna end my post for now and be back REAL soon. Have a good evening!

Steamed Flower Tofu and Pear Soup with ChuanBei (川贝雪梨汤)

Today I'm posting 2 healthful recipes which I am sure anyone can benefit from it. As I have mentioned before, my family loves eating tofu dishes. So I am always on the look out for good recipes. And just the other day, I happened to spot this recipe from Wendy's which pretty much had me when I saw the word steam tofu, lol! Steamed Flower Tofu, as the name implies, it's pretty to look at plus its healthy because it is steamed. Not forgetting it's so easy to whip up!

I made some changes to the recipe, so this "flower" will actually look different from Wendy's. :) I changed the mushroom at the center to Century eggs instead and I omitted the fake crab meat as well. I used Century eggs because personally I think its texture blends more nicely to this dish instead of the dried mushroom. :) I omitted the crab meat because I didn't have any when I make this. :)

I will be posting my version of the recipe for easy reference in future. Thanks to Wendy for sharing her recipe. :)

Ingredients for Steamed Flower Tofu: (Serves 4 adults)

2 century eggs, peeled, sliced into 6 -8 wedges per egg

4 slices Ham, sliced into strips

2 beaten fried egg, cooled and sliced into strips

1 silken tofu (250g)

1 egg

salt and pepper to taste

Method:

• Line the steam bowl with heat resistance cling wrap, get ready the steamer.
• Line the century egg wedges in the center of the bowl in a circular manner.
• Then line the ham and egg strips along the wall lining of the bowl as well,, alternating each ingredient.
• In a bowl, mash the tofu and egg with some salt and pepper and mix till well combined.
• Pour the tofu mixture right in the center of the bowl.
• Fold down the sides of the cling wrap to tug in the edges of the ham and egg strips.
• Place in the steamer and steam at medium high for 20 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before flipping out on a plate.

How easy is that?! It has already become my family favorite, I already made it twice and planning to make it again this week. :D Do try it, it's very good!

The second recipe is call Pear Soup with ChuanBei (川贝蜜枣雪梨汤). Okay, let me clarify, this is a sweet drink but a savory soup that you serve during dinner time. It's medicinal purpose mainly is to remove heat, stop coughing and clear phlegm. How I came about knowing this soup was that my husband loves to order it at Hong Kong airport whenever we transit there. He said he had it before way back at a Hong Kong restaurant in San Francisco and likes it very much. After realizing this, I was pretty determine to find out how to make this drink. Luckily, I found it in a soup recipe book call "The World of Nourishing & Fine Soups"!

Ingredients for Pear Soup with ChuanBei (川贝蜜枣雪梨汤) (makes about 2 cups)

12g chuanbei (川贝)

1 snow pear (雪梨) (mine was from Taiwan)

4 candy dates (蜜枣)

some cane sugar

300ml water ( original calls for 100ml only...too little!)

Cut pear into halves and remove core. Put all the ingredients into stewing pot, pour in water and cane sugar, stew for 2 hours. Serve when still warm. Chill is very nice too but might defeat the purpose of removing phlegm and cough. no?

This soup is actually quite pleasant to drink, whether served warm or chilled. Even my kids like it, since it's sweet and has no herbal taste at all. But do note that there are several grades of Chuanbei that you can purchase, some can be as expensive as S$24 per ounce! I bought the normal grade is S$8. :) If you are tired of drinking the usual barley or chrysanthemum drink for cooling, try this one, I'm pretty sure you'll like it.(^_^)

Okay, got to go for now. You all have a good week ahead! Cheers!