An Authentic Home cooking Chinese Dish
This is a simple wok style dish shown to me by a Chinese friend. Since it had no name, I’ve called it “Chinese tofu & chilli peppers”. It may not have an official name but it’s very tasty and nutritious. It’s what you could call a “Chinese home cooking” style of dish, relatively quick but with a unique flavour. The Chinese tend to do a lot of wok cooking rather than Western oven style dishes and this is a good example.
The right ingredients are a must have!
For this to work, it’s essential to take a trip to a proper “Chinese Supermarket” for this dish. You’ll need some of those long Chinese green chilli peppers for this dish. They’re generally not really “hot”, although they do occasionally have some heat. You also need spring onions or (scallions in the US) which they will generally also have, along with ginger & garlic. The essential thing is the tofu – but I wouldn’t reccomend Cauldron brand as it’s way too dense and firm. Use Tofu King firm tofu (which isn’t that firm) or a similer brand. It must be fairly soft to the tongue when cooked.
Down to the nitty gritty of making it…..
It’s really simple though, just chop the garlic and ginger and sautee, adding in the diagonally cut spring onions. After that the similarly cut green chilli peppers. At this point you can either cook the tofu in the actfry or just add it to the mix. I like to add a little Chinese chilli oil, and plenty of traditionally fermented soy sauce and just a pinch of sea salt. At this point you can cover the pan on a low heat and add a little water – just a couple of teaspoons.
A few extra finishing pointers…..
Stir occasionally, and when you think it’s nicely cooked, add in the cornflour and water, and stir well. Simmer gently so that the cornflour thickens and the water boils off or is absorbed. Make sure the heat is on very low, and that you stir it – but gently. When it’s the right level of moisture – slightly sticky but not too much – you can serve it.
What to serve this dish with….. that goes well….
I would reccomend serving this with maybe a noodle dish, or Chinese leaves (sometimes called Nappa cabbage) stir-fried with bean-sprouts and loads of ginger, garlic & soy sauce. Alternatively, you could try my “Tofu Fried Rice“. This Chinese Tofu & Chilli Peppers dish can be kept in the fridge and reheated, but it’s nicest when hot & fresh off the stove.
Chinese Tofu & Chilli Peppers
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- peel the garlic and chop or slice finely
- wash and chop the ginger finely
- add the oil to the pan on a low heat and add the garlic and ginger
- slice the leaves of the spring onions lengthways and wash thoroughly
- slice the spring onions slantwise (improves flavour and mouthfeel
- and add to the pan.
- top and split the chilli peppers, lengthways
- and again slice slantwise and add to the pan.
- spring onions in wok
- meanwhile drain and chop the tofu. Chop each block in half, and half again. Then chop into 4 lengthways. This will give nice sized square chunks of tofu.
- either cook in an actfry if you have one, or when the peppers are nicely cooking add to the pan. The advantage of the actifry is it doesn't break up the tofu so much and you can add chilli oil and soy sauce to marinade the tofu a little. If cooking in the actifry add when the peppers are perfectly cooked and combine or if doing in the wok, add to the pan when the peppers are about half-way cooked,
- add the cornflour to a small cup or jug. Add a small amount of the water and mix, then add the rest of the water.
- As all the ingredients are near to being cooked - add in the cornflour mixture and any extra soy sauce and the merest amount of sea salt.
- Mix well, but gently to avoid breaking up the tofu, and simmer on a very low heat until most of the moisture is gone, but the veggies and tofu are coated in a light moderately wet sauce.
- serve immediately with another Chinese style dish and brown rice.
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!
Nicely stirred in…..
