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Cantonese Stuffed Tofu

Jul 27th, 2008
by dave.
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Hope I’m not tiring out the palette with all of these Chinese recipes, but I’ve got another one today. I also made this a little while ago but just hadn’t had a chance to post it yet. I never tried making this type of tofu dish before, I usually just stir fry cubes of tofu with some other ingredients, so this was a new experiment!

The hardest part was turning the tofu in the wok without breaking the triangles. Other than that, the prep is pretty straightforward (and a lot of fun!).

The recipe comes from Grace Young’s Breath of a Wok. This cookbook focuses more on the specialty dishes of many different chefs/cooks and has a great variety of different Chinese dishes, each with a very thorough description of preparation and instruction.

Cantonese Stuffed Tofu

Serves 4 as part of a multicourse meal
Ingredients
1 tbsp dried shrimp (haw mai)
4 squares firm tofu (14 ounces) rinsed
3/4 tsp salt
4-8 ounces ground pork
2 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 cup minced scallions
2 tbsp canola oil
1 minced garlic clove
3/4 cup Chicken Broth
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce (I used the thick ketjap manis)
1 tbsp oyster sauce
cilantro for garnish

Method
1. In a small saucepan, boil 1/2 cup water. Add the shrimp and simmer for a minute. Drain and reserve the water. Mince the shrimp and set aside.
2. Place the tofu on some paper towels, sprinkle 1/2 tsp of the salt evenly over the tofu and set aside.
3. Combine the pork, 1 tsp cornstarch, sugar, pepper, 1/4 tsp salt, and the minced shrimp. Stir in 1/2 tsp sesame oil, the scallions, and a couple tablespoons of the reserved shrimp liquid.
4. Cut each tofu square diagonally into 2 triangles. With a paring knife, cut a shallow pocket along the long side of each triangle, removing some bean curd and discarding the excess. Stuff each triangle with the filling.
5. Bring your wok under high heat until a bead of water vaporizes in a split second. Swirl in the canola oil and add the tofu triangles, pork side down (may need to do multiple batches if your wok is smaller). Pan fry for 2 minutes over medium heat and then scatter the garlic in the pan. Cook for another minute.
6. Add the broth and 1/4 cup cold water and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat to med-low and simmer for about 3 minutes.
7. Using a spatula, loosen each triangle and turn on its side. Add the soy sauce, cover and summer for another 4 minutes. Add the rest of the soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sesame oil.
8. With the remaining 1 tsp cornstarch, mix it with a tablespoon of cold water. Increase the heat to high, add the cornstarch slurry and cook for 30 more seconds. Garnish with cilantro

Stir Fried Scallops with Snow Peas and Peppers

Jul 20th, 2008
by dave.
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One of my favorite types of dishes during the summer is fresh seafood. Whether it’s some form of sushi or a nicely cooked fish fillet with a tasty glaze, it’s no matter, I’ll eat it all! And as much as people say that too much shellfish is bad for you, I absolutely love having scallops. I even add it to macaroni and cheese :)

So when I was at Whole Foods a couple weeks ago, imagine my delight when the big sea scallops were on their “weekly buys!” So I had to buy a pound of it and cook it up. Normally, I’ll cook this dish but I decided that I needed to experiment this time. So out came Grace Young’s Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen and lo and behold, I found a recipe! Enjoy :P

Stir-Fried Scallops w/ Snow Peas and Peppers

Serves 4 as part of a multi-course meal

Ingredients
4-6 ounces snow peas
1 pound fresh sea scallops
2 tbsp + 2 tbsp cornstarch (separate)
1 tsp + 1 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tsp ShaoHsing rice wine
1 1/2 tsp sesame oil (I like the chili sesame oil :D )
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/3 cup Chicken Broth
2 tsp oyster sauce
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp canola oil
4-6 slices of ginger
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, cut into small squares (about an inch)
2 scallions, ends removed, sliced

Method
1. String the snow peas, rinse, set aside.
2. Wash the scallops in cold water, drain well and slice into quarters.
3. Mix together 2 tbsp cornstarch, 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp rice wine, 1/2 tsp sesame oil, 1/2 tsp sugar, and the scallops. Stir to coat well.
4. Combine the chicken broth, oyster sauce, salt, and remaining 2 tsp cornstarch, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp rice wine, 1 tsp sesame oil, and 1 tsp sugar. Stir well.
5. Add 1 tbsp canola oil to the scallop mixture. Heat a wok under high heat until hot (when a droplet of water sizzles away in a couple seconds). Add 1 tbsp canola oil and the scallops. Cook for a couple minutes without disturbing the scallops, and then use a spatula to stir fry for another couple minutes. Remove and set aside.
6. Add remaining 1 tbsp canola oil, ginger, and garlic. Let the ginger and garlic sizzle, and then add the snow peas, red pepper, and scallions. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes, add the sauce mixture and stir well. Add the scallops back in and stir fry another 1-2 minutes. Serve with rice

Cantonese Style Stir-fried Seafood

Jun 26th, 2008
by dave.
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Now for the real post, I was a little tired yesterday so threw up the cannoli post real quick.

Every so often, Whole Foods has Mexican Bay Scallops on sale as one of their weekly buys. Being a scallop fan, I always pick up some for one of my favorite seafood dishes, a Cantonese stir fry with some oyster sauce. I also like to toss in shrimp and some fish (a fish that stays together well when stir fried) but I only bought additional shrimp for this meal.

One thing about Chinese cooking is that the actual cooking takes about 10-15 minutes usually. However, the preparation time can be long! I’ve spent over an hour chopping things just for fried rice! And fried rice takes 5 minutes to cook!

Anyway, this is one of the quicker recipes I’ve tried, after marinating the seafood, everything else gets thrown in quickly :)

I’ve listed the mushrooms as optional, they’re mentioned in the recipe but I’m not a huge fan of them, so I don’t use them :)

Cantonese Style Stir-fried Seafood

Serves 4-6 with rice
Ingredients:
1 lb bay scallops
1/2 lb medium shrimp (heads removed, deveined, chopped)
5 tbsp canola oil
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 to 1 inch piece of ginger, grated (Or: slice about 6 pieces of ginger and peel)
4 scallions, chopped and separated
4-6 celery stalks, sliced
1/2 lb snow peas, ends removed
2 tbsp Shaohsing wine or sherry
1 tsp sesame oil

Marinade:
1 tsp white pepper
2 tsp cornstarch
2 egg white, lightly beaten (save the yolks)

Sauce:
1/2 tsp corn starch
1 tsp water
1/4 tsp salt
2-3 tbsp oyster sauce

Optional:
Chinese mushrooms

Method
1. Wash the scallops and shrimp. Slice each shrimp into 3-4 pieces, the bay scallops are small enough they don’t need to be sliced. Mix the marinade with the seafood. Set aside for 10 minutes. Slice the veggies in the meanwhile
2. Prepare the sauce and set aside.
3. Heat a wok over high heat. Add 2 1/2 tbsp oil and swirl.
4. Add half the garlic, half the ginger, and half the white scallions, let sizzle.
5. Add the seafood and use a spatula to turn and toss the seafood for about a minute. Splash 1 tbsp of the Shaohsing wine around the seafood. You want the seafood lightly cooked on either side.
6. Remove the seafood, set aside. Add the rest of the oil with the garlic, ginger, and white scallions to the wok. Add the rest of the wine or sherry as well as the celery and snow peas. Toss for a minute.
7. Add the seafood back in along with the sauce (I also add the two egg yolks as well), toss for another minute or so to continue cooking the seafood.
8. Add the green scallions, give another few tosses with the spatula and remove from the heat. Add some sesame oil to enhance the flavor.

Steamed fish with ginger/scallions

Jun 4th, 2008
by dave.
2 comments


This is what the roommate whipped up while I was busy making the Ma Po Tofu. Super 88 had some farm raised tilapia for $2.99 a pound and who could resist that! Browsed through the stack of about 10 fish and got roughly a 1.5 pounder with bright red gills (a sign of freshness). Also picked up a mesh steaming tray for a plate to sit on while steaming. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any of the bigger trays that fit into a wok so this small one would have to do.

I was amazed at how little it actually cost to prepare the fish. There aren’t a lot of ingredients required and most of them are pretty inexpensive. Then I thought about some of the prices I paid regularly at some restaurants and cringed. But hey, I always thought it was worth it :)

Anyway, the fish came out nice and tender and we picked it clean :P

Steamed fish with ginger/scallions

Ingredients
1 fresh fish (Usually end up with something like tilapia, haddock, or bass)
4 stalks scallions
Half of a ginger root
Some salt

Sauce:
Some vegetable oil
Some soy sauce (There’s also special steamed fish sauce you can buy)

Method:
1. Julienne the scallions and ginger root, set aside. Each slice should be roughly 1-2 inches long. Set aside.
2. Give the fish a quick rinse. Make sure it’s properly scaled and gutted (the market should do this for you). Rub a little salt on the fish.
3. Using roughly 3/4 of the scallions and ginger, place equal portions underneath, inside, and on top of the fish in a steam-able plate.
4. Steam for 15 minutes (more or less depending on the size of the fish)
5. When the fish is finished, remove from the steamer, discard all of the vegetables and fishy juices.
6. Place the last 1/4 of the vegetables on top of the fish. Microwave the fish for about 30 seconds to soften the vegetables
7. Heat some oil and the soy sauce in a separate saucepan.
8. Pour sauce over top (watch out for hot oil) and serve.

Note: We didn’t have any Cilantro but that can be used as part of the vegetable mix as well.

Gitlo’s Dim Sum Bakery

May 11th, 2008
by dave.
2 comments


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When I lived in New Jersey and attended Chinese school in New York City (Circa age 10), it was a weekly tradition to get there early and eat Dim Sum before going to class for the day. At the time, I was more amazed by the noise and the carts whizzing by than with the food.

Now that I’m older (and hopefully wiser!), I still end up in Chinatown now and then for Dim Sum. The only thing that prevents me from being there every week is the 30-40 minute travel plus any time waiting for a table, not to mention how hard it is to get parking (So I end up on the ultra-slow B line).

So when I heard about Gitlo’s Dim Sum Bakery in Allston, I was ecstatic (nevermind how good the food might be, it’s DIM SUM!). Gitlo’s is about a 10 minute walk (max) from my condo and is right in the thick of things on Brighton Ave by the Kell’s and Harper’s Ferry.

The place itself is very small, maybe 7 tables or so seating a max of about 20 patrons. All of the food is made to order (No carts full of goodies steamed in bulk) and the menu consists of roughly 40 items. Most of the fare is similar to the food available in Chinatown but there are quite a few dishes with a little twist, such as the Seaweed Siu Mai (Shrimp paste wrapped with seaweed). My favorite dishes there are the Scallop Siu Mai (A small slice of scallop on top of regular pork siu mai) and the XO Sauce Daikon Cakes (Fried cubes of daikon cake served in an XO meat sauce). The dumplings are very juicy and I actually take multiple bites (a rarity for me, I usually eat the piece whole) to savor every bit. And the daikon cakes…wow, I like them even better than in Chinatown!

Last week I ended up there with Jason and the owner, Gitlo, was manning the tables that night. Had a great conversation with him about the restaurant and what they’re trying to do. Really a nice guy and a hard worker. He told me that they deliver all across the area: Harvard, MIT, Copley Square, and even to parts of Newton!

Cantonese Dumplings (Pork, Leek)

Shrimp Dumplings with Pea Pod Stems

XO Sauce Fried Daikon Cake

Roast Pork Bun (Char Siu Bao)

Scallop Siu Mai

Shrimp Dumplings (Har Gao)

Stir-fried Satay Rice Noodle w/ Chicken

XO Sauce Pan Fried Rice Noodles

Fried Rice wrapped in Lotus Leaf

Taro Siu Mai

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