TOFU FERMENTE RECIPES

Steps:

• Add a small pinch of salt and ground pepper. Mix well and set aside.
• Cut tofu into square cubes (around 2cms). Bring a large amount of water to a boil and then add a pinch of salt. Slide the tofu in and cook for 1 minute. Move out and drain.
• Get a wok and heat up around 2 tablespoons of oil, fry the minced meat until crispy. Transfer out beef out and leave the oil in. Add another 1 tablespoon of oil.
• Add another 1 tablespoon of vegetable cooking oil and fry doubanjiang for 1 minute over slow fire until the red turns red (bring us a lovely red color dish) and add fermented black beans,  garlic, scallion white, ginger and fermented black beans to cook for 30 seconds until aroma. Optionally  mix pepper flakes in. Pepper flakes should be added at the end because it contains little water and can be burnt easily.  
• Then pour in water or stock. Add light soy sauce, sugar and half of the cooked beef (providing more flavors to the soup) after the broth boils and let it continue simmering for 2-3 minutes. Place the tofu in, simmer for another 6-8 minutes. The longer time of simmering helps the tofu to absorb the flavors.  
• During the process of simmering, mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 2.5 tablespoons of water in a small bowl to make water starch. Stir the water starch and then pour half of the mixture to the simmering pot. Back push and wait for around 30 seconds and then pour the other half. You can slightly taste the tofu and add pinch of salt if not salty enough.  Add cooked beef to creates some crispy texture and then drizzle sesame oil. Mix well. 
• Transfer out when almost all the seasonings stick to tofu cubes. Sprinkle Szechuan peppercorn powder (to taste)and chopped garlic greens if using.
• Serve immediately with steamed rice.

Steps:

• First cook the tofu. In a deep, wide pan, fry in oil (around an inch deep) for around 15 mins in med-high heat until all sides are crispy and golden brown. If you want more of a crispier tofu surface area, you can also cut tofu in a flatter, more rectangular prism instead of cube. If you’re not a massive fan of frying, you can also cook the tofu cubes in the oven at 200C for around 20 mins, (but might not be as crispy in comparison when you fry it).
• As your tofu is cooking, sauté garlic, onion and celery in a different pan until soft (about 5-7 minutes).
• Mix mushrooms into the sauteed veg as above, and cook until edges have browned and moisture has dissipated.
• Add in cooked tofu, soy sauce and vinegar. Then mix in fermented black beans and cook for a couple more minutes to let the flavours seep in. Make sure to taste first before adding salt and pepper, as fermented black beans can be quite salty already.
• Serve with plain rice, add topping to your arroz caldo (see recipe here) or snack on its own. Enjoy!