Diet food
I love tofu. Let me rephrase: I love any soy product, whatever you call it - tofu, beancurd, beancurd skins both dry or wet, beansprouts, taugeh, taukwa, taupok, taukee, soy milk, soy sauce, okay don't let me go there. My parents' generation would claim that by having soy milk, one's baby will be fair-skinned; or one would have fairer complexion.
JL hardly fancies tofu as much as I do -- it's not his fault as I really love tofu. But over the years, I've tried to introduce tofu as a meal by itself. He doesn't mind it, as long as it's between fortnights or longer. Most people avoid tofu as it is bland but the trick is really to let it take on a supporting role. The lead is usually taken up by some form of well-seasoned meat - preferably "soft" meat. For example, stir-fried minced meat or poultry, braised meat or poultry, or steamed fish.
Here's an easy one which only takes 10 minutes to cook.
JL hardly fancies tofu as much as I do -- it's not his fault as I really love tofu. But over the years, I've tried to introduce tofu as a meal by itself. He doesn't mind it, as long as it's between fortnights or longer. Most people avoid tofu as it is bland but the trick is really to let it take on a supporting role. The lead is usually taken up by some form of well-seasoned meat - preferably "soft" meat. For example, stir-fried minced meat or poultry, braised meat or poultry, or steamed fish.
Here's an easy one which only takes 10 minutes to cook.
Ground Turkey with Tofu
Ingredients:
(This quantity serves 4.)
1.5 pound ground turkey
5 oz baby portabello mushrooms, sliced
2 blocks of extra-firm tofu, halved length-wise and cut 6 segments across
2 tablespoons BBQ sauce
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 stalks spring onions, chopped into tiny rings
Shaoxing wine
Kicap manis
1. Mix evenly the ground turkey with BBQ sauce and minced ginger. Let it sit for at least 15 minutes.
2. Heat olive oil on medium, add ground turkey. Stir-fry till meat is no longer red.
3. Add mushrooms and toss the saute pan to mix.
4. Add a dash of Shaoxing wine or sherry, and a round of dark soy sauce or kicap manis.
5. Cover with lid and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
6. In the same 5 minutes, arrange tofu on 4 dinner plates (basically half a block of tofu per plate), microwave each plate for 40 seconds.
7. Place all the plates next to each other. Bring saute pan to the plates and distribute equally.
8. Sprinkle chopped spring onions on each plate before serving.
You can tweak this dish with a different type of meat. I used ground turkey because it was the last "mince" in the freezer. Hoisin sauce works just as well as BBQ sauce. As for kicap manis, I highly recommend keeping a bottle in your pantry (for this and more). It can be found along most international aisles.
Ingredients:
(This quantity serves 4.)
1.5 pound ground turkey
5 oz baby portabello mushrooms, sliced
2 blocks of extra-firm tofu, halved length-wise and cut 6 segments across
2 tablespoons BBQ sauce
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 stalks spring onions, chopped into tiny rings
Shaoxing wine
Kicap manis
1. Mix evenly the ground turkey with BBQ sauce and minced ginger. Let it sit for at least 15 minutes.
2. Heat olive oil on medium, add ground turkey. Stir-fry till meat is no longer red.
3. Add mushrooms and toss the saute pan to mix.
4. Add a dash of Shaoxing wine or sherry, and a round of dark soy sauce or kicap manis.
5. Cover with lid and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
6. In the same 5 minutes, arrange tofu on 4 dinner plates (basically half a block of tofu per plate), microwave each plate for 40 seconds.
7. Place all the plates next to each other. Bring saute pan to the plates and distribute equally.
8. Sprinkle chopped spring onions on each plate before serving.
You can tweak this dish with a different type of meat. I used ground turkey because it was the last "mince" in the freezer. Hoisin sauce works just as well as BBQ sauce. As for kicap manis, I highly recommend keeping a bottle in your pantry (for this and more). It can be found along most international aisles.
