Chinese New Year Dish: Beancurd Skin Steamed With A Few Varieties of Mushrooms 腐皮蒸杂菌

Chinese New Year Dish: Beancurd Skin Steamed With A Few Varieties of Mushrooms 腐皮蒸杂菌

Gong-Xi, Gong-Xi, A perfect vegetarian dish for the Chinese New Year!

Recipes source :  Y3K Magazine Issue No. 57 11/12 - 2010

I was very much taken in by this vegetarian dish when I saw this recipe in the Y3K magazine. In fact I was drooling over it! I just couldn't wait

It consists of five varieties of mushrooms and beancurd sheets, all of which are my family's favourite food items. The ingredients used were very basic and easily available. The resulting flavour was simply awesome! The whole ensemble looks so wondrously beautiful. It looked like a treasure chest encased by jade pieces !

I find the entire presentation so lovely and pleasing to the eyes and will definitely look grand and auspicious on any dining table!

This vegetarian dish is just sumptuous! 
  

Ingredients A

3 pips garlic, minced
3 large pieces of  foo pei  (beancurd sheets) 
oil for deep-frying foo pei

Ingredients B

1 can of straw mushrooms, cut them into halves
1 can of button mushrooms, cut them into halves
35g dried mushrooms (soaked, sliced and marinated with 1/2 tsp sugar and 1 tsp shao hsing wine)
200g eryngii mushrooms ( Hong pau ku in Cantonese )
100g fresh inoki mushrooms

Ingredients C

150ml water
1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tbsp chicken stock granules
1 tbsp beaten egg (optional ) - alternatively use cornflour mixture to thicken

Seasonings

2 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tbsp chicken stock granules (optional )

Garnishing

400 to 500g broccoli
500ml water
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp oil

 Method

1. Cut broccoli into florets
2. Bring water to the boil. Pour in the broccoli florets and let boil for 2 to 3 minutes. 
3. Add in salt, sugar and oil. Drain and leave aside.

 Eryngii mushrooms

Top : Marinated dried mushrooms

Bottom left : Canned straw mushrooms.

Bottom right : Canned button mushrooms

 Inoki mushrooms

 Foo pei or beancurd sheets - use the square type which are much bigger

Method

1.  Spread out the foo pei ( beancurd ) sheets and fold over into half. Hold foo pei by both hands and carefully lower the centre portion into hot oil and deep fry until it has bubbles all over. Next, change direction for both ends so it gets even out.  Remove from hot oil, rinse and wipe dry before spreading it over a big bowl. Alternatively, use a pair of bamboo chopsticks or tongs to deep-fry the beancurd sheets.
2.  Heat wok with a drizzle of oil. Saute garlic. Add in all the 5 types of mushrooms. Mix well and lower heat to braise a while so that water will seep out from the mushrooms. Add seasonings.
3.  Scoop out the braised mushrooms into the big bowl which has been lined with the deep-fried foo pei or beancurd sheets. Fold up the edges to cover the mushrooms. Steam for 10 minutes. Remove and invert over a plate. Cut across the foo pei and pull apart the flaps to show the braised mushrooms.
4.  Heat water for ingredients C, add in oyster sauce and chicken stock granules and mix well. Add in beaten eggs in a drizzle to make egg strands. Or alternatively, use cornflour mixture to thicken the sauce. Pour this sauce over the braised mushrooms. 
5.  Garnish with boiled broccoli all round the inverted braised mushrooms.

The inverted bowl of mushrooms enclosed in foo pei

Garnished with boiled broccoli 

Make a cut  cross the inverted bowl of foo pei. 

Pull apart the flaps

Then drizzle the sauce over the braised mushrooms 

Oh Wow! This is truly awesome!

I am linking this post to My Treasured Recipes #5 - Chinese New Year Goodies Jan/Feb 2015

Hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well In Flanders 

and co-hosted by Charmaine of Mimi Bakery House

I am also linking this post to Cook and Celebrate CNY : 2015

Organised by Yen of Eat Your Heart Out , Zoe of Bake For happy Kids and 

Diana of Domestic Goddess Wannabe

  

Vegetarian Bak-Kut-Teh 斋肉骨茶

Vegetarian Bak-Kut-Teh 斋肉骨茶

Recipe source :  Adapted from Amy Beh

I wanted to cook this ever since my daughter ordered a vegetarian bak kut teh in an organic food outlet. It smelled wonderful and we could drink the wonderfully fragrant soup without feeling guilty about the fat content. However, it was months later before I came across Amy Beh's recipe  which renewed my interest to cook this dish. 

There were mixed reaction when I served this. My youngest son loves to eat the real bak kut teh. He could recognise the aroma of bak kut teh spices as it was stewing in the pot and the fragrance had permeated the air in my house! I guessed he was anticipating his favourite meaty treat. Boy!, was he disappointed when he discovered that there were no meat at all in the entire pot! 

The final verdict ?  All the men in the family preferred the real thing. Only the ladies accepted this vegetarian version gracefully! 

Ingredients

8 dried mushrooms
80g dried bean curd sticks, cut into sections of 4 cm and soaked until soft
100g Inoki mushrooms
1 piece tofu
20g black fungus, soaked until soft and cut into pieces
1 packet bak kut teh spices
1 star anise
1 piece cinnamon bark ( about 3 cm)
1/2 tsp white peppercorns, slightly crushed
2 big bulbs garlic, slightly smashed with the back of a cleaver.
1.5 litres water
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp rock sugar
1 small bunch of Chinese parsley

Top left : White peppercorns. Top right : Star anise

Bottom :  Cinnamon bark

 A packet bak kut teh spices. There are two packets inside this package.

I used only one packet which was sufficient for this recipe.

Top : Softened bean curd sticks

Bottom left :  Softened black fungus. Bottom right :  Mushrooms

Tofu and inoki mushrooms

Method

1.  Bring 1.5 litres of water  to a boil. Add in one small packet of bak kut teh spices, garlic bulbs, star anise, cinnamon bark and crushed white peppercorns. 

2.  Add in black soy sauce, light soy sauce, oyster sauce and rock sugar.

3.  When it comes to a boil again, add in the tofu pieces, mushrooms, black fungus and bean curd sticks.

4.  Allow it to simmer for 15 minutes. Add in inoki mushrooms and continue to boil for another 5 minutes.

5.  Add salt to taste.

6.  Lastly add in chopped Chinese parsley and stir to mix well.

7.  Serve hot with rice. 

Don't expect this vegetarian version to be like the real thing.

"Pe-par" Tofu 琵琶豆腐

"Pe-par" Tofu 琵琶豆腐

Recipe : Adapted from Delicacies recipes
         
This "pe-par" tofu is a simple everyday dish. It's just a matter of mashing the nutritious tofu and combining them with minced meat, some herbs and some seasonings and you have got yourself a plate of delicious fried "pe-par" tofu. 

For an enhanced  flavour, dip them into this hot chilli  Vietnamese dipping fish sauce.

The normally bland tofu now tasted heavenly!  

Ingredients

1 block of soft tofu, mashed
2 small dried mushrooms, soaked and finely diced
100g minced pork/chicken
1 tbsp chopped spring onions
1 tbsp chopped Chinese parsley
1 egg
4 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
a dash of pepper
Oil for frying

Method

1.  Mix the mashed tofu, egg, minced pork, diced mushrooms, chopped spring onion, chopped Chinese parsley and all the sauce ingredients and cornflour together. Stir to mix evenly.
2.  Heat enough oil for frying in a wok. Spoon one tablespoon of the mixture into hot oil and fry until golden. Repeat process until all the mixture is finished. Remove them once they are fried to golden brown.
3.  Serve tofu patties with chilli sauce or try making this wonderful Vietnamese dipping fish sauce.

Clay-Pot Chicken Drumstick With Shitake & Button Mushrooms 雙菇鸡腿煲

Clay-Pot Chicken Drumstick With Shitake & Button Mushrooms 雙菇鸡腿煲

Recipe Source :  Chopsticks Recipes Cookbook - Chinese Casserole

Ingredients

50g dried shitake mushroom
1 tin button mushroom
3 chicken thighs
1 shallot
2 pips of garlic

Seasonings

1tbsp shao shing wine
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp cornflour
1/2 tsp salt


 Dissolve the seasonings in 1 Chinese rice bowl of chicken stock

Instructions

1. Soak shitake mushroom till soft. Squeeze dry and wash under running tap. Squeeze dry again and marinate with 1 tbsp wine, 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 2 tbsp oil and 1 tsp sugar.
2.Soak button mushroom in water and set aside. Discard water prior to using.
3. Chop chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces. Marinate with 2 tbsp ginger juice, 1 tbsp shao shing wine, 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp cornflour, 1 tsp sesame oil and 1/2 tsp pepper for 30 minutes.
4. Parboil the chicken pieces in oil, drain and set aside.
5. Heat clay-pot and add 2 tbsp of oil and saute garlic, shallot and ginger till aromatic.
6. Reduce fire to medium and add in the chicken pieces and stir-fry for 2 minutes.
7. Add in the bowl of chicken stock with the dissolved seasonings.
8. Add in the shitake and button mushrooms and stir thoroughly and cover the clay-pot with the lid and let it cook for 5 minutes. After that, remove the lid and stir the contents to prevent the chicken and mushrooms from sticking to the bottom of the clay-pot. Then let it cook for a further 5 minutes.
9. Serve hot.

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #28: Chicken Feast (February) 2013

hosted by SSB of Small Small Baker