Sweet and Sour Beancurd

"It taste like a dish that we usually find 'outside'!"

This comment made by my hubby swept me off my feet. For home-cooked-food to be rated as good as 'outside' (meaning those sold in Tze Char and hawker) is the utmost honour that any 'wokking' wives could receive, I tell ya! :D

It may sound a bit thick-skinned, but I have to agree with him that this is a dish that deserves compliments. The beancurd is crispy on the outside, soft and moist on the inside. The sauce is sweet and had just enough to coat the beancurd with a thin layer and not too overwhelming to sog the crispyness.

"What changes did you make this round?"

I was stumped for a while but rattled on with a long list.

1) I sprinkled some salt after cutting.

2) I used flour to coat the beancurd before deep frying.

3) I used the non-stick pan to deep fry the beancurd. I tried to give it one more chance by throwing one beancurd into my steel wok and it sticks! As usual! I transferred the beancurd into the teflon pan. It makes a whole lot of difference. No more sticking to the wok. No more burnt patches. No more frustration! However, due to health reasons, I promise myself to use the teflon pan less.

4) I used soya bean oil. I have previously used olive oil and almost instantly knew that was a wrong move. My suspicion was further affirmed when an author of a cookbook wrote that deep frying should never be done with olive oil. But there was no mention why. :(

5) I used a different brand of ketchup. His preferred.

6) I added green pepper.

7) I added vinegar.

"Wah, so many. How do you know which is the change that makes it nice then?" my husband asked.

That's a good point. It could be all of the above, but who really cares? As long as it comes out good, I am following this method for good. :P

Still remember that I wanted to improve on sweet and sour dishes? Now, THIS is what I wanna achieve. :)

Ingredients

• 2 small beancurds (sliced into four each and sprinkled with some salt)
• 1/3 green bell pepper (cut into triangles)
• 2 chillis (cut into triangles)
• 1/2 cup oil

Sauce Mixture

• 2 tbsp tomato sauce
• 1 tbsp chili sauce
• 2 tbsp vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp water

Method

1) Deep fry the beancurd under high heat
2) Remove beancurd from pan
3) Drain oil from pan until 1 tbsp of oil is left
4) Stir fry green pepper and chilli for 30 seconds
5) Add sauce mixture and stir until it bubbles
6) Add the beancurd to the pan, stirring to coat
7) Remove immediately after the beancurds are coated with the sauce

Sweet and Sour (Mock) Chicken

My hubby wanted me to cook exactly the same dishes as last week because he loved every single dish. Aw... so sweet of him. ;)

I never had such a request from him before, so I agreed to go along with his suggestion. On second thoughts, I thought I would change one dish. For variety's sake and so that I can do a blog. :P

Instead of the Gong Bao Ji Ding, I decided to use the tomato (from last week) to do a sweet and sour dish instead. Wala, it turned out not bad! My hub likes it and commented that it is quite an improvement from my last sweet and sour dish. Still, I feel that I can be better. :P



















Ingredients

• Mock Chicken
• 1 Chilli (cut into triangles)
• 1/2 Tomato (sliced)
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp garlic

Sauce Mixture

• 3 tbsp tomato sauce
• 2 tbsp chilli sauce
• 1 tsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 3/4 cup water

Method

1) Roast the Mock Chicken in Healsio (as always) for 15 minutes
2) Heat Oil and stir fry garlic and chilli slices until fragrant
3) Add Sauce mixture and simmer till it bubbles
4) Pour in the roasted mock chicken so that it will absorb the sweetness of the sauce.
5) Add tomato slices about 10 seconds before turning the fire off and serve.

Pork in Gravy

I cooked this dish with reference to aromacookery, a website I chanced upon quite some time back, when I was looking for recipes. I was a fan of this website and the blogger. It's a pity that she has stopped blogging. I guess she must has really been very busy.

In any case, I didn't follow closely the recipe that she has placed on her website. The following is just my own variation.

My hub likes this dish and kept pinching food from this dish when I was still cooking. Heh! I find it ok too, but I don't really like the hoisin sauce taste.

The photo below is not well taken. I shouldn't have kept so close to the food while taking the shoot. The real thing looks much better.



















Ingredients

• 1 Packet of Pork Loin
• 2 Onions
• 1 tbsp garlic
• 1 chilli (shredded)

Seasonings

3/4 cup of stock/water
1 tbsp Hoisin Sauce

1 tbsp flour
3 tbsp water

Mixture

1 tbsp Oyster sauce
2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
1 tsp Pepper
1/2 tbsp Cooking Wine
1 tsp Sesame Oil

Method

1) Marinate meat in Mixture and keep in fridge for at least 30 minutes
2) Heat oil in high heat
3) Stir-fry garlic and onion in medium high heat*
4) Stir-fry pork until it changes colour
5) Add seasonings and chilli simmer for 1 minute
6) Thicken with flour and water
7) Serve

Garlic fried in high heat makes the dish taste better because it brings out the fragrance, but Caution! my hand was scalded by splattering garlics. This is the photo taken after 2 days. The mark is still there. *sobs* :(