HOMEMADE MEATLESS TOFU (STEAMED THEN FRIED OR BAKED)

I am not a fan of Tau Kwa, but I love TOFUUUU! This is an easy dish to make, but it can be quite time consuming. I used to fry after steaming the delicate pieces, but by the time I finished, I would be so hungry! And to turn it into a healthier dish, I decided to bake them instead. 

OK, OK, I confess.... baking is way much faster as I do not have to wait so long!

I do not use fish paste for this dish although I believe with the paste it will taste better. As a not-very-rich-homemaker, I try to find substitutes to save on costs. In order to make the tofu firmer, I add potato flour instead. I used a mixture of pressed tofu and silken tofu in my first attempt, but found it too soft although manageable. I prefer to use only pressed tofu later on.

HOMEMADE MEATLESS TOFU

Ingredients

2 x 360g Japanese Pressed Tofu (板豆腐）

1 large onion, diced

5 stalks scallions, diced

1/2 red bell pepper, deseeded, diced

1 medium carrot, grated, juice squeezed out

2 eggs, beaten

4 tbsp potato flour

Seasonings  (by estimation, adjust to own preference)

1 tsp chicken stock powder or 1/3 cubed chicken stock

3 tbsp oyster sauce

3 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp white pepper

For frying:

Corn Flour for coating and oil for frying

For baking:

Beaten egg for first coat

Bread crumbs for second coat + 1 tbsp oil stirred into bread crumbs

Methods

1. Prepare a wok/steamer with boiling water for steaming. Line a 13x7 rectangle pan with non-stick baking paper.

2. In a mixing bowl, place all vegetables into bowl. Drain tofu of water and place into mixing bowl.

3. Add beaten egg and seasonings into bowl. Using your hands, mash tofu and mix everything evenly.

4. Add potato flour. (You may give a little taste to see if seasonings require adjustment)

5. Pour mixture on to prepared pan, level top and steam for 20 minutes.

6. Be careful when lifting lid to avoid water from dripping onto tofu. You may use kitchen towel to gently dap away moisture.

7. Carefully lift the sides of baking paper to transfer steamed tofu on cooling rack. Cool completely.

8. Transfer tofu by sliding baking paper onto chopping board. Using a sharp knife, slice into bite sizes.

9a. If you wish to fry it, carefully coat each piece with corn flour and fry till golden brown. Soak excess oil with kitchen towel before placing in serving plate.

9b. If you wish to bake it, preheat oven at 200C. Carefully dip each piece into beaten egg and coat with bread crumbs. Place on baking tray and bake for about 20 min.

DARK CHOCOLATE MOIST MUFFIN

This recipe is a MUST-keeper and definitely my favourite! Chanced upon it on Bear Naked Food blog and decided to try it one night when I had chocolate craving after lesson. Oh! This really tasted so very good! Even my old folks gave me thumbs up, and my hubby who always stayed neutral about my bakes said this was really good. Of course getting good quality chocolate would made a great difference, but Little Mouse needed to be thrifty. I could not spend a lot of money to buy Valrhona on muffins for own stomach, my lovely hubby would have his eyes popped out!

I tried this chocolate couverture in Phoon Huat which I thought was value for money. It costs about a fourth of its Valrhona cousin and tasted better than the other chocolates that I previously bought from the bakery. I would strongly recommend dark chocolate with at least 70% cocoa content to balance out the sweetness of the muffin. Hence Bakeway Chocolate 73.5%  is good enough for me.

Believe me, this recipe is worth a try. It is super easy, and almost fool-proof (unless you do do not follow the recipe). It took me less than 45min from prep to finish. I would be making these for parties and I know my guests would simply find them irresistible! And I would not need to worry about melting frostings!

DARK CHOCOLATE MOIST MUFFIN (adapted from Taste of Home)

Ingredients

160g dark chocolate couverture droplets, at least 70% cocoa content

Wet Ingredients

120g unsalted butter, melted

240ml buttermilk (I used 1 tbsp vinegar and fill up to 240ml mark with full cream milk, set aside for 5 min)

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract (okay, I used 1 tbsp!)

Dry Ingredients

170g self-raising flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

70g unsweetened cocoa powder

190g castor sugar

1/2 tsp salt

More dark chocolate couverture droplets for toppings (Optional)

Methods

1. Preheat oven at 170C, line muffin tray with liners.

2. Beat eggs and add all wet ingredients in a bowl. Mix well.

3. Sift flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, sugar and salt into another bowl.

4. Stir in 160g dark chocolate droplets into dry ingredients.

5. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Stir just to combine, do not overmix.

6. Scoop batter into prepared muffin tray till 70-80% full. Tap muffin tray on counter top once to release any air bubbles. You may top with additional chocolate droplets for visual enhancement (optional).

7. Bake at 170C for about 18-20 minutes. Do not over-bake or the cakes will turn out dry.

8. Remove baked muffins from tray to cool completely on wire rack.

Makes about 18 muffins (or 12 muffins plus a small loaf*)

*If you are baking in a loaf tin, baking time varies. My small loaf required 30mins bake time.

moist cake from loaf

SWEET AND SOUR PINEAPPLE

The Little Mouse family had decided to embark on a one month meatless or meat-less program, initiated by my boys. You should imagine my "horror" look because except for my mother-in-law, we were quite the carnivorous type. But I agreed that going for more vegetables would be a healthy lifestyle, it was just that I never expected my kids to make this request. The boys were intrigued after I shared with them a diet called Daniel's Plan based on biblical character, Daniel, who ate only fresh vegetables during his "recruitment period" in Babylon. The Bible recorded in Daniel 1:15  that "at the end of 10 days it was seen that (Daniel was) better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king's food."

Alright, this was our first week of meatless meals, so I had to create something other than blanched vegetables and eggs. Pineapples seemed good.

SWEET AND SOUR PINEAPPLE

Ingredients

1 can pineapple with syrup

 1 tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp grated ginger

1/2 cup raisins

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp plum sauce

Method

1. Drain pineapples, set syrup aside. Cut pineapples into small cubes. 

2. In a wok, heat oil and add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Fry for about 10 seconds.

3. Add in grated ginger and fry till fragrant.

4. Add in pineapple cubes. Fry for about one minute.

5. Add in some syrup to bring to boil. Pour in raisins

6. Add sugar and salt and plum sauce, bring to boil.

7. Garnish with sliced chilli and coriander leaves.

THAI PAPAYA SALAD INSPIRED CABBAGE SALAD

It had been quite warm recently. We needed something refreshing for our meals. Since my little men were requesting for meat-free meals, I wanted to do something special. I pranced upon this idea of Thai papaya salad, but instead of young papaya, I used cabbage instead. The traditional way of preparing papaya salad was to use pestle and motar. Well, I only had a small stone version in my kitchen, and if I were to pound everything, it would take forever. So there was very little pounding for this. The results? Cool and refreshing!

As this dish was to feed my entire family, young and old, it was not feasible to make it too hot on the tongue. Of course if I had it my way, I would add chilli padi (Yumz!!!), but that would be cruel to the rest of the clan. So I had to make adjustments here and there, and came up with this cold dish. I was quite pleased =)

THAI PAPAYA SALAD INSPIRED CABBAGE SALAD

Ingredients

1/4 cabbage, sliced thinly

1 carrot, grated

4 long beans

1 red chilli, de-seeded, sliced thinly

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tbsp chopped shallots

1 red tomato, de-seeded, cut into thin wedges

3/4 tsp salt

4 tbsp fish sauce

1 1/2 tbsp sugar

Juice of 6  - 8 calamansi + some zest from 2 -3 calamansi

Toppings

Roasted peanuts, roughly chopped

Coriander leaves, roughly chopped

Method

1. In a pot with boiling water, gently blanch long beans for about 10-15 seconds. Drain and cut into 2-cm strips.

2. Using pestle and motar, pound garlic and shallots.

3. Place sliced cabbages into a big salad or mixing bowl. Crush the cabbages with your hands to destroy the fibrous structure.

4. Place all the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly. Adjust taste according to your preference.

5. Garnish with roasted peanuts and coriander leaves.

There you have it!