Bean curd à la maison (bean curd for family meals)

One of the simple dishes Emperor Ch’ien Lung discovered among the common people was bean curd (tofu). Made from puréed and pressed soya beans, it is exceptionally high in protein and is known in China as ‘poor man’s meat’. It is widely used in everyday home cooking and is most useful in absorbing and harmonizing the flavour of other ingredients. It has a rather ususual texture, and is an acquired taste which may not appeal to everybody immediately.

There is an almost endless variety of dishes in which bean curd can be used. The dish that Emperor Ch’ien Lung supposedly liked best is known as ‘bean curd for family meals’. You could say it is a sort of chop suey, for it is a bean curd based dish with bits of meat and fish or any leftovers thrown in. My personal favourite is this simple recipe from Sichuan:

4 cakes bean curd
1/4 lb (100 g) pork
1/4 lb (100 g) young leeks or spring onions
about 1 pt (600 ml) oil for deep-frying
3-4 dried red chillis
1 tbsp rice wine or sherry
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp crushed yellow bean paste
1/2 tsp cornflour
a few drops sesame seed oil

Method

Split each cake of bean curd into three thin slices crossways, then cut each slice diagonally into two triangles. Cut the pork into thin slices and the leeks or spring onions into ½in (12 mm) lengths, also diagonally. Cut the red chillis into small pieces.

Heat up the oil and deep-fry the bean curd pieces for about 2 minutes or until light gold; remove and drain. Pour off excess oil, leaving about 1 tablespoon in the wok. Stir-fry the pork and chillis, add the wine and soy sauce, stir for a few seconds, then add leeks or spring onions, crushed bean paste and bean curd. Stir gently to blend everything together and add a little stock or water if necessary. Finally add the cornflour mixed with a little water to thicken the sauce. Serve garnished with sesame seed oil.

Of course, you can replace the pork with almost any meat you like, or indeed, you can use more than one variety at the same time – it all depends on what you have readily available: prawns, cooked ham, small bits of leftovers from your Sunday joint, etc. To make the dish more colourful, a little green vegetable will be an excellent addition. Just use your initiative and be experimental.

© Deh-Ta Hsiung and reproduced with his kind permission.