Stir-fried Beansprouts with Beancurd

  I think almost every Chinese family in Singapore will have their own version for this dish. This used to be a dish we would eat almost every week (and sometimes more than once) when I was much younger as it was a cheap, nutritious and yet simple and quick dish to prepare. (My mother would get about 50 cents worth of beansprouts and a large piece of beancurd which cost about another 40 cents then, and that was sufficient to feed about 5-6 mouths)

My mother would also tell me stories of the times (before I was born) when my father was retrenched from his job, and how they would go to the wet market to ask for the left over beansprouts casings and pick out the remaining beansprouts to cook the dish. Eating this dish therefore not only brings back childhood memories but also reminds me to appreciate what I have in life and to be thankful for what I am given.

[Click on Read More to get the full pictorial recipe.]

Ingredients:

Time to Prepare including cooking time: 15 min
Serving Size : 3 - 4 people

• 2 small cubes of beancurd or one large cube of bean curd. They are the harder variety ones, not the silken toufu. I usually try to get them from the wet markets, however, they are also sold at the local supermarkets. You may need to try out different brands, but if buying from the local supermarket (NTUC Fairprice), I prefer to use the ones by "Sheen" - the taste is closer to the ones I had when I was younger.

• 300g of beansprouts. You don't need to be exact. Remove the shells that you can see. If you are lazy, you can buy from the supermarkets those that have both the heads and the tails removed, it costs more though about $1.00+ per pack of about 150g. I prefer to have both the heads and tails, but for today, I used the ones with the heads and tails removed as these were the fresher ones at the supermarket.)

• 1-2 segments garlic (chopped finely)

• Oil for Frying the beancurd. (I use sunflower oil, as the oil is light and does not impart additional smell to the beancurd.)

• SeaSalt and Light Soya Sauce to taste.

Procedure:

Step 1:  Heat the wok over high flame.  Add in some sunflower oil.  The oil should cover the base of the work about 1/2 inch thick and then lower the flame to medium heat.  Don't really worry about the amount of oil used here, this is used for frying the beancurd and we will drain the oil and use a lot less on the final dish. 

Step 2:  While the oil is heating up, take the time to cut the beancurd into bite size.  (Approx. 1/2 inch wide and 1 inch long...again you don't need to be exact.)  To prevent the beancurd from sticking to the wok during frying, you may want to dry the sides with a kitchen towel first.

Step 3:  You need to wait for the oil to be sufficiently hot before you add in the beancurd.  It is hot enough when the oil looks as if it is is about to smoke, there is small streams of what looks like steam but not really smoking yet.  Lift the wok and swirl the oil around to coat the side.  This not only prevents the oil from smoking but the coating at the sides prevents the beancurd from sticking to the sides of the wok.

Do not throw in the beancurd, cause the oil will splatter!.  If the sides of the wok is coated with oil, you will find it relatively easy to slide the beancurd in piece by piece from the side of the wok.  Alternatively, you can release the beancurd piece by piece into the oil using tongs or chopsticks, remember, the closer you release to the oil, the less splattering there will be.

Note :  Do not turn over the beancurd at this point of time, wait for the bottom to crisp up.  You will be able see when it does from the side of the beancurd when it starts turning slight golden in colour.

 Step 4:  While waiting for the beancurd to crisp on one side, you may want to wash your beansprouts.  I put mine in a strainer and run it over running water, while tossing the beansprout and sloshing it around. 

 

Step 5: Turn the the beancurd over when the bottom is slightly golden brown and fry till the beancurd is evenly golden.  You can use a spatula or a chopstick to do the turning.  The ready beancurd should be crisp on the outside and still soft on the inside.

Once ready, remove them, using the spatula from the oil and place them on tempura paper or on a sieve to absorb the excess oil. Set aside for later use.

Step 6: Remove the oil from the wok till only a little is left, sufficient for stir frying of the garlic. (It should really be only sufficient to just coat the garlic.) Lightly fry the chopped garlic till fragrant and the sides of the pieces starts to brown.

Step 7: Add in the washed beansprouts and with the spatula, mix garlic into the beansprout.  Sprinkle in the seasalt (approx. 1/2 tsp) and drizzle a little light soya sauce (approx. 1/2 tsp).  Mix well.

Please do not add in too much light soya, else the beansprouts will brown too much. 

Step 8: Add in beancurd and mix well. You may want to add

Please do not overfry, just mix in the beancurd. The beansprouts taste best when it retains its crisp without tasting too raw. (Btw, beansprouts can be eaten raw.)

Step 9: The dish is now ready, so just remove it from the wok and set it on a plate for serving.

Comments:

• Variations:  There are many variations to this dish.  Some people like to add in shredded chicken, or small pieces of salted fish that has be prefried.  My mother-in-law adds in chilli slices and sliced shitake mushroom.  I have a friend who tells me his favourite dish is when the beansprouts are stir-fried with strips of pickled vegetables (mustard greens).  I guess everyone has our own experiences with this dish and hence has their own personal preferences.
• This dish goes particularly well with rice and Teochew porridge.
• Using a wok for deep frying at home:  The wok is a very versatile too, and can be used for frying fish, beancurd etc.  The trick is to prevent sticking, is to ensure the wok is well heated through, add in the oil for heating only when the wok is well heated (so that the oil does not overheat and smoking when the whole wok is heating up).  Swirl the heated oil to coat the side before adding in the wok and ensure that you have remove any excess moisture from whatever you are adding into the work.
• "What if I don't own a wok?"  Don't worry so much....you can still deep-fry the beancurd in a frying pan, or deep-fryer, and stir fry the rest of the recipe in a frying pan.  I tend to favour the wok as it is very versatile and can do the whole dish up using just the wok....I don't like to wash too many utensils at the end.

Discovering Sea Salt

  I first started using sea salt when I contracted breast cancer in 2004.  After undergoing 2 operations, I found that I had contracted late Stage 2 till early Stage 3 breast cancer as my cancer had spread my my lymph nodes.

  While undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy, my husband was particularly worried about my immunity system and insisted I visited a Chinese Physician as well.  My physician not only prescribed medicinal herbs to complement the chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment but also insisted on strict diet for me, the general guidelines were:

•  Less processed food, if possible no meat which includes pork, beef and mutton.  If I wanted to have chicken, it had to be one which was not fed on homones and antibiotics.  Fish was however occasionally allowed
• Whole grains, this meant no white bread, no white rice.  I switched to eating brown rice and have been on it since.
• Lots of fruits and vegetables, hopefully raw.  She insisted that raw cabbage was good and so if I could, munch on slices of raw cabbage.  I was also to juice 2 cucumber each morning and drink the juice.
• In terms of seasoning, she insisted on no msg, no sugar and I could only rely on sea salt.

  I was in for a headache at that time, looking at the local food sold in Singapore, I realised most of them could not fit the criteria that she wanted.  Our local food are mainly carbo based, rice and noodles, there is hardly any vegetables in those food.  Vegetables are mainly stir fried, salads was not a common place in our diet.  Organic restaurants could not be a mainstay in my diet. 

  Being someone who can cook.  I decided to look for recipes that could fit the criteria and yet where more suited for the Asian diet.  My husband then came across this book called Longevity: The Tao of eating and healing by Aileen Yeoh.  That began my journey for a macrobiotic diet.

  I am now 5 years past my last date of chemotherapy and still surviving.  However, embarrased to say, I have not kept strictly to the diet prescribed by my physician.  However, I still try to keep to guidelines.  I still use sea salt in my cooking as I found it more flavourful then normal table salt (sodium chloride), with sea salt there is little need for me to monosodium glutamate, or sugar to my daily cooking.  Though a little more expensive, I can still afford it so I keep to it.

  The sea salt brands I use vary because of the availability at the supermarkets.  But the common brands I use are Bob's Red Mill and Origins (from a local organic shop).  The Japanese supermarkets like Meidya also carry sea salt.  I use the natural sea salt and not the iodized version though.

  You may want to replace your cooking with sea salt cooking and you will find that the food you make is more flavourful.  Somehow, sea salt gives body to the food.