Tofu

A light and flavorful tofu dish that I concocted by combining elements from Weichuan's 1994 cookbook Tofu! Tofu! Tofu! and Andrea Nguyen's Asian Tofu . I like to use soft tofu for this recipe because its silky texture pairs well with the light sauce.

I adapted this recipe from Bee Yinn Low's 'Braised Bean Curd with Mushrooms' recipe which I found on her website  www.rasamalaysia.com . Very homestyle, flavorful, and easy to make. I opted to cook the ingredients in a large sauté pan/wok rather than cooking them directly in the clay pot but did serve everything in a clay pot for final presentation.

Very simple ingredients in this recipe. In fact, the most time-consuming part (if you consider 10-15 minutes time consuming) is the pan-frying of the tofu to achieve a lightly golden, crispy exterior. This dish is standard fare in Taiwanese cuisine and a fixture in my mom's home cooking. The sliced Fresno chili is not traditional, but something I like to add for color & a little kick. I've cooked this dish two ways: one using firm/regular tofu and the other using soft tofu -

This essentially vegetarian version of a classic salt and pepper Chinese dish, typically done with chicken or seafood, is one of the best things you can do with tofu. I adapted this recipe from Fuchsia Dunlop's cookbook Every Grain of Rice  and the end result is scrumptious. If you're generally not a fan of tofu this rendition is da bomb! The tofu is lightly coated in cornstarch and then fried until crispy on the outside but still creamy tender on the inside. The salt & peppe

This is Chinese comfort food at its best. It's rustic, spicy, nutritious (as long as you go easy on the oil), and really delicious. Tofu is widely available in most markets these days, but the hot bean paste, black bean sauce and Szechuan peppercorns you'll probably have to buy from an Asian market. I get mine from 99 Ranch Market, a Chinese supermarket chain in California and many other states.