The Legend Of Pipa Tofu & My Birthday!
By: Blackswan
Published: Wednesday, November 10, 2010 - 5:55am

Ingredients




300 grams Pressed Tofu
1 Fish fillet
50 grams Minced pork/chicken
5 Chinese mushrooms
1 Egg-white (lightly beaten)
1 teaspoon Chopped carrots
1 teaspoon Bacon bits
1 teaspoon Oyster sauce
1/2 teaspoon Cornflour
of pepper& salt
Sauce:
(to add a royalty touch, I’ve used Premium Abalone Sauce instead of Oyster to make the sauce):
Stock from steamed Tofu
1 tablespoon Mixed Vegetables
1/2 teaspoon Premium Abalone Sauce
1/2 teaspoon Sesame oil
1 teaspoon Cornstarch
Dash of Chinese wine

Preparation

1 Chop fillet & mash with Tofu. Mix thoroughly with all other ingredients. 2 Using a Chinese soup spoon, gently mould the Tofu into Pipa shape. Pinch one end of Tofu to make a sharper end. 3 Steam Tofu for about 5 mins. Remove from steamer & drain stock into small pan to make stock. 4 Coat Tofu with flour. You may want to wait for it to cool down a little. 5 Heat oil & deep-fry Tofu till golden brown. Turn gently to avoid breaking them. Drain oil & dish onto serving plate. 6 Heat pan & add mixed vegetables to stock. Cook till soft & add cornstarch to thicken sauce. 7 Dribble sauce over Tofu & serve hot. 8 I’ve used Press Tofu here which is good for pan fried & deep fried dishes. If you dislike fried food, simply skip step 4 & 5. Buy the Extra Smooth Silken Tofu to get a softer texture if you’re only going to steam.

About


Yes, it's my birthday today! To thank all my friends & bloggers for their warmth wishes @ Facebook & to reward readers for their support to this site, I’m gonna introduce you to one of my family's favourite dish.
This is also the fave food of one of the China’s Four Great Beauties, Xi Shi (西施). She is said to be “so entrancingly beautiful that fish would forget to swim & sink away from the surface when she walks by”.
Legend has it that Xi Shi loved Tofu, beancurd made locally known to be the best in the China; & Pipa Tofu was her fave. The name derived from a four-stringed Chinese musical instrument. Sometimes called the Chinese lute, the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body.
There’re many versions of Pipa Tofu in the market. Readers who have been following my recipes will know that I love to incorporate both East & West ingredients to come up with fusion dishes. I’ve fine-tuned mine to include Bacon bits in this Oriental Tofu. Well, you’re gonna to learn how to make this legendary dish!