Braised Sponge Beancurd With Luffa

This is another wonderful dish using the spongebeancurd. This time, I braised the sponge beancurd  with luffa in chicken broth with gingko, red dates, dried scallop, dried shiitake mushrooms and goji.  The delicious and tasty broth is absorbed into the soften luffa and sponge beancurd.  I leave you to imagine how wonderful and tasty this dish is.  Healthy too !  :) Simply love the sponge beancurd.  I have to make one load of it and they are so versatile that I can make a few dishes using them. Try making them and I am sure you will not regret taking the time to make the sponge beancurd .  

Regarding making sponge beancurd , some of my friends shared that these firm tofu/beancurd can also be freezed and you will get the same result as the boiled ones.  I am not sure whether the texture will be the same but for the method I used, boiling firm tofu, the tofu remains soft and spongy.   I will try the freezing method in my next round of making sponge beancurd and see the difference in texture.  

delish !

Braised Sponge Beancurd With Luffa - WB's Kitchen

Ingredients:

2 pieces of sponge beancurd - click here
1 medium sized Luffa - peeled and cut into 1.5 inch length and halved it
1000 ml chicken broth
6 pieces of dried scallops
4 pieces of red dates- remove seeds
2 pieces of dried shiitake mushrooms - soaked and cut into strips
6-8 pieces of gingko - remove shells and skin
some goji- soak and wash
a pinch of salt for taste

Method:

Boil the chicken broth in a medium sized soup pot together with , dried scallops, mushrooms, gingko, goji and red dates and sponge beancurd over medium low heat for 40 mins. Add sea salt to taste.  Add in the luffa and once the luffa is soft, the dish is ready for serving. Gently scoop up the sponge beancurds into a servimg deep dish, arrange the soften luffa around the sponge tofu.  Garnish top of the sponge tofu with gingko, goji and red dates and dried scallop. Gently scoop up the tasty broth over the luffa and benacurd. Serve with piping hot rice.

Enjoy ! 

Fish Head Yam Soup With Sponge Beancurd

After having learned  how to make spongy hole riddled texture beancurd, I used them in my fish head yam soup. The reason being the tofu with spongy hole riddled texture will be able to absorb more of the tasting soup and thus making this bland tofu more flavored :)  This is so delicious that surprisingly WB who is not fond of fish, slurp down two bowls of this flavorful fish head soup :) God was on my side..the yam so fluffy and creamy and the fish head was sweet and fresh and the homegrown organic spring onions round up the flavor and making this a winner soup of the year in my family menu .  

love this beautiful soup...love the fish head, love the fluffy creamy yam and

not to forget the spongy beancurd

added tomatoes to mask the fish smell in the soup

and give color to the soup

look how fluffy and creamy the yam is

the longer you boil the bencurd the more spongy it becomes :)

remember to use firm beancurd to make this spongy beancurd

Fish Head Yam Soup With Sponge Beancurd - WB's Kitchen

1 medium size Groupa Fish head

1 medium size yam - peel of skin, cut into 1/2 " thick slices

2 pieces of spongy beancurd - cut into half  ( click here on to make spongy beancurd )

2 tomatoes- remove skin and cut into halves

3 stalks of spring onions - cut into 1" length

1 thumb size old ginger - slightly crush

1/2 tbsp of salt - to taste

1 tsp of white ground pepper

1.2 litre of chicken broth

1 tbsp of vegetable oil

Method:

1.  Heat up oil in a claypot, when oil is hot, put in ginger and stir fry till fragrant.  

2.  Add in yam slices and fry till yam is half cooked and the surface is slightly golden. Dish up the yam.  

3.  Add in the fish head and fry till it is light golden color. Add in the chicken broth and let is simmer under low medium heat for 20 mins.  

4.  Add in tomatoes, yam, and spongy beancurd. Continue to simmer soup for another 3/4 hour under low heat.  When the soup is aromatic...add in salt to taste, ground white pepper and continue simmer a further 5 minutes.  Before dishing up, add in spring onions.  Off heat and serve hot.

Enjoy  !

Sponge Beancurd

Okay, you may already know how to make these sponge beancurd but for me this is the first time making them.  I remembered when I was young , my grandma used to cook this with salted fish tofu soup. I remembered that I love the spongy texture of the tofu but then I was just a teenager then.  When I saw this sponge beancurd recipe in one of my old Flavors magazine...I knew I had to make some for myself.  The process takes 4 hours .  You have to use firm beancurd.  Patience paid off when I finally manged to get good result after boiling the beancurd for 4 hours on high heat.  Exactly four hours and I got a very nice spongy hole riddled texture.  I will be sharing two recipes using sponge beancurd  in my coming posts. Stay tuned :)

after 4 hours of boiling the beancurd, 

take out and soak the beancurd in a bowl of water

to cool

I used a sharp thin knife to cut off the skin

and tada...a nice spongy hole riddled texture appeared before

my eyes...heehee super duper happy with the results

love the spongy hole riddled texture !

Sponge Beancurd  - Flavor Magazine - March to April 2008 Issue

Ingredient:

4 pieces of firm beancurd

To prepare beancurd :

Kep the beancurd refrigerated for at least 1 day , allowing the coagulant to sink to the bottom.  Remove and drain before using.  Bring water to boil in a large uncovered pot and add the beancurd; boil over high heat for 4 hours. Remove and soak the beancurd in a bowl filled with water to cool.  Once cool, trim away the beancurd skin to reveal the spongy , hole riddled texture.

Before using, soak in water and keep in the refrigerator.

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