The most overlooked tofu: Tofu Sheets, 3 ways

Tofu sheets! If you've never seen them before, these are a sort of hyper firm tofu that should be available at most Chinese supermarkets. If you love tofu and tofu-related stuff, you'll loved them; if you're not crazy about tofu, you'll still love them - promise. It's just a great ingredient through and through. We'll cover three recipes:

Tofu Noodle Salad (凉拌千张)
Red Braised Tofu Sheets (红烧千张)
Vegetarian Fried Duck (素炒鸭子)

INGREDIENTS, COLD TOFU NOODLE SALAD

Tofu sheets (千张/豆皮), 200g. Cut into ~1cm strips.
For the sauce: 2 tbsp dark Chinese vinegar (陈醋/香醋), 2 tsp light soy sauce (生抽), 2 tsp sugar, ¼ tsp salt, optional sprinkle MSG (味精). For the vinegar, ‘Shanxi Mature Vinegar’ is preferable.
Garlic, 3 cloves. Minced.
Cilantro (香菜), 1 sprig. Cut into ~1.5 inch sections.
Dried chilis (干辣椒), ~4. Cut into ~1 cm sections. Basically any sort of dried chili with a bit of kick will do.
Sichuan peppercorn (花椒), ~1/2 tsp.
Oil, preferably Chinese rapeseed oil (菜籽油). Peanut oil would also be good, or barring that neutral is ok.

PROCESS, COLD TOFU NOODLE SALAD

1. Blanch the tofu strips for about two minutes. [1:13 in the video]

2. Combine with the sauce and the cilantro. Place the minced garlic on trop. [1:37 in the video]

3. Add the oil together with the chili and Sichuan peppercorn into a cold pan. Heat on medium, fry for ~1-2 minutes, or until fragrant. [1:52]

4. Remove the chilis and the peppercorns. Continue to heat the oil until smoking. [2:05]

5. Splash the hot oil onto your salad, aiming for the garlic. Mix well. [2:13]

For looks, you can add back a couple of the dried chili pieces for decoration.

INGREDIENTS, RED BRAISED TOFU SHEETS

Tofu sheets (千张/豆皮), 200g. Cut into ~2 inch strips, then into triangles [2:50]
Eggs, 4.
Aromatics for the braise: 2 cloves garlic, 2 inches ginger (姜). Crush the garlic, cut the ginger into slices.
Spices for the braise: 1 star anise (八角), ½ cinnamon stick (桂皮), 1 dried bay leaf (香叶), 2 cloves (丁香), ½ tsp Sichuan peppercorn (花椒).
Liaojiu, a.k.a. Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒), ~1/2 tbsp. For use when stir frying.
Hot water, 3 cups.
Seasoning for the braise: 1.5 tbsp light soy sauce (生抽), ½ tbsp dark soy sauce (老抽), ½ tbsp sugar.
To taste: salt, MSG (味精). We added ~1/8 tsp salt and a sprinkle of MSG.
Slurry: 3 tsp cornstarch (生粉), 3 tbsp water.
Scallions. Sliced, for garnish.

PROCESS, RED BRAISED TOFU SHEETS

1. Hard boil your eggs. Like you always would - add to a pot together with cool water, bring it all to a boil, boil for 7 minutes covered, then remove and peel.

2. Blanch the tofu sheets for ~1 minute. [2:56]

3. Fry the boiled eggs over medium-high heat for ~10 minutes, or until wrinkly and golden brown [3:09].

4. Stir fry. Add the aromatics, fry for ~30 seconds until fragrant. Add the spices, fry for ~30 seconds until fragrant. Swirl in the wine, give a quick mix. [3:40]

5. Add in the water, the seasoning for the braise, and the tofu sheets. If you were stir frying in a wok, transfer over to a pot for braising [4:06]

6. Bring to a boil over high flame, then swap your flame to medium. Cover with the lid ajar to allow for reduction. Boil for 25 minutes [4:25]

7. Uncover, swap the flame to high to reduce a bit more. Season with salt & MSG to taste. [4:33]

8. Add the slurry bit by bit. Depending on how much everything reduced during cooking, you will likely need a little more or a little less. We used the full amount call for. [4:43]

Out, garnish with scallion.

INGREDIENTS, VEGETARIAN STIR FRIED DUCK

Tofu sheets (千张/豆皮), 150g. Cut into 1 inch by 2 inch rectangles.
Blanching liquid: 1 liter water, 2 tsp baking soda (苏打粉).
Sauce for frying: 1 tbsp light soy sauce (生抽), 1 tsp dark soy sauce (老抽), 1 tsp liaojiu a.k.a. Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒), ½ tsp sugar, ¼ tsp salt, 5 tbsp water.
Scallion (葱). Divided into the white part (sliced) and the green part (~1 inch sections).
Slurry: 2 tsp cornstarch (生粉), 2 tbsp water.

PROCESS, VEGETARIAN STIR FRIED DUCK

1. Blanch the tofu sheets in the baking soda-water for 3-4 minutes, or until the water is yellowish & foamy, and the tofu sheets turn whiter. [5:48]

2. Immediately remove, strain, then dunk in cool water to stop the cooking. [6:08]

3. Stir fry the scallion over high for ~1 minute, then add in the sauce [6:47].

4. Bring to a rapid boil, add tofu sheets. Gently stir for ~1-2 minutes, or til sauce is reduced by ~half. [7:10]

5. Thicken with the slurry bit by bit. For the video, we used about half of the slurry. [7:19]

6. Add in the scallion greens. Quick mix, out.

Big thank you to the Xigua user “醉美皖西大别山” for that picture of Tofu sheet making. You can check out the whole process here: https://www.ixigua.com/67543394869072...

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Outro Music: คิดถึงคุณจัง by ธานินทร์ อินทรเทพ
Found via My Analog Journal (great channel):    • Live Stream: Favourite B-Side Tracks