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Worth trying: Stay cool on a hot day with chilled tofu and preserved duck eggs

 

With summer approaching and people already looking for hot-weather relief, I thought I’d post notes on a cold tofu appetizer that uses preserved duck eggs.

The nice touch is that the soft tofu soaks up the slight amount of soy sauce and Chinese sesame oil that is drizzled over it.

Add a pinch of sugar, salt, chicken bouillon powder and thinly-sliced green onions and it’s an excellent alternative to bean curd that needs to be served hot.

If you’ve never tried Chinese-style preserved duck eggs, don’t worry. The subtle texture and low-key taste matches the soft tofu.

The only catch: I really can’t give you an accurate description of how the eggs taste. But they’re less firm than a boiled chicken egg.

And if you really don’t like preserved duck eggs, no problem. Just let me know because I can always use them.

This dish pairs well with almost any food. You can eat it by itself. You can drink beer or tea with it.

It takes about 15 minutes to prepare. If you have ingredients, such as the Chinese sesame oil on hand, you’re looking at a price range of $2 to $3.

The tub of soft tofu that my wife, Dan, and I bought cost $1.49. The duck eggs that we bought sold for $2.29 for six. You can use one or two eggs.

My wife likes to make it with green onions on top. Some people enjoy adding chopped cilantro, diced, fresh shrimp, mushrooms or pure chili oil.

Experiment. See what works for you.

After the jump, I’ve included a basic slideshow that outlines the steps.

 

Ingredients:

• Soft tofu (14 ounces, comes in a tub of water)
• Chinese-style preserved duck eggs (Pro Fusion is one brand)
• The duck eggs have water, sodium carbonate, salt and tea.
• One green onion
• Salt (a quarter of a teaspoon or so)
• Soy sauce (about a teaspoon and a half)
• Sesame oil (a tablespoon)
• Lian How brand, meiwei blended soybean/sesame oil, is one type
• Sugar (a pinch)
• Chicken bouillon powder (a pinch)

Steps:

• Take one or two eggs. Cut into small pieces.
• Slice the green onion into thin pieces.
• Open the soft tofu. Keep the tofu in the tub. Drain.
• Rinse the tofu with cold water. Drain again.
• Keep the tofu in the tub.
• Take a knife and cut the bean curd down the middle.
• Cut thin slices across that one cut.
• Flip the tub upside down while pressed firmly to a plate.
• Lift slowly to keep the tofu together.
• Place the egg and green onions on top.
• Sprinkle the salt and drip the soy sauce.
• Throw a pinch of sugar on top.
• Add a bit of chicken bouillon powder.
• Pour the sesame oil on top.
• Serve immediately.
• Or let the soy sauce and sesame oil soak into the tofu longer.