酿豆腐 Stuffed Tofu

You have probably noticed I express a lot in my dishes using chilli flake. Unlike raw chilli, the dried form has a subtle spiciness which stimulates appetite, not too over-powering to kill the natural flavours of the ingredients. I find chilli flake particularly inevitable in this dish. It enhances the aroma of both the soup and stuffed tofu overall.



Ingredients (A) (to marinate pork mince):

Oyster sauce
Five spice powder
Sugar
Pepper
Chilli flake

Other ingredients:

1 packet pork mince
1 red capsicum
8-10 dry shiitake mushrooms
1 packet firm tofu
1 jalapeno chilli
1 small packet of chicken stock
Oil
Sesame oil
Salt
Pepper
Chilli flake

Method:

1. Marinate pork mince with ingredients (A) and leave overnight.
2. Soak dry shiitake mushrooms in warm water until soft.
3. Cut capsicum crossectionally into 3-4 pieces, and halve the jalapeno chilli. Remove seeds and rinse well.
4. Remove tofu from its packaging, and divide it into 4-6 pieces.
5. Hollow the centre of tofu pieces with a teaspoon. Save the remnants for later use.
6. Stuff capsicum, shiitake mushrooms, jalapeno chilli and tofu.
7. Prepare a pot of warm chicken stock. Add a cup of water to dilute the saltiness. Maintain temperature at low heat.
8. Prepare a frying pan with some oil.
9. Pan-fry stuffed items until semi-cooked, before transfering to the pot for stewing. Blot with paper towel to remove excess oil before adding to the pot.
10. Add the tofu remnants, a few drops of saseme oil, more chilli flake, salt and pepper into the pot for extra flavours.