Braised Bean Curd with Water Spinach

Bean Curd or tofu is one of the healthiest meat substitute available. It is made of curdled soy milk proteins. Bean curd was first made in China around 2,000 years ago with many kinds of varying firmness. It can be silky smooth sold in tubs or firm sold in bars or cake form.

The soybean itself has a strong “beany” taste but the process of turning them into bean curds which involves pressure cooking them eliminates the taste. Bean curds when raw are bland and slightly acidic which makes them great absorbers of flavour. They can be sweet as in tofu pudding, or savoury like the soy braised tofu.

I’m not a vegetarian, but I love tofu and one of my favourites of cooking tofu is braising it with soy sauce and water spinach (Morning Glory). It cooks in under 10 minutes, very delicious and healthy to boot. I first tried a version of this from Max Restaurant in Manila. The following recipe is my copycat version.

Braised Bean Curd with Water Spinach

Recipe by acmowlai

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: AppetizersCuisine: Filipino

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

5

minutes

Cooking time

25

minutes

Braised Tofu with Black Pepper and Garlic Sauce ala Max

Ingredients

• 250 g firm tofu

• 1 bunch water spinach( kangkong)

• Black Pepper & Garlic Sauce

• 6 cloves of garlic

• 1 small onion

• 3 teaspoons soy sauce

• 3 teaspoons mirin or xiaxing wine

• 3 tablespoons brown sugar

• Cracked black pepper to taste

• Cooking oil for pan frying

• 1 thumb size ginger,peeled and grated

• 2 green onions, finely sliced

• 1 small chilli finely sliced

• Fried garlic available from most Asian shops

Directions

• Rinse and drain tofu. Cut into bite sized squares. In a pan on medium heat, place 1 teaspoon of cooking oil. Place the tofu in a single layer for 5 minutes. Turn it over and cook the other side until golden grown. Remove to a serving plate and set aside.
• Wash the water spinach and cut into 2 inch pieces. Discard the tough stems.
• In the same pan where you cooked the tofu add 1 teaspoon of cooking oil on medium heat. Add garlic onion ginger and sauté until fragrant and the onion is transparent. Add the water spinach. Cover pan and cook for 2 minutes. Add soy sauce brown sugar mirin and cracked black pepper. Stir until combined and remove from heat.
• Pour sauce on top of the tofu. Garnish with sliced green onions chilli and fried garlic. Serves 4 as entree or 2 as main meal served with steamed rice.

Notes

• Serves 4 as entree or 2 as main meal served with rice