tofu – Elsie Hui

February 24, 2012March 22, 2012

Homemade Steamed Egg Tofu

Home Made Steamed Egg with Soy Milk

This is a neat one, but delicious steamed dish that goes perfectly with rice! It’s really quick and easy, and I think it’s light and healthy too! so, why not put together a quick dish on the dinner table tonight? Well, this recipe takes a spin off scramble eggs – as you normally put a splash of milk in the scrambled eggs, except you’re putting soy milk in your steamed eggs! Also, you can dress up this dish if you like, or enjoy it as it!

Ingredients:
125mL Soy Milk (unsweetened)
3 Eggs (beaten)
pinch of salt and white pepper

Some people opt out of the white pepper if they’re just looking for the smooth custard look and feel of the steamed egg.

First off, set up your steamer for steaming. This recipe is quick, so you can start preparing this right away! Beat your 3 eggs and season it. Make sure it’s beaten well.

When it’s mixed thoroughly, pour the soy milk into the mixture and beat well again.

Strain the egg mixture through a strainer into a heat proof steam plate, cover it tightly with aluminum foil and set into the steamer. Steam for about 12 to 15 minutes on low.

After you remove it from the steamer, unwrap the tin foil to see the beautiful creation you’ve made! My eggs were over-cooked so it’s not the custard texture that I was looking for on the top as I left it in the steamer so it would stay warm. However, it was smooth and creamy on the inside. I like to add some soy sauce to my eggs, because that is how my dad did it. My mom would actually put a bunch of stuff on top to make the eggs more flavourful. I like the XO Sauce Steamed Egg Tofu for me!

If you like steamed eggs for dinner, try ending with steamed egg for dessert with Dun Daan (Sweet Egg Custard Dessert)

February 16, 2012March 22, 2012

Homemade Chinese Spicy Steamed Tofu

Home Made Spicy Tofu Recipe

Some night, I don’t know what to make – a quick and simple dish to go with rice would be tofu! I like to buy a medium firmness tofu as it’s most versatile. After you steam the tofu it because really silky, smooth and soft. As I only cook for 2 people, I either use half or even a quarter block of Sunrise Tofu which can be purchased from the grocery stores with an Asian aisle (or of course the Asian market). If you know how to handle your tofu, I recommend buying the soft or silken tofu for this recipe! It will become almost a savoury custard.

Ingredient:
1/2 block Tofu
1/2 tsp chili flakes
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp maple syrup
dash of hot sauce

First, you rinse the block of tofu, and dry it well. The better job you do of drying it, the better the soy sauce will stick to the tofu as an end result.While the tofu is drying, set up the steamer. I then cut up my tofu into little cubes and arrange on a heat proof dish, and sprinkle the chili flakes on top. Cover the dish with aluminum foil so water doesn’t get into the dish while it’s steaming. While the tofu is steaming, prepare the soy sauce mixture by combining the soy sauce, maple syrup and hot sauce.

Steam the dish for about 13-15 minutes depending on the thickness of your tofu. Once it’s soft and heated through, it’s ready to go! Take the dish out of the steamer carefully and pour the soy sauce mixture over top. Serve hot and enjoy. The soy sauce taste really good over rice!

February 7, 2012March 22, 2012

Homemade Dou Fu Hua – 豆腐花

Home Made Dau Fu Fa with Gelatin – Soybean Pudding

This chilled dessert isn’t the traditional style, but this recipe is simple and is great for serving it cold with a simple ginger syrup.

Ingredients:
3 cups Unsweetened Soy Milk
1 package (1 tbsp) Gelatin
1/4 cup water

This simple recipe takes no time to make, but takes a lot of time to set. First, you boil the soy milk slowly as soy milk boils over really quickly. You do not need it at a full boil either to prevent the soy film.

Once the soy milk boils, prepare the gelatin mixture by dissolving the gelatin with the water. Mix thoroughly and then pour it into the soy milk.

I like to have my dou fu hua in little individual bowl, so I pour the solution into little bowls and place into the fridge for it to set for at least a few hours.

In the mean time while the bowls are setting up in the fridge, I like to make the ginger syrup so I can refrigerate the solution as well.

If you want, you can make this dessert the “traditional” way which can be served hot or cold! Here’s the Dau Fu Fa recipe!

November 18, 2011January 10, 2012

Ajisai Japanese Cuisine

So, this one afternoon, we were in the Northwest – just out and about, until we realized that we haven’t had lunch yet. We wanted some sushi, and didn’t really feel like having the ones from T&T, so we stumbled upon Ajisai Sushi hidden in a commercial building, around a lot of residential housing. We actually needed our GPS to find the location, as it was off the main roads.

This place was really nice, clean, large, open and bright (from both lighting and windows) and what I love most about it is the open concept. The decorations was warm and elegant, and it’s truly a place for the local businesses to grab a quick sushi lunch.

Ajisai does offer great lunch menu – both for take out and eat in! We got to eat in and started off with a few goodies. We got our Plain Miso Soup which was as it’s called “plain” miso soup. It wasn’t anything spectacular about it – yet there was nothing wrong with it! I just like starting with miso soup and this did the trick!

Recently, I’ve started to enjoy trying Spicy Agedashi Tofu which basically is deep fried Tofu with spicy sauce – usually the sauce they use on spicy sushi/rolls. This one was deep fried really nicely – with a crispy outside, hot and soft tofu on the inside. I think the batter could have used a little seasoning though – that would enhance the dish to a million levels, even if it was just salt. I did dip my agedashi into my soy sauce, and it didn’t do the trick as it softened the deep fried crispiness.

My favourite starter of the day was definitely the Chicken Karaage which means deep fried marinated chicken, and this was also deep fried to perfection like the agedashi. The sauce tasted great, and I think it’s almost like a honey mayonnaise – or something to that nature. I would highly recommend the chicken karaage if you’re looking for a great starter!

Now, after our starters and appetizers, we ordered our lunch specials – which are great set lunch combos which come in a set of stuff. The first one we had was Assorted Sushi Tuna, Salmon, Ebi, Tamago, Snapper & California Maki. The sushi wasn’t bad, but there wasn’t anything special to it. At least it didn’t taste bad, even though I think the texture was a little off. Perhaps it was still a little frozen or something, but it definitely felt different when chewing on the fish. The ebi sushi was really nicely done, and was probably my favourite on the plate. I normally really like tamago (egg sushi), but I wasn’t really turned on by this one as it had a layer of gray in the egg. I didn’t eat this piece and I gave it to my husband to try. He said it tasted fine, but again, nothing special.

Following that, we also ordered the Sashimi Lunch which came with a selection of sashimi, a bowl of white rice, and a few pieces of honey glazed yams. The sashimi like the sushi, they tasted alright with an odd texture. The yams was probably my favourite part of this set lunch, and that’s pretty sad. But, the tuna and salmon wasn’t a far second – then the rest of the sashimi with the strange texture.

I really like the convenience of having a set lunch, and it would really come handy if I worked or lived around there. There are lots of options on the menu whether or not you choose to eat from the set lunch menus. I am not sure if they have set dinner menu as well, but the idea is wonderful and convenient. This restaurant seems to me like the majority of their business is weekday lunch take-away, which is nice! I may be back for a dinner to see the difference too – if I’m in the area! I guess there are a lot of other sushi places I’d try too, so I may not be returning as I can’t decided whether I enjoyed Ajisai or not.

Ajisai Japanese Cuisine

750 1110 Panatella Blvd. NW
Calgary, AB
(403) 457-3802

April 4, 2011March 31, 2019

Lin Garden Restaurant – Toronto, Ontario

We were in Toronto visiting family a few months ago, and we tried this Chinese – Hakka food near our hotel. We read reviews about it, and all the reviews stated that the food was good, but the place is really dirty.

We ordered deep fried wings, Hakka noodles and Hakka Tofu. The noodles and wings were really well done, and it sure was a different taste than the usual “Chinese” noodles. The tofu dish was good, however, I don’t think the tofu of ours tasted quite right… and the Chinese mushrooms were a bit off. it was full of garlic flavor, but it was still good.

The noodle dish is what we described as “XO sauce” taste, without the spice. It was very unique, and their choice for noodles made it a great experience.

The portions were quite large, and the prices were reasonable. I would return – as it is good and convenient! Lin Garden Restaurant does open quite late, which adds to the convenience!

Lin Garden Restaurant

1806 Pharmacy Ave,
Scarborough, Ontario
416-491-8484