Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Stir-Fried Garlic Chive Flowers with Frozen Tofu (韮菜炒凍豆腐)


I saw a frozen tofu post at Food 4 Tots and was so intriguing that I just had to try it out.  Frozen tofu was new to me and after I tried it, I really liked it.  Frozen tofu is also known as Thousand Layer Tofu (千葉豆腐) and is pretty common in Taiwan.  Simply drain the tofu, wrap in cling wrap and into a ziplock bag and freeze. Just thaw overnight in the refrigerator and squeeze out the excess water before using.  The resulted texture was spongy and porous as ice crystals develop within the tofu when freeze.  Thus resulting in the formation of large cavities that seem to be layered.  The spongy thaw frozen tofu can absorb the sauce or marinade really well, therefore the end result was more flavorful than the normal tofu.  I was sold at first try and hope you will try it too.  The nutritional value of tofu is not lost if you freeze it.  What a great way to store the tofu that near or just pass the expiry date. ;-)


This is a picture of my thawed and water squeezed out tofu, preparing for cutting.  Really looked like a sponge huh?

I served up my frozen tofu with garlic chive flowers or kucai hua as we Malaysian called it.   You can easily spot garlic chive flowers at the Asian supermarket.  It has a distinct flavor and most kids don't like it.  So, one woman was surprised when she saw that my girls ate this.  Well, they were trained to eat Asian food when born, so to me it's good for them.



Ingredients:

  • 1 bunch of garlic chive flowers, pluck and discard the callous bottom part, washed
  • 1/2 block of frozen tofu, sliced
  • 1 medium carrot, sliced
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • Soy sauce to taste
  • 1/2 tsp. chicken powder (optional)

Method:

1.  Heat up a wok, add in some cooking oil of your choice.  When hot, add in the garlic, stir-fry until fragrant. 

2.  Add in garlic chives and carrot and stir-fry until soften.  Add in sliced frozen tofu.  Mix well.

3.  Add soy sauce to taste and chicken powder.  Stir to mix well.  Serve hot!

10 comments:

Amanda Lee @ Playing with Food said...

I didn't know it's even got a name, 千叶豆腐. I used mine in curry noodles when I can't find the fried version at the market. Texture is slightly different, but still better than nothing. Oh, and do you mean absorb or adsorp? ;)

Belinda @zomppa said...

What a pretty dish! So full of flavor.

tigerfish said...

韮菜 has a pungent taste...I am surprised your girls can accept it (of course, it is good!) :D

Saw the frozen tofu post in Food4tots too and now here. Makes me want to try. I guess have to use medium to firm tofu for that right?

Little Corner of Mine said...

Amanda, adsorb I mean. Thanks for the point out. :)

Thanks Belinda.

Tigerfish, I used firm and extra firm tofu. But in wiki, they said soft tofu. I haven't tried it with soft tofu though so I don't know.

Jocie's Mom said...

Looking good! Must investigate frozen tofu :)a

chopinandmysaucepan said...

Garlic chive is such a wonderful vegetable to be stir-fried. I've never done it with frozen tofu but it looks delicious!

Amelia said...

I like the frozen tofu texture, make fish ball soup also taste nice. Your dish looks inviting.

Dwiana said...

Anything you cook with tofu, it turns out so good! I can tell just by looking.

Unknown said...

ohhhh i wanna try freezing tofu again. my first attempt failed :( i love frozen tofu so so much, they absorb sauces like a sponge.

busygran said...

I love dishes like this. I can just polish off the whole place with a little rice!