Chili Oil Bean Curd Cloud Ear Long Bean Chicken (紅油腐乳雲耳豆角鷄, Hung4 Jau4 Fu6 Jyu5 Wan4 Ji5 Dau6 Gok3 Gai1)

Fermented bean curd is the basis for the sauce for this dish. I used a fermented bean curd with chili, but a regular version can be substituted if you prefer the dish without any spiciness. The quantity (i.e. the number of cakes) to use is a personal preference, so feel free to increase or decrease the amount used. Fresh cloud ear fungus is available at your local Asian market. If fresh is not available, dried can be substituted. Just remember that dried cloud ear fungus expands greatly once rehydrated, so use a smaller amount of the dried than fresh.

Enjoy!

Chili Oil Bean Curd Salted Radish Fuzzy Melon Pork (紅油腐乳菜脯節瓜豬肉, Hung4 Jau4 Fu6 Jyu5 Coi3 Pou2 Zit3 Gwaa1 Zyu1 Juk6)

Here’s another recipe using thinly sliced pork, this time using bean curd, salted radish, and fuzzy melon. The previous recipe: Chili Black Bean Bitter Melon Pork (辣椒豆豉苦瓜豬肉, Laat⁶ Ziu¹ Dau⁶ Si⁶ Fu² Gwaa¹ Zyu¹ Juk⁶), used a black bean sauce. I used a salted radish made in China rather than Thailand because the radish is more sweet than salty. Thinly sliced meat is used for a Japanese dish called Shabu Shabu. The raw meat is dipped into a stock with chopsticks, moved around quickly in the stock to cook, and then dipped into a sauce before eating. The meat (typically beef) can be found at your local Japanese or Asian market. For this recipe, thinly sliced pork butt is stir fried with other ingredients rather than using it for Shabu Shabu. Thinly sliced Berkshire pork can be substituted to make this dish also.

Enjoy!

Fermented Red Bean Curd Lamb Clay Pot (砂煲南乳羊肉, Saa1 Bou1 Naam4 Jyu5 Joeng4 Juk6)

This clay pot recipe uses lamb with fermented red bean curd and bean curd sticks. The combination is a classic Chinese dish and now that I have a clay pot, cooking the dish is just a matter of assembling the ingredients. I bought a clay pot recently and used it to make this dish. Clay pots need to be prepared before using for the first time to prevent cracking. I used this website for advice: Clay Pot Use and Maintenance Tips at Chinese Soup Pot.

Lamb stew meat was available at my local market, which usually is lamb shoulder or leg meat already cut into pieces. Purchasing already cut lamb meat saves a step in the preparation of this dish. The lamb is placed into the clay pot after being marinated, although if you’re in a hurry, marinating the meat can be skipped. Since the lamb meat is in contact with the clay pot during cooking, the meat gets an added flavorful crust that cannot be obtained by using a slow cooker. Another method to make this dish is to put cut cabbage or lettuce on the bottom of the clay pot before adding all the other ingredients. You will typically see this preparation when at restaurants. The clay pot is used as the serving dish and keeps the contents hot.

Enjoy!

Chili Oil Bean Curd Mixed Mushroom Fish Balls and Fried Tofu (紅油腐乳油炸豆腐菇魚蛋, Hung4 Jau4 Fu6 Jyu5 Jau4 Zaa3 Dau6 Fu6 Gu1 Jyu4 Daan6)

Fish balls are available in the frozen or refrigerated sections at your local Asian market. All that needs to be done is to thaw the fish balls, if frozen, and then cut them in half. The rest of the ingredients are available packaged or bottled (except for the vegetables), so this dish is pretty easy to make. The chili oil fermented bean curd is the spicy version of fermented bean curd, and the amount can be increased or decreased depending upon personal preference. Plain fermented bean curd can be substituted if spiciness is not desired in the dish.

Enjoy!

Bean Sauce Pork Belly Stew (燉豆瓣豬腩肉, Dan6 Dau6 Faan6 Zyu1 Naam5 Juk6)

The easiest way to cook pork belly is to make a stew in a slow cooker (also called a crock pot in the USA). Pork belly needs a long cooking time over slow heat in order to become so tender that the pork almost melts in your mouth when eaten. Pork belly can easily be purchased at your local Asian market, and always comes with the skin attached. The pork skin is an integral part to the mouthfeel of the cooked dish and should not be removed. Excess fat, produced from the pork belly during cooking (pork belly is used to make bacon in the USA), needs to be removed when cooking is complete. Prior preparation (i.e. marinating) is not required since the dish’s flavor comes from the sauce; just cut the pork belly into pieces and put into the slow cooker.

I added Lian How brand Bean Sauce to the soy based sauce that is usually the basis for this dish. While the basis of the sauce is soy sauce, the star anise, cassia bark (cinnamon), and rock sugar (among other dry spices) add the traditional flavors to this dish. Tapioca starch is used to thicken the sauce and is added to the slow cooker at the start of cooking, so the completed dish has a thickened sauce at the end of cooking. Corn starch will not thicken the sauce due to the long cooking time. I have previously used tapioca starch as a thickener in long cooking recipes and adopted this method from America’s Test Kitchen.

Enjoy!

Chili Oil Bean Curd Chicken and Mixed Mushroom Fish Ball Noodles (紅油腐乳菇魚蛋雞麵, Hung4 Jau4 Fu6 Jyu5 Gu1 Jyu4 Daan6 Gai1 Min6)

Fermented bean curd adds a different flavor to this seafood and chicken noodle dish and is not often used in noodle dishes. I at first thought that fermented bean curd would not go well with and mask the flavor of the fish balls, but I found out that that this is a tasty combination. You of course have to like the taste of fermented bean curd and the brand I used is packed in chili oil, so the noodles are slightly spicy.

Enjoy!

Fermented Bean Curd Green Bean Chicken (腐乳青豆角雞, Fu6 Jyu5 Ceng1 Dau6 Gok3 Gai1)

 

Fermented bean curd is one of those ingredients that goes well with chicken. I used the non-spicy version of fermented bean curd, but added red chili peppers to make the dish more visually appealing (the amount to use is a personal preference). I used regular green beans, rather than long beans, since I had them on hand. The rest of the ingredients are readily available at your local Asian market.

Enjoy!

Hot Fermented Bean Curd Chicken (辣椒腐乳雞, Laat6 Ziu1 Fu6 Jyu5 Gai1)

Fermented bean curd can be purchased with or without chilies. I decided to use the hot version in this dish together with red serrano chili peppers to give the dish an added kick of heat. You can, of course, leave out the added red chili peppers and even use the non-spicy version of fermented bean curd if you don’t like the spiciness of the dish.

Enjoy!

Chili Oil Bean Curd Long Bean Chicken (紅油腐乳豆角雞, Hung4 Jau4 Fu6 Jyu5 Dau6 Gok3 Gai1)

I’m always on the lookout for new ingredients at my local Asian market. The market started carrying a new fermented bean curd in chili oil made by Laoganma. So I bought it, adding to my already full pantry of Chinese ingredients, and made this chicken and long bean dish with it. I also made the dish with a good amount of sauce, using the Shiitake mushroom rehydration liquid. The chili oil is not very hot, at least in my opinion, but it does add another flavor to fermented bean curd and the dish.

Enjoy!

Spicy Fermented Bean Curd Chicken Wings (辣椒腐乳鷄翼, Laat6 Ziu1 Fu6 Jyu5 Gai1 Jik6)

This recipe was updated on 27 Aug 2015. Some instructions were changed.

This is a one pot (or Dutch oven) meal. The chicken wings are first browned, and then the bean curd knots and fermented bean curd with chili are added before cooking. Finally the vegetables are added at the very end of cooking to complete the dish.  The one ingredient that is probably most unfamiliar is the bean curd knots. Bean curd knots are available fresh or dried, in this case I used dried, and are bean curd skin tied into a knot. Bean curd knots are available at your local Asian market in the dried foods or if you want fresh, in the refrigerated section. Bean curd sticks can be substituted if bean curd knots are not available.

Finally, this dish is not spicy even though that’s in the title. The fermented bean curd I used has small bits of chili in it, but it’s not all that hot. However, if you are adverse to any chili spiciness, regular fermented bean curd (without chili) can be substituted.

Enjoy!

Hot Fermented Bean Curd Beef with Bell Peppers (辣椒腐乳青椒牛肉, Laat6 Ziu1 Fu6 Jyu5 Ceng1 Ziu1 Ngau4 Juk6)

I previously posted a similar dish using regular fermented bean curd, Beef and Bell Peppers with Fermented Bean Curd (腐乳青椒牛肉, Fu⁶ Jyu⁵ Ceng¹ Ziu¹ Ngau⁴ Juk⁶). This version of the recipe uses fermented bean curd with chili as the basis for the sauce, so there’s a little more spice to the taste of the dish. Since fermented bean curd is an acquired taste, you can reduce or increase the amount depending upon your preference.

Enjoy!

Steamed Red Fermented Bean Curd Pork Baby Back Ribs (南乳蒸排骨, Naam4 Jyu5 Zing1 Paai4 Gwat1)

Here’s another easy to prepare pork rib recipe using red fermented bean curd and steaming takes only 30 minutes to finish the dish. Serve with some vegetables and rice, and dinner is served!

Enjoy!

Beef and Bell Peppers with Fermented Bean Curd (腐乳青椒牛肉, Fu6 Jyu5 Ceng1 Ziu1 Ngau4 Juk6)

 

This recipe was updated on 26 May 2014. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

 

Fermented bean curd is the basis for the sauce for this dish. The bean curd has a distinctive sharp salty flavor that goes well with the sweetness of the bell peppers and the marinated beef. You can use more or less of the fermented bean curd in the dish depending upon your taste.

Enjoy!

Pork Baby Back Ribs with Fermented Bean Curd (Fu6 Jyu5 Paai4 Gwat1, 腐乳排骨)

This recipe is a classic Cantonese-style steamed pork dish using pork ribs and fermented bean curd, with a notable twist to the recipe – using the whole pork baby back rib instead of using cut 1- to 2-inch rib pieces. Marinating the ribs is also not usually done in the classic recipe, so feel free to omit this step if you’re in a hurry to make and eat this dish!

The number of pork ribs used in this recipe is governed by the size of the plate than can be placed into the steamer. You want to have one layer of individual ribs in the plate with the topping. The baby back rib is the right size to fit into the steamer plate for cooking and for eating. You can of course use cut ribs (just pile them in the plate!) in this recipe instead of whole baby back ribs, but normal pork ribs are not recommended since they would be too big to fit into the steaming plate and to eat.

For this recipe, ½ of the baby back pork rib rack was used, about 7 ribs. The whole rack was cut into individual ribs, marinated, and then used in two recipes. The first being, Pork Baby Back Ribs with Black Bean and Garlic, whose recipe can be found here, and this recipe. Both recipes are classic Cantonese steamed dishes except for the use of the whole baby back rib.

Enjoy!

Fermented Red Bean Curd Chicken (南乳雞, Naam4 Jyu5 Gai1)

 

This recipe was updated on 12 May 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

This recipe has all my favorite ingredients in one dish – chicken, Shiitake mushrooms, and long beans – with fermented red bean curd. Fermented red bean curd differs from fermented bean curd by the addition of red rice, which gives the fermented red bean curd its distinctive red color and taste.

Enjoy!

Braised Pork Spareribs with Fermented Bean Curd (腐乳排骨, Fu6 Jyu5 Paai4 Gwat1)

This recipe was updated on 07 Sep 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

This is another favorite pork sparerib recipe using fermented bean curd. Since I like the taste of fermented bean curd, I use a lot. Unless you’re familiar with the taste of this ingredient, you might want to use less until you’re comfortable with the taste.

Black or wood ear fungus are available either fresh or dried, and either whole or sliced. The dried version needs to be rehydrated with hot water and the volume expands greatly, so don’t be deceived by the seemingly small amount of the dried version. The fresh version needs to be washed. The hard inedible stems should be removed from both versions. Whole or sliced cloud or wood ear fungus works well in this dish. If you can’t find cloud or wood ear fungus at your local Asian market, there’s really no substitute for this ingredient.

Enjoy!

Chicken and Marinated Bean Curd with Fuzzy Melon (腐乳五香豆腐節瓜雞, Fu6 Jyu5 Ng5 Hoeng1 Dau6 Fu6 Zit3 Gwaa1 Gai1)

 

This recipe was updated on 29 Sep 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

This is an easy dish to prepare and fermented bean curd is the basis of the sauce. Each bean curd looks like a little soft rectangular pillow and is packed together in a bottle. I happen to use 7 of the fermented bean curds, but you’ll have to judge how much to use depending upon your taste. The sauce is light in color, so soy sauce is not used (but is used to marinate the chicken) since this would darken it. Marinated bean curd (or five spice bean curd) is the other ingredient used in this dish. Marinated bean curd is not fermented, but spiced and its texture is firm, so it doesn’t break up when stir fried. If you can’t find marinated bean curd at your local Asian market, use a firm pressed tofu as a substitute.

Enjoy!

Red Fermented Bean Curd Pork Spareribs (南乳排骨, Naam4 Jyu5 Paai4 Gwat1)

 

This recipe was updated on 07 Sep 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

 

Pork sparerib dishes are some of my favorites. This particular sparerib dish uses red fermented bean curd together with Chinese long beans and shiitake mushrooms. Fermented bean curd is another Chinese ingredient that could be considered an acquired taste. I like its flavor since I grew up eating dishes with it. Red fermented bean curd is red because of the addition of red rice, which gives a distinctive color and taste to the dish. If this is the first time you’ve ever used this ingredient, you might want to reduce the amount used in this dish.

 

Enjoy!