RECIPE: SILKEN TOFU AND CHAMPIGNON MUSHROOMS IN SPICY OYSTER SAUCE

I just love tofu although none of my family members share the passion. Not that it matters, I can eat a whole dish by myself! To give my tofu a slight edge, I like to combine it with some chillies. I find ‘bird’s eye’ chilli to be the best in this dish.

Ingredients

1 packet silken tofu – cut into 2 cm cubes and place in a colander to drain the excess liquid
2 cloves garlic – chopped finely
1 to 2 spring onions – sliced finely
2 shallots (I used the bulbs of salad onions this time)
6 to 8 bird’s eyes chillies – sliced finely
Champignon mushrooms – 1 used ½ of a large tin
2 to 3 tbsp oyster sauce (see my glossary post on OYSTER SAUCE)
1 to 2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp oriental sesame oil
2 tbsp veg oil

Method

In a wok, heat oil and sauté the garlic for 1 min. Add in the sliced mushrooms, fry for 30 secs, then add in the onions and chillies. Fry for 30 secs. Season with a few splashes of soy sauce.

Next add in the tofu and oyster sauce. Mix well, ensuring that you don’t ‘break’ the tofu in the process. Add in the remainder soy sauce and cook until the tofu is heated through. Before lifting, add in the spring onions and sesame oil. Lift and serve immediately with rice.

NB: This is a great meal for vegetarians. You can buy ‘vegetarian’ oyster sauce from most oriental grocers. Vegetarian oyster sauce is usually made from mushrooms. It is normally sold as Vegetarian oyster sauce, Mushroom oyster sauce or Vegetarian stir fry sauce. Lee Kum Kee makes a nice version of the sauce.

GLOSSARY: OYSTER SAUCE

Oyster sauce was "accidentally invented" by Mr. Lee Kum Sheung in 1888 (in Nam Shui Village in Guangdong Province, China) who is the founder of the LEE KUM KEE company. Mr. Lee was a restaurateur when he discovered the sauce from an over-cooked pot of oyster soup. His company, LEE KUM KEE, continues to produce oyster sauce to this day, along with a wide variety of Asian condiments.

Oyster sauce is a dark brown sauce commonly used in Chinese, Thai and Khmer cuisine. It is especially common in Cantonese cuisine. Oyster sauce is prepared from oysters, brine, umami (savoury) flavour enhancers such as MSG and typically contains preservatives to increase its shelf life.

A "true" oyster sauce of good quality should be made by condensing oyster extracts, the white broth produced by boiling oysters in water. This opaque broth is then reduced until a desired viscosity has been reached and the liquid has caramelized to a brown colour. No other additives, not even salt, should be added to the sauce, since the oysters should provide all the savory flavour. The LEE KUM KEE Premium Oyster sauce is an example of true oyster sauce.


Many oyster sauces are actually diluted solutions thickened with starch, coloured with caramel coloring (E150), with oyster extracts and synthetic preservatives. In some countries, including the UK, the oyster content in some sauces is lower than its Asian counterparts of the same brand due to laws regulating the import of seafood.

VEGETARIAN OYSTER SAUCE

Vegetarian oyster sauce is prepared from mushrooms, often oyster mushrooms. It is popular with vegetarians and non vegetarians as it is generally lower in price. It may contain more taste enhancers if less mushroom extract is used to reduce costs. It is normally sold as Vegetarian oyster sauce, Mushroom sauce or Vegetarian stir fry sauce. LEE KUM KEE makes a nice version of the sauce.

NATTER: THE MOUSE TRAP

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. ‘What food might this contain?’ the mouse wondered. He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.


Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning: ‘There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!'


The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, 'Mr Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.'


The mouse turned to the pig and told him, 'There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!'


The pig sympathized, but said, 'I am so very sorry, Mr Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers.'


The mouse turned to the cow and said, 'There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!'

The cow said, 'Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose.'

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap . . . alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house ~ like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife.


The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever.


Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient.

But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbours came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.


The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral; the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.


The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you, remember, when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.

We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.

Remember…..


EACH OF US IS A VITAL THREAD IN ANOTHER PERSON'S TAPESTRY; OUR LIVES ARE WOVEN TOGETHER FOR A REASON.

RECIPE: CREAM HORNS

A classic afternoon tea snack that is so easy to make from scratch and is even easier and quicker using store bought pastry.

You can practically use whatever jams you like, however, strawberry and raspberry jam seems to be the norm. My kids like eating this filled with Nutella™ (hazelnut chocolate spread) and also, you can drizzle this on top of the cream horns to give it a nice effect. Here’s the recipe.

Ingredients:


Sheets of puff pastry or flaky pastry (I used store bought puff pastry)
1 egg white – beaten
Butter – for greasing
4 tbsp strawberry or raspberry jams
125 ml whipped cream (see my glossary post on CREAM)
Icing sugar – for dusting
Strawberries or raspberries for decoration - optional
Cream horn moulds

Method

Cut pastry into 2.5 cm wide strips. Brush lightly with egg white. Lightly grease cream horn moulds if using normal moulds. There is no need to grease the moulds if you are using non stick moulds.


With the damp side of the pastry facing the mould, turn strips around the greased mould, starting from the pointy tip of the mould. Make sure that the strips overlap when you twist this around to the top. Gently squeeze the tip of the pastry to seal in the bottom – You don’t want jam to run out of the bottom when you fill it.

Brush the outside now with egg white and place on a greased baking tray.

Bake in a preheated 220°C oven for 8 to 10 mins. Allow to cool on racks.

Place 1 tsp jam inside the cream horn and fill with the beaten cream. Dust with icing sugar and top with strawberries or raspberries if desired.

NB: I’d recommend you have at least one dozen of cream horn moulds on hand. It will make your preparation and cooking time so much quicker. In addition, try to buy the non stick moulds. It is really hard and slippery to wind the pastry around a greased mould (it was bad enough using the non stick variety!).