How about a little bit of both?
A dish can be both comforting and indulgent. Here is one such dish: an umami-rich salted egg prawn tofu.
The red of the prawns and the green onions dance with the snow-white tofu and golden salted egg yolks. Our eyes taste before our lips, yes?
Savour this precious pot of "snow and gold” this weekend. I guarantee you’d be asking for another bowl of steamed white rice to enjoy it with!
SALTED EGG PRAWN TOFU
The dish might look like simple comfort food, something you can dish up by cooking everything together. And in some sense, this is not incorrect.
Taking care with the first step makes all the difference though.
Rather than cooking the prawns, heads and all, directly, we get more bang for our buck by separating the prawn heads and shells from the meat. Anyone would tell you that these parts are full of flavour so it’s sacrilege to throw them away.
Instead by stir-frying the prawn heads and shells first, ensuring all the delicate and flavourful juices are released, and by adding water to boil it with, what we get is essentially prawn broth, not unlike how prawn mee stall vendors make their stocks.
Unlike coffee shop noodle vendors, however, we won’t be using firm tofu or tofu pouches (tofu pok). These might absorb the flavourful broth better but that’s not what we are after here.
By using soft tofu in this recipe, we make the most of its smooth, silken texture and ensure that every mouthful is pure delight.
Speaking of delights, it might be tempting to use more than one salted egg but I assure you one is enough, especially since we aren’t just using the yolk but the whites as well. Lots of flavour here.
For seasoning, instead of the usual oyster sauce, soy sauce or even dried scallops employed in Cantonese cooking, I have opted to use a smidgen of Weipa Seafood.
This flavourful paste is a food seasoning from Japan, made from a blend of seafoods (including shrimp powder, crab and clam extract).
Beyond getting an extra hit of umami flavour to punch up the otherwise bland tofu, eschewing the oyster sauce and soy sauce means the resultant dish is lighter in colour, a mix of "snow and gold” rather than a darker, murky gravy.
However, be careful to just use a little – I have used only a teaspoon here – because the salted egg provides plenty of savoury flavour already.
You can always adjust the seasoning later, with a bit of salt or light soy sauce if needed; I find this is usually unnecessary.
Ingredients
12 large tiger prawns, heads and shells removed and set aside
400ml water
Neutral cooking oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small piece ginger, grated
1 salted egg, cooked and finely diced
300g organic soft tofu (1 block), sliced into cubes
1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine
1 teaspoon Weipa Seafood (food seasoning)
Ground white pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 stalk green onions, sliced
Method
Heat oil over medium high heat in a large pan, just enough to coat the surface. Add the prawn heads and shells and stir-fry until they get fully red.
Crush with a spatula to release all the juices before adding water. Bring the liquid to a boil, continuing to stir until it has reduced by half.
Remove from the heat and drain the prawn broth into a bowl using a sieve. Set aside to use later.
Heat oil in a fresh pan over medium heat. Once hot, add the minced garlic and ginger. Sauté until aromatic.
Add the diced salted egg, stirring briskly to mix well. Now add the reserved prawn broth and bring to a near boil.
Once the liquid has almost reached a full boil, add the prawns and soft tofu. This won’t take long to cook so season with the Shaoxing rice wine and Weipa Seafood seasoning once the prawns are almost ready.
Check the taste and season further with ground white pepper as required. Remove from heat before finishing with a drizzle of sesame oil and garnish of sliced green onions.
Serve immediately whilst hot, with steamed white rice.
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