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Kelly Rossiter is offering ideas about cooking basics; see introduction here.
As promised we are going to go through the steps of making a braised tofu with a side dish of water spinach.
For this you will need 1 pound firm tofu, soy sauce, rice wine or sake, green onions, ginger, garlic, garlic chili sauce, vegetable stock or water, cornstarch, rice, water spinach or bok choy, salt. (boneless chicken breast cut into cubes or ground beef or ground pork optional)
Place the tofu between two plates and set a heavy weight on top of it. I usually a large can of beans. Let it stand for up to 30 minutes to press out the excess water. Slice the tofu into bite-sized pieces, about 1/4 inch thick.
If you are using a rice cooker, follow the instructions with your machine. In my rice cooker it takes 1 cup of rice and 1 cup of water to serve two. If you are cooking it in a pot follow the instructions on the bag. I'm sorry, but I haven't cooked rice in a pot for 25 years!
Take two green onions and remove the root end, peel off the outside skin and wash. Chop the onion finely, taking care with your fingers. Just use the white part for now, reserving the greens for garnish. Take a knob of ginger about 1 inch long and peel it using the edge of a spoon. I know that sounds weird, but it works and it doesn't take a lot of ginger away with the skin. Mince it using your grater or chop it very finely. Take 3 cloves of garlic and remove the hard end. Peel it and mince it or chop it finely. Put two thirds of it aside for use with the water spinach.
Heat a wok or frying pan and add about 1 tablespoon of oil in the bottom and heat until hot. Add the minced onions, garlic, chili sauce and ginger and stir fry for about 20 seconds. You should really be able to smell it cooking right away. Add the chicken or beef if using and stir fry a few minutes until it is no longer pink on the outside. Add 1 to 1 1/2 cups of vegetable broth or water, about 3 tablespoons of soy sauce and about 1 tablespoon of rice wine or sake. If you are using water, you may want to add a little more. Raise the heat and bring it to a boil.
Add the chopped tofu and reduce the heat to low. Let it cook for 10 minutes or so to heat all the way through. If you are using chicken, it may take another five minutes or so. Check a piece of chicken to make sure there is no pink in the centre. Mix a tablespoon of cornstarch with 1 1/2 tablespoons of water, taking care to put the cornstarch in first or else it will be lumpy. Slowly add the cornstarch mixture to the tofu stirring while it thickens. Let it cook for another five minutes.
In the meantime wash and water spinach and chop the bunch in half. Heat a wok or frying pan and put a bit of peanut oil in the bottom. Add the minced garlic and stir quickly. Add the spinach and stir until it is tender, which should take just a few minutes. Season it with salt.
And there you have another quick and easy dinner.
Difficulty level: Easy
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