Cold Tofu and Century Egg

Home alone. One of those odd days where kid #1 is on an overseas school trip, kid #2 is at school camp and hubs is at work. I’d been making inroads in a book by John Ortberg that described how an online magazine had put up a challenge for readers to summarize their lives in 6 words. There were sad ones like “Thought I would have more impact” or “Tombstone won’t say ‘had health insurance’“. Ortberg also had a hilarious series of 6 word summaries by various Bible characters like:

Noah: “Hated the rain, loved the rainbow”

Esau: “At least the stew was good”

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: “King was hot, furnace was not”

Good Samaritan: “I came, I saw, I stopped”

So I was wondering what my 6 words would be. There are lots of 6 word phrases that run through my mind, but with regards food, I certainly hope my 6 word summary will not be “I didn’t get to eat that“. Maybe this blog will just represent my current ethos “I actually made it low carb“! 😀

So while pottering and trying to wind down from a busy day, I threw together this low carb appetizer. I know that tofu is not something that is well understood in most western type cuisines. Some people may be intimidated by the fact that it lacks taste and may seem bland and mushy. Not in this dish. This appetizer is salty, slightly sweet and cold; the strong flavours from the century egg blends well with the more neutral tofu. Cold tofu is pretty common in Japanese cuisine, but the slightly spicy chilli accents and sesame oil gives it a bit more of a Taiwanese twist. It’s actually a great dish to entertain with because you can make it ahead of time and pop it into the fridge until your guests come. Regardless, although it’s just me for dinner (yup, home alone but happily occupied), this is a great end to a hot and busy day.

COLD TOFU AND CENTURY EGG RECIPE

Ingredients

1 piece of silken tofu

1 century egg cleaned, peeled and cut into wedges

2 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp black vinegar

1 tsp fish sauce

1 tsp chilli oil

½ – 3/4 tsp sugar substitute

Chopped chives (about 2 tbsp)

Handful of dried bonito flakes

For the sauce: (from left) black rice vinegar, chilli oil, fish sauce, light soy sauce, sesame oil and in the back, sugar substitute

Method

Place whole piece of silken tofu into a bowl
Top the tofu with the wedges of century egg
Mix the sauces together with sugar and chives (keep aside about 1/2 tbsp of chives). Adjust taste to preference
Pour sauce mixture over the tofu
Refrigerate until ready to serve
Just before serving, top with bonito flakes and the rest of the chopped chives