Steamed Beancurd
Fresh, firm tofu (teokon) stuffed with a pork filling, served with black bean sauce
- Cooking time2 hours
Calories449kcal
In in third instalment of our four-part series with Jessie Yung, chef and co-founder of Jessie Yung's Kitchen, she makes a wonderfully comforting dish using firm tofu called "steamed beancurd" (蒸豆腐).
Fresh, silken tofu (豆腐) has been produced by local businesses in Tangra, Calcutta's Chinatown, for generations. Jessie recalls eating fresh, silken tofu with ginger syrup as a child for dessert.
However, it is the firmer, drier version of tofu, called teokon (豆乾), that is most suitable for our recipe today. It is sturdier than soft tofu and can withstand the filling.
Speaking of, Jessie prepares a delicious minced pork filling using carrots, spring onions and shiitake mushrooms for texture, and some sauces and seasonings for flavour.
Once the beancurd triangles are stuffed, you have two options when it comes to cooking them: you can steam them or deep-fry them. Normally, these are made in a large batch in Jessie's family, out of which one batch is eaten steamed the same day, and the leftovers are put in the fridge to firm up and be fried another time.
"Fried beancurd" (炸豆腐) can be made by frying the stuffed beancurd with the raw filling, or by deep-frying the steamed beancurd in hot oil until golden.
These can be served with any Chinese sauce of your choice. Jessie prepares a Chinese black bean sauce, Douchijiang (豆豉酱), to go with it. This dish is best enjoyed with a fragrant, non-parboiled, steamed rice.
About Jessie Yung's Kitchen
Jessie runs her much-loved cloud kitchen, Jessie Yung’s Kitchen, in Calcutta with her husband Peter and her two children.
Started during the pandemic, Jessie’s takeaway-only menu has a dedicated following. They intentionally steer clear of usual Chinese restaurant fare, choosing instead to feature Hakka and Cantonese homestyle dishes, as well as dishes from the different parts of China and South East Asia that Jessie learns on her travels.
Where do I find some of the ingredients Jessie uses?
This dish uses a few ingredients which may not be in your pantry, such as the Chinese black bean, oyster sauce, dried shiitake mushrooms, etc. These are all readily available in New Market. We purchased them from Nasiruddin Sardar who runs Shop no. 39A in the spice lane inside New Market.
Frequently Asked Questions
Books in this recipe
Ingredients
- 900 g beancurd (divided into 20 triangles)
For the filling
- 300 g minced pork
- 40 g carrots (diced fine)
- 30 g spring onions (chopped fine)
- 25 g dried shiitake (rehydrated and diced)
- 60 g cornstarch
- 2 g salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 25 g light soy
- 35 g oyster sauce
- 1 egg
- oil for frying
Black bean sauce
- 15 g vegetable oil
- 6 g sliced garlic
- 20 g minced garlic
- 12 g minced green chillies
- 18 g Chinese dried, salted black beans (minced fine)
- 20 g dark soy
- 15 g oyster sauce
- 12 g sugar
- 100 ml water
- cornstarch slurry (to thicken)
Method
- For the filling, first, rehydrate the shiitake mushrooms in hot water for 15 minutes. Then wash them thoroughly using salt as an abrasive. Squeeze out all the water, and chop them fine. Also finely dice the carrots and chop the spring onions.
- In a mixing bowl, add the minced pork, shiitake, carrot, spring onions, corn starch, salt, pepper, soy sauce, oyster sauce and an egg.
- Combine everything, stirring in one direction to achieve good texture and binding.
- Cover the filling and chill it in the refrigerator for an hour.
- Meanwhile, prepare the beancurd. Divide them in 20 equal triangles and set aside.
- Set water to boil in a steamer on the stove. Grease the dish that you will be steaming the beancurd in with oil.
- Once the filling has chilled, make a shallow slit on each piece of the beancurd and generously apply the pork filling to it. Be gentle with the beancurd since it is very fragile.
- Steam for 15 mins, until the pork is fully cooked through.
- With leftovers (either cooked or raw), you can also recreate a different dish by frying them in hot oil until golden!
- Serve with chilli sauce or black bean sauce.
For the black bean sauce
- Slice 6 g garlic, mince 20 g more garlic, and finely chop 12 g green chillies. Also finely chop the Chinese black bean.
- Heat vegetable oil in a pan. Start by adding the sliced garlic and frying until golden.
- Then add the minced garlic, green chillies and black beans. Fry for a about a minute.
- Add soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and water.
- Bring everything to a boil, and thicken with a corn starch slurry.
- Simmer the sauce for another minute before removing it from the heat.
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