The Art of Making Smothered Tofu: A Cantonese Delicacy

In this article, we will delve into the world of Cantonese cuisine and explore the art of making smothered tofu, also known as Wosiu Tofu. This dish is a great example of the simplicity and elegance of Chinese cooking, where just a few ingredients can come together to create a delicious and satisfying meal.

To begin with, we need to talk about the type of tofu that is commonly used in Cantonese cuisine. Silken tofu, made with gypsum as the coagulant, is the preferred choice for this dish. However, not all supermarkets carry silken tofu, so feel free to substitute it with soft tofu if necessary. Regardless of the type of tofu you choose, make sure to cut it into eight pieces and blanch it in a teaspoon of salt before frying.

Blanching the tofu accomplishes two important things: pre-cooking the tofu so that it doesn't need as long of a fry, and helping to firm up the tofu slightly so that it doesn't crumble on you. To do this, simply toss the tofu pieces into boiling water for at least ten minutes, or until they are ready to be fried. After blanching, drain the tofu and pat it dry with paper towels before moving on to the next step.

The batter for our Wosiu Tofu is a light egg batter that gives the tofu a bit of fluffiness. To make this batter, crack an egg into a bowl and beat it well until there are no stray strands of egg white remaining. Then, sift in half a tablespoon of flour and mix thoroughly to ensure that there are no clumps. This batter is loose enough not to stick together for long, so we'll be dropping the tofu pieces one by one into hot oil.

Heat up a wok with about three cups of oil until it reaches 175 degrees Celsius. Then, add the tofu pieces to the egg batter and drop them into the hot oil. Give the tofu a quick flip or two to coat evenly, and then remove them from the oil once they are golden brown and buoyant.

Now that our tofu is cooked, we can move on to making the sauce. This is where things get really interesting, as the sauce is made with a combination of mushroom-based liquid, stock, and aromatics. To make this sauce, start by reconstituting a dried shiitake mushroom in cool water for at least two hours or overnight. Then, mince the mushroom, carrot, and bean, and set them aside.

To prep the tofu, transfer it to a cloth and give it a good pat dry before dusting it with all-purpose flour. This helps to create a smooth surface for the sauce to adhere to. Next, mix together an egg batter (crack an egg into a bowl, beat it well until there are no stray strands of egg white remaining, and then sift in half a tablespoon of flour) and coat the tofu pieces evenly.

Now that our tofu is coated with the batter, we can fry them in hot oil. This step may seem scary, but don't worry – just remember to cook the tofu slowly over medium heat, turning it occasionally until they are golden brown and crispy on both sides.

Once our tofu is cooked, we can make the sauce. To do this, add some minced mushroom, carrot, and bean into a hot wok with about three cups of oil, and fry them for about a minute until softened. Then, pour in a tablespoon of Liaojiu Shaoxing wine over the vegetables and stir-fry them for another minute.

Next, mix together a sauce made from a combination of mushroom-based liquid, stock, and aromatics (add a tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with two tablespoons water to the pan and stir constantly until it thickens). Finally, add in some toasted sesame oil and mix well. This is where the magic happens – the sauce will coat the tofu evenly and infuse it with all sorts of flavors.

To serve our Wosiu Tofu, simply smother it with the sauce and sprinkle over a good handful of chopped scallion. And that's it! With this simple recipe, you can create a delicious Cantonese dish that is sure to impress your friends and family.

Storing Raw Tofu: A Quick Tip

But before we go, let's talk about storing raw tofu. This is an important step to extend the shelf life of your tofu and keep it fresh for longer. To do this, mix together water and salt (about 500 milliliters of water to half a teaspoon of salt), and then submerge the raw tofu in the mixture. Pop it in the fridge, and you'll be able to enjoy your delicious Wosiu Tofu for at least a couple days.

Conclusion

Making Smothered Tofu is a great way to explore the world of Cantonese cuisine and learn about the simple yet elegant techniques that have been passed down through generations. With this recipe, you can create a delicious dish that is sure to impress your friends and family. So next time you're in the mood for something new and exciting, give Smothered Tofu a try – we promise it will be worth it!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enToday, we wanted to show you a great Cantonesedish, wosiu tofu which I like to translateas smothered tofu.What you’re looking at is some tender tofufried then coated with a thick mushroom-basedsauce... nothing fancy here, it’s just agreat dish that’s easy to love.So to get started with your smothered tofu,you’ll need… tofu.This was two blocks or about 500 grams worthof silken tofu.Silken tofu is made with gypsum as the coagulantand is generally the go-to tofu in Cantonesecuisine.This kind of tofu does have some body to itthough, so in the West you might alternativelysee it labelled as ‘firm silken tofu’.We know that not all supermarkets carry silkentofu though, so feel free to sub this withsoft tofu if that describes your situation.So just cut each block into eight pieces,and then we’ll give that all a quick blanch.Blanching your tofu before frying accomplishestwo things – first, this’ll pre-cook thetofu so that it doesn’t need as long ofa fry, and second it’ll also help slightlyfirm things up so it doesn’t crumble onyou.So just toss in a teaspoon of salt, make sureit’s dissolved, then drop in your tofu pieces.Shut of the heat, and let that sit in therefor at least ten minutes, or until you’reready to fry.Ok, so the version of this dish that we’redoing is a bit of a copycat recipe from oneof our favorite restaurants here in Shunde.It’s a really cool place, tucked down anunassuming alley… it’s the sort of jointwhere you have to walk through the kitchento get to your table.This is a relatively newer dish, and theirversion is our personal favorite wosiu tofuso far, so that’s what we’ll be basingthis on.So the first thing we’ll need is one driedshiitake mushroom, reconstituted in cool waterfor a couple hours or alternatively overnight– this is the one must here.Now, that restaurant also added a bit of crunchin the form of one longbean and about twoinches of carrot – if you can’t find longbean,feel free to swap that for about three greenbeans… but both of these are ultimatelyoptional in the end.We’ll also be finishing this off with anon-insignificant quantity of scallion, orabout two sprigs worth.So then to prep, first squeeze the liquidfrom the mushroom, snip off the stem, andfinally give it a fine dice.Then peel your carrot, give it a dice, cutyour longbean or greenbean into small halfcentimeter-ish chunks, slice your scallion,and set that all aside.Back to the tofu now, transfer those ontoa cloth and give them a good pat dry.Give each piece of tofu a nice dusting withall purpose flower and set those aside.Now, we’re going to be doing a really lightegg batter here to give the tofu a bit offluffiness.So crack an egg, beat it well until no straystrands of egg white remain, then sift ina half tablespoon of flour and mix thoroughlyto ensure there’s no clumps.Now to fry.In a wok with about three cups of oil, getthat up to about 175 centigrade.Give the tofu a flip or two in your egg batter,and drop it in.We’re going one by one here because thisbatter’s quite loose and doesn’t liketo stick for long.Then once all of those are in, make sure they’reall good and separate and give your tofu aquick flip.You want to cook the tofu for about threeminutes in all, so after about a minute, someof the tofu we dropped in at first were goodto remove.In the end, you’re looking for them to begolden brown and obviously buoyant… so takeout the tofu, and these are ready for sauce.So right, for the sauce we’ll be using ourleftover mushroom soaking liquid, then toppingthat off with stock.We’re actually using a simple Chinese vegetarianstock here, and definitely check out our videofor how to make it if you’re curious…but you could also use chicken stock, a Chinesehomestyle stock, or if you’re feeling lazyeven just water together with a teaspoon ofstock concentrate.Either way just toss in a half teaspoon salt,a half teaspoon sugar, and an optional butrecommended sprinkle of all natural purifiedseaweed crystals to round everything out.So same wok as before, no need to wash…just dip out most of the oil – leaving abouta tablespoon – and wipe things down witha paper towel.Then with the flame on medium toss in yourminced mushroom, carrot, and beans.Give those a fry for about a minute untilsoftened, then pour a tablespoon of liaojiuaka Shaoxing wine over your spatula and aroundthe sides of the wok.Super brief mix, then go in with your saucemixture.Now over a high flame bring that up to a boil,then hit that with a slurry of a tablespoonof cornstarch mixed with two tablespoons water.Add in your slurry bit by bit, mixing as yougo because you don’t want to overthickenthis – we were good with this quantity herebut depending on how much your sauce’s alreadyreduced you might want a little less.Now shut off the heat, add in a drizzle orabout a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil, andgive it a mix.So now just take the sauce and smother allover your tofu, sprinkle over a good handfulof chopped scallion… and with that, yourCantonese wosiu tofu is done.Uh so we get a lot of questions on how tostore raw tofu… what you can do is get somewater and salt, the ratio’s about 500 milliliterswater to about half teaspoon salt… and youcan mix them together and submerge the rawtofu in that mixture.Pop it in the fridge, and it’ll extend theshelf life for at least a couple days.So right!Check out the reddit link in the descriptionbox for a detailed recipe, a big thank youfor everyone supporting us on Patreon… andof course, subscribe for more Chinese cookingvideos.\n"