Korean Braised Bean Curd
Serves 4.
Ingredients
250 g/8 oz Korean style bean curd salt
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons Korean soy sauce
or Japanese soy sauce
3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon crushed toasted sesame seeds
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
2 spring onions (scallions), sliced
20 dried chilli threads (silgochu)
Directions
Slice bean curd into 2 cm (3/4 in) slices and leave on double thickness of paper towels for 5 minutes to drain excess moisture. Sprinkle a little salt on each slice and leave for 10 minutes.
In a heavy frying pan large enough to take the bean curd in one layer heat the oil and brown the slices over moderate heat. Or fry them in 2 batches, about 3 minutes on each side. Drain on paper towels.
Add soy sauce, water, chilli powder, sesame seeds, garlic, spring onions and chilli threads, and if the bean curd has been browned in 2 lots, return all the pieces to the pan.
Bring liquid to the boil, cover the pan and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes or until much of the sauce is absorbed. If all the bean curd is not immersed in the liquid, after a few minutes move those on the bottom to the top and vice versa. Serve with rice.
Recipe excerpted from Encyclopedia of Asian Food by Charmaine Solomon (Periplus Editions, 1998)