Hunan Bean Curd Homestyle

[helgarde]

I just reviewed Fuchsia Dunlop's new book Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook, which is simply the best book on the cuisine of Hunan province in English. In addition to the review, I am presenting several recipes over the next few weeks that I have cooked from the book.

The first one is absolutely delicious and is a great rendition of bean curd

Comments

[psyc2321]

Me too. I know what it says, but every time I look at it, I see human :(

[helgarde]

Eh, no worries there.

One of the best Chinese restaurants in Columbia, Maryland is House of Hunan. When we lived there, we always called it "House of Human."

But my husband and I both have a sicko sense of humor....

[fudebusho]

Oh wow, that looks absolutely delicious!

One question -- I normally cook Japanese food, not Chinese, and so I don't have fermented black beans on hand. I'll be at the Asian supermarket this weekend; what should I be looking for? Are the beans refrigerated like miso, or jarred, or what? Do you have any brand preference? Same thing with the Shao Hsing wine -- any preference?

(okay, that turned out to be more than one question, sorry!)

[helgarde]

The brand I use is called Tausi Ginger Black Beans, and they are sold in cellophane packages with yellow and black characters and writing on them. They are usually sold straight off the shelf, and they are something like 49 cents a packet.

Once they are opened, I seal the packet back up in a ziplock bag and store them in the fridge. They keep forever that way.

That brand is the most moist and flavorful of the fermented black beans I have found so far.

The Shao Hsing wine I use is not for cooking, it is for drinking. If you can find it unsalted in your market, by all means, get it. The brand I use is from the Zhejiang Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Company of Zhejian, China. It has a gold or red label with white Chinese characters on it with a blue seal with a pinkish-red map of China on it.

Good luck on your search!

[antikythera]

Hee. I saw 'Human Bean' too. ;)

I love tofu fried like that, and have recently figured out how to do it at home. I don't deep-fry it, but I pan-fry it in dark sesame oil and make sure all the sides get browned. It's a close enough approximation.

Good to have you back. I feel mostly unworthy of commenting in your blog, but I read it. Oh boy, your child is being raised partially by cats... that brings back memories...

[helgarde]

Oh, don't be feeling unworthy! You are always welcome to post comments on the blog!

I like pan-fried tofu as well, but sometimes I like the extra special chew that comes from deep frying it!

And yeah--Kat really likes the kitties and gets very excited when they come to play with her. (Or sleep next to her, which three of them do fairly often.)