Quick & Easy Chinese (45 page)
Read Quick & Easy Chinese Online
Authors: Nancie McDermott
This simple sauce is the standard accompaniment to Chinese American–style egg
foo yong
. You can make it up to 2 hours ahead, refrigerate it, and then warm it gently just before serving. Pour it over the hot omelets just before serving them, or offer it on the side in a small bowl or pitcher.
½ cup, plus 2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
½ teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cornstarch
¼ teaspoon Asian sesame oil
MAKES ABOUT
2
/
3
CUP
Combine the ½ cup of water and the soy sauce, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a rolling boil and stir to dissolve the sugar and salt.
Combine the cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl and stir well. Add to the pan and stir quickly to mix it into the sauce. As soon as the mixture thickens and returns to a boil, remove from the heat, stir in the sesame oil, and set aside. Serve hot or warm.
These will add more depth to your dishes than regular ground pepper. Toasting heightens their flavor, which provides a rustic kick.
¼ cup raw Szechuan peppercorns
MAKES ABOUT
⅓
CUP
To toast the peppercorns, place them in a small, dry skillet over medium heat. Cook, shaking the pan to heat them evenly and well, until they have darkened a little and released their fragrance, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a saucer to cool, and then grind them to a fairly smooth powder. Store in a tightly sealed jar for up to 3 weeks.
Fresh ginger brightens this simple dessert sauce, which provides a luscious finish to
Five-Spice Poached Pears
(page 165) or bowls of ice cream. If you’re making this sauce in advance, know that it may turn grainy after it cools and don’t despair. Rewarm it gently on the stove or in a microwave oven, and its smooth texture comes right back.
1 cup heavy (whipping) cream or evaporated milk
10 thin slices fresh ginger
2 cups dark-brown or light-brown sugar
6 tablespoons butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
MAKES ABOUT
2
CUPS
Heat the cream in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until steaming hot. Add the ginger, stir well, remove from the heat, and set aside to steep for 5 minutes.
Add the brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup, and bring to a gentle boil over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until the butter has melted, the sugar has dissolved, and everything combines and thickens into a smooth, shiny sauce, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Using a fork, scoop out and discard the slices of ginger. Serve warm. If preparing in advance, set aside to cool completely, and then transfer to a jar or other covered container and refrigerate up to one week. Rewarm gently before serving.
Supermarkets and Asian grocery stores usually carry tofu in an array of textures, from silken to soft to extra firm. Soft tofu can be transformed into sturdy tofu that takes well to stir-frying. Simply press it between two plates long enough to extract some of its water content. The shape will be wonderfully odd after pressing, but the texture will be pleasing and perfect for cooking. Pressing soft tofu will produce half its weight in firm tofu.
1 pound soft or medium tofu
MAKES ABOUT
8
OUNCES VERY FIRM TOFU
Set out two kitchen towels and two dinner plates. Fold one kitchen towel in half and place it on a dinner plate. Place a second kitchen towel over the towel on the dinner plate, opening it up and centering it on the plate.
Cut the block of tofu into four pieces. Place the large tofu pieces in the center of the open towel, about 1 inch apart. Fold the towel in so that the tofu is loosely but firmly enclosed in a cloth packet. Set the plate of tofu in the sink, or in a large rimmed baking pan, so that the liquid to be released by the tofu won’t spill onto the countertop. Set the other dinner plate on top of the tofu, and press down gently to balance it. Place a heavy object, such as 4 unopened cans of food, or a full teakettle, on the plate to press down on the soft tofu within.
Let this improvised, low-tech press do its job of pressing water out of the tofu blocks for as little as 30 minutes, or as long as 2 hours. The longer the pressing, the firmer the tofu.
Remove the weights and the top plate, and unwrap the kitchen towel enclosing the tofu. Transfer to a covered container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.