Last week, I had the most dissatisfying ribs at Citizen Cake.  Tough, and dry, and  crazy numbing and pungent spice only on the surface.  I should have know not to order any thing else but dessert there….let them eat cake should be Ms. Falkner’s mantra, too.

Ribs should be succulent, yet easily fall off the bone. The meat should be well flavored all the way to the bone.  I came home and made this simple Wuxi ribs, and felt a lot better after that.

Chef’s tip: In Japantown, you can get some paper sponge that you place on top of the sauce to soak up the excess oil.  It’s super handy and saves you the time in chilling the sauce.  This dish also works well in a slow pot.

1 rack pork ribs about 2 pounds, cut into smaller 3 inch riblets, or country-style ribs
5 slices ginger
3 whole scallions
1/4 cup black Zhejiang vinegar (sub: balsamic)
1/4 cup dark soy sauce
1 small stick cinnamon
1 piece whole star anise
1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup water

Preparing ribs:
1. Cut the ribs into 4 pieces lengthwise about 3 inches in length, then cut into smaller pieces along each rib.  (Ask butcher to do this).
2. In a large saucepan, bring 2 quarts of water to a boil, drop in ribs, and bring to a boil again. Drain and rinse off scum from ribs in cold water.  Drain well.
Cooking the ribs:
3. Place ginger and scallions in a 6-quart dutch oven over high heat.
4. Add prepared ribs.  Add vinegar, soy sauce, cinnamon, star anise, sugar, salt and water. Bring to a boil.
5. Turn flame to medium low and cover.  Cook for 1 hour, then remove ribs.  Alternatively, place the covered dutch oven into an oven 350F for an hour.
6. Remove ribs and keep covered.  Chill sauce to solidify fat and remove fat, or blot the fat with towels.
7. Bring sauce back to a boil and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes or until the sauce is reduced by half.  Add in ribs and heat through.  Serve immediately with steamed rice.

Serves: 4

Tags: Chinese.

My neighbor in the house I grew up in Old Town PJ sold “tow foo fah” on a bicycle-powered pushcart.  The dofuhua would be in a big wooden pot, and had a cover wrapped up in muslin cloth.  He would skim the water and bubby top off the dofuhua before layering out thin silky clouds of the dofuhua onto a bowl.  Smooth, creamy, and full of beany flavor.  Whenever it rained, and it rains a lot in Malaysia, he would not be able to sell his tofu for the day and would bring them over to us….sans syrup.  I always wondered why he didn’t check the weather forecast ahead of making the big pot of tofu, esp when he and his wife would hand grind the beans every night.  My family didn’t have much money either, so, instead of spending money on sugar for the syrup, we turned the “dessert” into a savory dish by adding fried shallots oil, dark soy sauce, some light soy and a sprinkle of chopped green onions.

Fast forward 30 years later, I tried making dofuhua, and omg, it is perhaps the most difficult thing I have ever made.  It’s so temperamental.  You’ve gottaa watch the temperature real closely, have a light quick touch and have loads of patience.  The soymilk part is easy, but waiting for the dofuhua to gel or not, is a different story.  And as hard as I try to be consistent, I made half a dozen batches and they all came out differently.  Some are perfect, some became a base for firm tofu.  Whenever it wouldn’t set nicely, I would place the curds into a cheesecloth, like as if I am making ricotta, and had nice sweet pressed tofu for dinner….see picture below.  Drizzle with fried shallots oil, dark soy sauce, some light soy and a sprinkle of chopped green onions.  Deja vu.

So when I ran into Minh of Hodo Soy last week and had a quick chat about making dofuhua and he said it was easy, and how he had taught chefs serving table-side dofuhua  the secret in making the dish, it dawned upon me he is the “dofuhua whisperer”.  Many years ago, when I asked him about his yuba, he went into a long discussion about soy protein brix concentration, and I suspect that might also explain how to achieve perfect dofuhua.  When I crack the code, I will share, but now, here is the recipe that most likely would work.  Good luck!

Chef’s tip: Nigari as the coagulant makes for a sweet tasting tofu.  And don’t move the dofuhua after it has set.  Frankly, I don’t know how my old neighbor is able to peddle all over town with the big vat of dofuhua and yet not make it break.

1  1/4 cups organic soy beans, soaked overnight, drained
5 cups water

1/2 teaspoon nigari
1/4 cup water

3 inches ginger, finely sliced
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

Cheesecloth

Making the fresh soymilk:
1.     Pick over beans for impurities.  Rinse beans several times.  Cover beans with water, leaving at least 2 inches of water above the beans level.  Soak beans at least 8 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.  Remove skins off beans.  Drain.
2.     Place soybeans in a food processor.  Add 1 cup water.  Pulse till it becomes smoothie-like.
3.     Transfer puree into a big pot.  Rinse food processor with 3 cups water and add to  pot.  Bring to boil, stirring constantly.  When the foam begins to rise, remove from heat.   Transfer content into a conical sieve placed over a heat proof bowl.  Let the milk drain through the sieve.
4.     Transfer solids into a cheesecloth.  Add remaining 1 cups of water and gently knead into the soybean solids (okara).  Then squeeze as much milk and add to the earlier milk.
5.     Pass milk through a clean cheesecloth placed over a sieve.  Measure out the milk – you should have at least 4 cups of soymilk.  Otherwise, add a little more water to the okara and squeeze as much as you can to make up  the 4 cups.
6.     Bring milk to a boil and then gently simmer 10 minutes, stirring constantly so that milk does not burn.  At this point, the soymilk is ready as a beverage, or continue further to make dofu hua.

Making the Do Fu Hua:
7.     In a small bowl, mix nigari with water.
8.     Warm a deep bowl by swirling it with hot water.  Drain.  Wrap bowl bottom with some towels to keep warm.  Transfer the nigari mixture into the warm bowl.  Place bowl in a place where you don’t move it for the next 20 minutes.
9.     Cool the boiled soymilk slightly, about 5 minutes.  Remove any milk in excess of 4 cups. Check that the soymilk temperature is 185F, warm or cool further if needed.   Pour the 4-cups of milk in one big swish into the bowl containing the nigari, creating enough turbulence so that the nigari is thoroughly mixed with the soymilk.  Do not stir.  Lance off any bubbles on top with a toothpick.  Cover with a tea-towel wrapped lid. And do not move the bowl for 20 minutes.
10.  After 20 minutes, ladle off the whey and any parts that looked bubbly.  Ladle thin layers of dofu hua with a big flat spoon and transfer to individual serving bowl.  Ladle in two tablespoons of syrup or more, and serve hot.

Making the ginger syrup:

11.  Bring ginger, sugar and water to boil.  Simmer for 10 minutes, until thick.  Pass through a sieve to remove ginger bits.

Serves: 6

Tags: Chinese, dim sum.

This is one of my favorite dim sum dumpling recipe because you can get two different dumplings with one recipe!  If you wrap it potsticker half-moon style (see jiaozi recipe’s for folding method), and just stop at the steaming step below, you get a steamed chives and shrimp dumpling.  If you follow this recipe, you get the pan fried chive and shrimp dumpling recipes.  They do taste somewhat different.

Chef’s tip: You only need to pan fry the presentation side of the dumpling

Dumpling Dough:
1/2 cups wheat starch
1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons tapioca starch
3 cups boiling water (MUST BE BOILING)
3 Tablespoons vegetable shortening

Sauce:
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 Tablespoon oyster sauce
2 Tablespoons Chinese rice wine or pale dry sherry
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper, ground

Filling:
2 Tablepoons canola oil
8 oz raw shrimp, shelled and deveined, roughly minced
16 oz Chinese chives, green parts only, chopped ¼ inch length

Paper steamer liner or napa cabbage leaves

Canola oil for frying

Preparing the dough:
1.     Whisk together the wheat starch and the tapioca starch. Form a well in the center. Gradually add the boiling water, stirring until a ball forms.
2.     Cool a little, while still warm, incorporate the shortening, a little at a time.
3.     Transfer to a lightly floured board and knead for a few minutes until dough is soft and smooth.
4.     Divide the dough into 4 balls. Roll each piece of dough into a 2-inch cylinder.  Cut each cylinder into 6 pieces. Roll pieces into a ball. You should have about 24 pieces. Cover as you work.  Cover dough with a damp tea cloth for 15 minutes.
Preparing the filling
5.      Whisk the sauce ingredients together in a bowl.  Set aside.
6.     Heat a wok with the canola oil  Add the minced shrimp and saute 30 seconds.  Push to the side of the wok.  Add the chopped chives and cook till just wilted.  Pour in the sauce mix, mix in the shrimp and cook till sauce coats, about 1 minute.

Assembling
7.     Take a dough portion, work into a round ball, flatten it into a 5 inch round, about 1/8 inch thick with a rolling pin. Place a heaping Tablespoon of filling into dough.  Pull the sides to meet at the center, making a ruffled fold as you work.  Pinch the top together and give it a twist to seal.  Pinch off any extra dough at the top.  Place upside down onto a piece of waxed paper.

Steaming the dumplings:
8.     Transfer dumplings and place upside down onto a steamer that is lined with cabbage leaves or steamer liners. Steam over simmering water for 6-8 minutes or until the dumplings are translucent. Add water if necessary so that wok is not dried out.  Let cool.
Pan frying the dumplings:
9.     Once dumplings are cooled, heat a pan over medium heat, then add oil to coat.  When oil begins to smoke, place the dumplings, smooth/top side down to the pan and let fry undisturbed for 2 minutes or until a golden crust forms and releases the dumpling from the pan.  Serve immediately.

Serves: 24 pieces

Tags: Cantonese, Chinese, dim sum, dumplings.