100-YEAR-OLD EGG WITH TOFU

100-year-old or century egg traditionally involved curing in a mixture of clay，quicklime and salt underground for several months to produce a black-coloured egg with an amazingly creamy yolk.The aroma can be a little overpowering at first，but served in classic recipes like the one below，you really get to enjoy the textural qualities while the more potent aromatics meld with the seasoning.As I have said before，don’t get hung up about trying to make your own tofu-leave that to chefs with no lives！After all，you wouldn’t start making your own cheese each time you fancied a cheese sandwich.But again，may I remind you not to be fooled into thinking that all white-looking tofu on the supermarket shelf is the same-the soft varieties are softer than set custards and the hardest varieties can be bounced off a wall without breaking.

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

200g extra-soft silken tofu

1 century egg

25ml Sweetened Soy Sauce

1 teaspoon chillioil

12 teaspoon sesame oil

12 teaspoon Chinese red vinegar

salt

micro coriander，to garnish（optional）

1.Cut the tofu into 1cm cubes and place in a saucepan of lightly salted hot water.Leave for 10 minutes.

2.Drain the tofu and divide between 2 serving bowls.

3.Peel the egg，then cut into 1cm cubes and lightly dot around the tofu in the bowls.

4.Pour over the Sweetened Soy Sauce，then whisk together the oils and vinegar and drizzle overto finish.Garnish with micro coriander，if you like.

CHEF’S TIP

The extra-soft tofu will be very difficult to cut without practice and patience.An easy alternative is to use a teaspoon and scoop spoonfuls into the lightly salted water in step 1.

hancheng

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