Seafood Crispy Tofu

I first ate this in a restaurant long ago and I really liked it very much. I remember it was very tasty and I could not stop eating it. It certainly has full of ingredients in the tofu. I had to bring some food to my friend's house one day and she requested for a tofu dish. I thought of this particular tasty tofu dish and I did not hesitate to look for the recipe on the net. I did find a few versions but just had to adapt and add on my own ingredients to the recipe.

Mine turned out just the way I wanted it.
This recipe is adapted from WendyinKK

Seafood Crispy Tofu

Ingredients:

6 tubes of egg tofu

1 block of white soft tofu (choose the one for steaming)

200g fish paste (fish that is blended to a pulp)

6 pieces of prawns, chopped and mashed

2 eggs

Half a grated carrot

6 water chestnuts, chopped or diced

2 tbsp of finely sliced spring onions

2 tbsp of finely sliced coriander

1 1/2 tbsp of corn flour

Salt and pepper to taste

1 packet of potato flour for frying

Oil for deep frying

Method:

Get ready a heat proof metal tray or cake pan which is at least 2 inches deep.

Line it with heat resisitent plastic wrap for easy removal.

Put water in the steamer to boil.

Unwrap all the tofu and put it in a mixer.

Add in fish paste, prawns, carrots, water chestnuts, spring onion and coriander.

Turn the mixer on to low speed.

Mix thoroughly till well blended. 

Add the eggs and mix well again. 

Put in salt and pepper to taste and mix again.

Put the mixture into the lined pan.

Steam on medium heat for around 20 minutes. Checking it after 10 minutes.

As soon as it is hardened, test it with a skewer, if it comes out clean, it is done. Do not over steam the tofu.

Let the steamed tofu be totally cooled before removing it from the pan.

When the tofu is cooled, lift up the plastic wrap from the pan and onto the chopping board.

Cut the tofu into rectangular pieces.

Heat a pan of oil for deep frying.

Dip the pieces of tofu in the potato flour and coat it well.

Fry the pieces of tofu till golden brown.

Arrange the pieces nicely and serve warm.

It is nice to serve it with Thai chilli sauce and sweetened golden orange 'oil'. (gek you)

                                                                                                      

Frangipane Tart with Blueberries

Frangipane is a filling made from or flavoured like almonds. This filling can be used in a variety of ways including cakes, tarts and other assorted pastries. It is normally made of butter, sugar, eggs and ground almonds. 

I like anything with almonds in it and you can add fresh fruits, can fruits or jam and it is good to go.

This particular sweet tart dough is a little sweet, very crispy and has also ground almond in it. It is a little different from ordinary sweet tart dough and worth making a batch to keep in the freezer and take it out whenever you need it. The filling is enough for 6 to 7 individual tarts and the tart dough needs pre baking but do not need to weigh it down with baking beans if you poke enough holes in them.

This recipe is adapted from Jamie Oliver 30 minute meals and Pierre Herme's Desserts. 

                           

Frangipane Tart with Blueberries Recipe

Ingredients for Sweet Tart Dough (enough to line two 9 inch tarts or 12 individual tarts)

285g butter (softened)

188g icing sugar

50g ground almond

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

500g plain flour (sifted)

For making the sweet tart dough, put the softened butter in a mixer bowl, put on the paddle and mix till light and fluffy. 

Add icing sugar, almonds, salt, vanilla extract and eggs and mix on low speed. Blend well after scraping the sides.

Add the sifted flour in a few additions, do not add all at once.

Switch off the machine as soon as dough comes together. Do not over mix.

Divide the dough into two or three portions. Roll each portion into a ball and wrap with food plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours preferably. You can store the rest in the freezer if you are not using it. This can be stored for up to a month.

Heat the oven to 180 C, when you are ready to make the tart, cut out a freezer bag or a big clean plastic bag, and put the dough in between to roll out. Cut according to size of the tray. 

Press gently onto the tray and poke holes all over with a fork so that it allows air to go around when baking.

For a big tart, put beans on alluminium foil before baking at 180 C for 18 to 20 minutes, remove the beans and bake for another 5 minutes till golden brown.

For individual small tart shells, we do not need to use beans for weighing them down.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 180 C till golden brown for the small tarts.

Cool the tart shells on a rack and prepare the filling.

Ingredients for the Filling:

1/2 punnet to 1 punnet of fresh blueberries

100g butter (softened)

100g ground almond

100g sugar

1 egg

Zest of 1 orange

1 tsp of vanilla extract

Heat the oven to 180 C.

Put butter, almond, sugar, zest, vanilla extract and the egg into a mixing bowl. Use a silicon spatula and mix the ingredients together to a paste. It is that simple. 

Fill the individual tart shell first with a big spoonful of filling, put about 10 of the blueberries in them, then top the tart with the another spoonful or two of the filling. You do not need to smoothen the filling as it will spread out on its own during baking.

For a big tart, put in half of the filling into the tart shell, spread the blueberries onto the filling and add in the remaining filling. 

Bake at 180 C oven till golden brown, around 30 minutes. Checking after 20 minutes of baking.

Cool the tarts on wire racks. Remove tart from metal tart trays and serve warm. You can serve them with Vanilla ice cream if desired.