Friday, January 2, 2009

Traditional, Homey Century Egg & Soft Tofu





For people who have never heard of a Century, aka hundred/thousand-year-old egg, this recipe might sound a little..."shady", but for those who love the egg, certain dishes just wouldn't be complete without it.

Introducing the egg himself. Simply a preserved duck egg (or sometimes chicken or quail egg). NOT a century old, NOT black because it's been a couch potato for too long, but because it was buried in a mixture of salt, clay, ash, lime, and rice (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_egg) for a few weeks or even months.

Century Egg & Shredded Pork Congee
My favorite Cantonese comfort food - all it is is just rice, pork, and egg boiled in a pot until the mixture gets thick and flavorful.

The result is a flavorful black egg, sometimes with a runny yolk (which my mom loves, though it grosses me out) that takes a couple tries before first-timers fall in love with it.

THE Century Egg & Soft Tofu Dish
Takes 5 minutes to make!
Ingredients:
  • 1 box of soft tofu, cubed
  • 2 Century Eggs, chopped into a size you desire
  • Sesame oil (1 tsp)
  • Oyster sauce (2 tbs)
  • Sweet Soy Sauce (1 tbs)
  • Japanese furukake (sprinkled on top) *optional
  • Spring Onions (chopped) *optional
Method:
  1. Simply cube the tofu in dish
  2. Place diced egg on top
  3. drizzle all the sauces in any order you desire on top
  4. garnish with furukake
  5. ENJOY!!!
My favorite thing about this dish is that you can switch up the quantity of sauce you put in, you can even use dumpling sauce in it (which is delicious) and it will still turn out amazing.

ANY real Chinese person will think you're the real deal if you truly appreciate this dish.

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