Tofu with Century Egg Cold Dish 皮蛋豆腐 is an ancient Chinese salad from the Three Kingdom period. It was a fortunate accident!
One hot summer, famous warlord, Liu Be 劉備 was training his soldiers in preparation for war. While training in the hot sun, the soldiers were falling ill from heat stroke. Liu Bei remembered that gypsum found in tofu can reduce internal heat in the body and prevent heat stroke. He immediately began to make tofu himself but the tofu came out too soft. He didn’t add enough gypsum powder. The tofu was too soft and delicate to cook it any further. So his men added some soy sauce, oil, preserved vegetables and Century eggs and ate it cold. It was not only delicious, it cured the soldiers of their heat-related ailments! It’s quite amazing that this recipe has been around for over 2000 years and not much has changed.
What are Century Eggs or Thousand Year Old Eggs? They’re duck eggs that use limestone powder, soda ash, wood ash, salt and sometimes tea leaves as a preservative. They then cover them with rice hulls and put into a ceramic container to preserve for 2 months. There is a rumour that they use horse urine to preserve these eggs. There's not only no evidence of this, but unlikely because urine is typically acidic and not alkaline. The rumour may have been started because some cultures name it “horse urine egg”. This is likely due to the ammonia smell of the eggs.
According to Chinese herbology, Tofu with Century Egg Cold Dish 皮蛋豆腐 can help with cooling down the body, improving the digestive system and promotes colon health according to Chinese herbology.
My Tofu with Century Egg Cold Dish 皮蛋豆腐 makes a wonderful appetizer dish that can be served with any kind of food. It’s quick and easy to make and perfect for a summer picnic!
Tofu with Century Egg Cold Dish 皮蛋豆腐
Ingredients
- 3 Century eggs (aka pi dan or Thousand Year Old Eggs)
- 300 g Soft tofu
- 30 g Peanuts (roasted or fried)
- 1 stalk Green onions , chopped
- 10 g Pork floss
- 1 bunch Cilantro (optional), chopped
- 3 cloves Garlic , chopped
- 30 g Preserved vegetable , chopped
- 2 tsp Oil
Ingredients for sauce:
- 2 tsp Light soy sauce
- 2 tsp Oyster sauce
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 60 ml Water
- 1 ½ tsp Cornstarch
- 1 tsp Sesame oil
Instructions
- Chop garlic and green onions. Put the white parts of the green onions with the garlic and set aside the rest for garnishing
- Prepare the rest of the ingredients
- In a sauce pan, heat on medium heat, add 2 tsp oil and add the garlic and white parts of green onions. Cook until garlic is golden colour. Remove from the pan and set aside
- Using the same pan, add chopped preserved vegetable and stir for 1 minute
- Combine 2 tsp light soy sauce, 2 tsp oyster sauce, 1 tsp sugar, 1 ½ tsp cornstarch and 60 ml water. Mix well and pour into the sauce pan. Mix well and cook until sauce has thickened. Add 1 tsp sesame oil. Set aside to cool
- Open the tofu package and drain water. Use paper towel to pat dry. You may slice it or cut them into cubes. I chose to serve it whole
- Peel Century eggs and slice or dice and arrange around the tofu
- Place pork floss on the tofu
- Sprinkle peanuts
- Drizzle sauce on top
- Sprinkle fried garlic and onions
- Place the remaining green onions and cilantro on top
- Serve
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