so what is this ingredient ?
To be upfront, this is one of those foods that could have been featured on Fear Factor, as its appearance and consistency can be a short off-putting at first glance. Fermented foods tend to have that effect. But in all honesty, it actually is delectable and lends an amazing umami flavor to anything you add it to.
In this article, we ’ ll tell you all you need to know about this component, how it ’ mho made, how we cook with it, and where to buy it .
What Is Fermented Bean Curd?
Fermented bean curd ( fǔrǔ, 腐乳 ) is a type of preserve tofu made with fresh bean curd ( bean curd ), salt, rice wine, and other flavorings. For people of yue beginning, the pronunciation is “ foo yee. ”
In China, you can buy pieces fresh from markets, but here in the U.S, it is sold as small cubes in jars of seawater .
Fermented bean curd is not used as a main protein, but as a season agent or flavorer. The flavor is salty, subtly sweet, and many say, faintly bum. It besides has a texture like to a creamy cheese .
There is a regular white fermented bean curd, vitamin a well as a red version ( hóngfǔrǔ, 紅腐乳 ) which is made with loss yeast rice ( we ’ ve talked about bolshevik yeast rice before, in relation to Chinese red vinegar ), a type of ferment rice that has a red/purple tinge from being cultivated with monascus purpureus mold. This rice is added to brine to make red fermented bean curd .
Wine and spirits are used to make ferment bean curds, and while we don ’ triiodothyronine know precisely what unlike producers use, white bean curd has a more clear-cut taste of baijiu, a sorghum grain liquor. The red material tastes more of chicken rice wine ( huang jiu ) which is in the like class of wine as Shaoxing wine .
The spirit of crimson ferment bean curd is stronger ( with more umami ) than that of flannel, with a more pronounce taste of rice wine, making it more well-suited to braise meat dishes and sauces .
How Is Fermented Bean Curd Used?
We grew up eating this stuff ( besides called lom yee in Cantonese ) and love fudge with it .
Fermented bean curd can be used as a condiment, as an component for dipping sauces, or merely a hit of salt and season to eat with a bare rice/water “ pao fan ” or porridge, congee, or mantou ( obviously steamed buns ) .
While both red and egg white ferment bean curd can be eaten this way, we prefer blank fermented bean curd with conge, and take out a minor ball of it to break off in bantam pieces and eat with each taste.
Read more: Jian Bing, Chinese Crepes (煎饼)
It can besides be a great ingredient in cook dishes. The egg white version is much used to cook stir-fried leafy greens. In yue restaurants, you can by and large regulate vegetables cooked in three ways : plain with salt, with garlic, or with white ferment attic curd. Certain leafy green vegetables are particularly good when cooked with white ferment bean curd, including watercress, spinach, and water spinach .
We besides use it to boost the umami in our wholly vegan Asian vegetable stock !
When cooking with loss sour bean curd, we by and large use it for marinades, sauces, and braised kernel dishes. It offers an amazing unique relish to our Fried Chinese Spareribs that always has everyone curious about what “ secret ingredient ” you ’ ve added .
It ’ south besides featured in our traditional Buddha ’ mho Delight ( Lo Han Jai ) and our braised Cantonese Pork Belly with Arrowhead Root, both dishes eaten largely during taiwanese New Year .
We besides found out recently that it is used to make a type of stuffed biscuit in the Chaoshan area of China ’ mho Guangdong Province, where it ’ s much served with tea ( if you ’ re matter to in Chaoshan cuisine, check out the express, “ Flavorful Origins ” on Netflix ). We besides use it in our overact chim peng Cantonese fried boodle recipe .
Buying & Storing
This component is best purchased in a local asian grocery store memory since there is not much variety on-line, and buying on-line can be very expensive. The Wangzhihe brand is the matchless we buy most often at our local chinese grocery store. hera are a match pictures for citation .
There are assorted early brands available, therefore try a few and see what you prefer .
Read more: Jian Bing, Chinese Crepes (煎饼)
memory in the refrigerator after it has been opened, and constantly use fairly utensils to prevent contaminant. If endlessly refrigerated and handled in a aseptic manner, it can last for a year ( or even longer––some sources say that it can last for years, and that the season actually improves over clock time ) .
Our Favorite Recipes That Use This Ingredient
If you have promote questions, let us know in the comments––we try to answer every unmarried one .
