Comfort Cooking: Egg tofu to jazz up a homecooked meal

Wondering what to cook today? In this daily series, STFood Online Editor Hedy Khoo whips up easy eats to try at home

Egg Tofu With Crab Meat And Leek goes well with rice. The leek keeps the seafood from overpowering the rest of the dish and adds sweetness to the gravy.
Egg Tofu With Crab Meat And Leek goes well with rice. The leek keeps the seafood from overpowering the rest of the dish and adds sweetness to the gravy. ST PHOTO: HEDY KHOO

Egg Tofu With Crab Meat And Leek is one of my favourite dishes to jazz up a homecooked meal.

The dish of egg tofu covered in a glistening gravy of crab meat and leek, thickened with an egg white, is appetising and goes perfectly with rice.

Growing up, I remember eating versions of this dish at zichar stalls and Chinese restaurants. I always found dinner a little more exciting when tofu slathered in crab meat gravy was served on a hot plate.

This is not a difficult dish to replicate. I deep-fry the tofu, but you can always use the air-fryer if you like.

The golden rounds of tofu and egg gravy make the dish look inviting.

I prefer using Australian leeks, which are thicker and offer more texture and sweetness than the thinner variety from China. But you can use either, depending on availability. The leek keeps the seafood from being overpowering and adds a superb sweetness to the gravy.

To thicken the gravy, I use only the white of the egg for a cleaner look. Use the whole egg if you do not know what to do with the yolk and do not want to waste it.

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EGG TOFU WITH CRAB MEAT AND LEEK

INGREDIENTS

400ml cooking oil

2 rolls of egg tofu, cut into six pieces a packet

3 garlic cloves, chopped

50g crab meat

1 stalk of leek (60g), diagonally sliced

135ml water

1 Tbs cornflour

1 egg white

½ tsp salt

Dash of ground white pepper

METHOD

1. Deep-fry six pieces of egg tofu at a time in the cooking oil until golden brown.

2. Place the fried tofu on kitchen paper to drain excess oil.

3. Reserve 30ml of cooking oil and heat it in a clean wok.

4. Fry the garlic for a minute until fragrant.

5. Add the leek and fry for two minutes.

6. Add the crab meat. Fry for 30 seconds and add a dash of pepper.

7. Continue to fry for 1½ minutes.

8. Add 120ml of water and stir.

9. In a little bowl, mix the cornflour with the rest of the water. Stir well and add to the crab mixture.

10. Season with salt and pepper.

11. Once the mixture comes to a boil, keep stirring and gradually add the egg white.

12. Spoon half of the mixture onto the serving dish.

13. Arrange fried tofu on the dish and spoon over the remaining crab mixture.

14. Serve immediately.

Serves four

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on June 25, 2020, with the headline Comfort Cooking: Egg tofu to jazz up a homecooked meal. Subscribe