I decided to invite a family and a few friends over for lunch before we play tennis. I was craving tofu hotpot. The seafood tofu claypot is a one pot chinese-style casserole filled with delicious bits and pieces of different type of seafood and vegetables. In the pot are snow pea, carrot, baby corn, bamboo, mushroom, shrimp, and scallops. I couldn’t find egg tofu so I had to use soy tofu in a tube. I will make this dish again with egg tofu. This is a great dish served with a bowl of fresh steam rice. I want this to be another signature dish but I have not perfect it yet. However, it was still very delicious.
Ingredients:
1 tube (150 grams) egg tofu sliced to 1/2 cm thickness
1 tbsp corn flour (corn starch)
vegetable oil for deep-frying
1 tbsp vegetable oil divided
3 slices ginger sliced to thin strips
1/2 carrot peeled and sliced thinly (optional: cut them to flowers)
50 grams baby corn cut to two or three sections diagonally
3 cloves garlic sliced thinly
50 grams snow peas pull and discard the “strings”
4 large Hokkaido scallops if using frozen, thaw before use
200 ml chicken stock
1/2 tbsp Chinese wine
8 medium-sized prawns shells (leaving only tail-end) and veins removed
50 grams drained canned straw mushrooms
corn starch solution dissolve 1 tbsp cornstarch in 2 tbsp water
Instructions:
1. Lightly dust tofu slices with corn flour. Heat some vegetable oil in a wok. Deep fry the egg tofu until golden brown. Drain excess oil on paper towel or tempura paper. Set aside.
2. In a wok, heat 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil and stir fry ginger, carrot and baby corn for 1 minute. Add garlic and snow peas, stir fry for another minute. Set aside.
3. Heat claypot (starting from a gradual heat), then add 1/2 tbsp oil. Cook scallops on 2 minutes on one side, turn the scallops over and cook for another 2 minutes.
4. Add chicken stock and Chinese wine. Season the gravy to taste if necessary. Bring to a simmer. Add cooked vegetables (step 2) and prawns. Once the prawns are cooked, thicken the gravy with cornstarch solution.
5. Add deep-fried tofu (step 1) and straw mushrooms. Cover with lid, simmer on low heat for one minute and serve immediately. The claypot contents will still be sizzling away when you serve them on the dinner table.
adaptation: http://www.noobcook.com/claypot-tofu-seafood/2/
