Pan-fried Beancurd with Spicy Peanut Sauce

This is a simple vegetarian dish which uses simple and readily available ingredients to prepare. The mee siam paste consists of the major ingredients needed, so I do not have to buy assam paste and belachan which I hardly use. The lime juice helps to compensate the tangy taste which the mee siam sauce slightly lack.

When I put all the ingredients together, it gives me a very appetizing and light dish to enjoy :)

Yield: 4 adult servings

Peanut sauce

Ingredients

2 tbsp onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1~2 tsp Mee Siam or sambal chilli paste

50g peanut, crushed coarsely

1/2 tsp sweet soy sauce

30g palm sugar

60~80g water

Juice from 1~2 limes

1/2 tsp coriander leaf, chopped

Directions

1. Add 1 tbsp of olive oil to a medium hot pot. When the oil is hot, add in onion and garlic, stir-fry till frangrant.

2. Add in palm sugar and Mee Siam or sambal chili paste. Stir-fry till palm sugar melted.

3. Add in crushed peanut, sweet soya sauce, and water. Heat over low flame, stir regularly, till thickens.

4. Squeeze in lime juice and stir in chopped coriander leaf. 

5. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

Ingredients

2 medium size soya beancurd 

50g bean sprout, blanched

50g japanese cucumber, julienned

10g carrot, julienned 

Direction

1. Trim the edge of the beancurd and cut into halves. Soak in salt water for 15 minutes.

Trimmed away the uneven sides of the beancurd allows the beancurd to stand upright in the pot while pan-frying.

2. Drain away the water and let the beancurd sits on a pile of  paper kitchen towels to dry.

3. Heat up 1 tbsp of olive oil in a medium hot pot or pan. Pan-fry all the sides of the beancurd to golden. Set aside.

Cover the pot with paper kitchen towel to "catch" the splattering oil.

4. Transfer the golden beancurd to a plate and garnish with bean sprout, cucumber and carrot. Pour the peanut sauce over and serve :)

Tips for pan-frying beancurd to golden:

1. The pot and the oil must be hot. After pouring oil into the hot pot, wait for 1 to 2 minutes for the oil to rise in temperature.

2. The very first face of the beancurd will take the longest time to fry to golden, as the beancurd needs time to raise the overall temperature. Try not to flip it before it turns golden, as it will stick hard to the pot, and you may risk breaking the beancurd  while forcing it to flip. When the face turns golden, it will allow you to flip it over at ease.

3. A non-stick pot or pan will do a better job.

Peanut sauce recipe adapted from 

http://rasamalaysia.com/malaysian-sataynow-with-peanut-sauce/2