My friend Helen Goh recently forced me to go on a culinary tour of Malaysia, where she spent the first 10 years of her life. Poor me had to endure a long week scoffing some of the world's most spectacular street foods. Helen's vivid food memories, and her affectionate family, the Lees, guided us in this too short but ultra-exciting journey. In the coming weeks, I'll be trying to recreate a few highlights, so I can share with you a bit of my misery. This tofu dish is a veggie version of a Chinese classic, best served with plain steamed white rice. The original recipe calls for double the number of chillies, but I warn you that even this version is very hot, so you may want to take it down even further. If you have an Asian grocer nearby, get the fresh tofu that's set in a tub. It has a wonderful silky, light texture. Serves four.
800g firm, fresh tofu
Cornflour, to dust the tofu
Vegetable oil, for frying
150g butter
12 small shallots (350g), peeled and thinly sliced
8 red chillies, thinly sliced
12 garlic cloves, crushed
3 tbsp chopped ginger
5 tbsp crushed black peppercorns
3 tbsp sweet soy sauce
3 tbsp light soy sauce
4 tsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
16 small, thin spring onions, cut into segments 3cm long
Cut the tofu into 3cm x 2cm blocks and toss them in cornflour, shaking off the excess. Pour in enough oil to come 0.5cm up the sides of a large frying pan, and bring up to frying heat. Fry the tofu in batches in the oil, turning the pieces as you go. Once they are golden all around, and have a thin crust, transfer to a paper towel.
Remove the oil and any sediment from the pan and throw in the butter. Once it has melted, add the shallots, chillies, garlic and ginger, and sauté for about 15 minutes on low-medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the contents of the pan are shiny and totally soft. While you wait, crush the peppercorns, using a pestle and mortar or a spice grinder. They should be quite coarse.
When the shallots and chillies are soft, add the soy sauces and the sugar, stir, then stir in the crushed pepper. Warm the tofu in the sauce for about a minute, then add the spring onion and stir through. Serve hot with steamed rice.