Serves: 6
Total Calories: 45

4 bean curd, cakes
6 cups water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons peanut oil
dash pepper

1. Cut each cake of bean curd in 4 to 6 slices. Meanwhile bring water to a boil.

2. Carefully place bean curd slices, a few at a time, in a sieve. Plunge into boiling water for 30 seconds then drain. Arrange on a serving platter and let cool.

3. Mix soy sauce and peanut oil and pour over bean curd. Serve, sprinkled with pepper.

NOTE: Bean curd is already cooked and can be eaten as is. The blanching improves its flavor and texture.

VARIATIONS:
* For the soy sauce, substitute oyster sauce.
* For the peanut oil, substitute 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil.
* After step 2, top bean curd with 1/4 cup dried shrimp (soaked) or 2 tablespoons cooked shrimp, chopped coarsely and 2 tablespoons scallion, minced. Season as in step 3, but omit pepper. Then refrigerate, covered, only to chill (about 20 minutes).
* In step 3, use mixture as a dip instead of pouring it directly over bean curd.
* In step 3, sprinkle the bean curd with the soy sauce and pepper. Garnish with 1/2 cup Chinese parsley, chopped, and 2 scallion stalks, shredded. Then heat the oil until smoking and pour over.

The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook. ©1994 by Gloria Bley Miller.

Nutritional Facts:

Serves: 6
Total Calories: 45
Calories from Fat: 40

More Recipes from the Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook Cookbook:
*Appetizers and Cold Dishes
Asparagus Salad
Basic Cold Bean Curd
Bean Sprout Salad
Braised Bamboo Shoots
Braised Mushrooms
Celery And Carrot Salad
Chinese Pickles
Chinese Sausages
Cold Chicken And Cucumber
Cold Chicken Sesame
Cold Sherry Chicken
Cold Shrimp And Cauliflower
Crabmeat And Cucumbers
Dried Jellyfish And Turnips
Eggplant Salad
Marinated Abalone
Marinated Mushrooms I
Marinated Mushrooms II
Oyster Sauce Mushrooms
Pickled Cabbage
Pickled Celery
Pickled Chinese Cabbage
Pickled Chinese Lettuce
Pickled Mustard Cabbage
Pickled Turnips
Preserved Eggs
Preserved Eggs with Ham and Vegetables
Pseudo Smoked Fish
Red-Simmered Chicken Wings
Sesame Ham Sticks
Shredded Cucumbers
Shrimp Toast
Slivered Bean Curd And Shrimp
Smashed Cucumbers
Smashed Radishes
Smoked Fish
Spinach Salad With Shrimp
Stir-Fried Mixed Vegetables
Stuffed Mushrooms -Braised
Stuffed Mushrooms -Simmered
Stuffed Mushrooms -Steamed
Stuffed Mushrooms -Steamed and Poached
Stuffed Mushrooms Mixture: Chicken and Shrimp
Stuffed Mushrooms Mixture: Fish
Stuffed Mushrooms Mixture: Ham
Stuffed Mushrooms Mixture: Pork
Stuffed Mushrooms Mixture: Pork and Crabmeat
Stuffed Mushrooms Mixture: Pork and Shrimp
Stuffed Mushrooms Mixture: Shrimp
Stuffed Mushrooms Mixture: Water Chestnuts
Sweet-and-Pungent Lettuce Rolls
Sweet-and-Pungent Lotus Root
White-Cut Chicken