Silken Skin

I remember as a young girl, whenever I refused to eat fu jook (bean curd skins) or fu jook pei (dried bean curd stick), my paternal grandma would always tell me that eating fu jook would make my skin as silky smooth and fair as the fu jook. And if old wives’ tales are to be believed, eating lots of fu jook tong shui (bean curd skins sweet soup with gingko and lotus seeds) whilst pregnant would produce a baby with silky smooth skin and complexion!

While I’m not sure such bribery worked on me as a child, I have grown to love eating fu jook and all its variants. Fu jook is made from the “skin” that forms on the surface of heated soy milk. These are scooped up and either sold fresh to be used in making sweet dessert soups like fu jook bak guo tong shui (bean curd skins with gingko sweet soup), or are dried into sticks and used for many types of savory dishes. (Linked pictures are taken from Cook’s Thesaurus).

I love the fu jook dish my mum cooks. It’s chock-full of ingredients, with different tastes, textures and colors. The recipe involves a fair number of ingredients and quite a few different steps to prep all the different ingredients, before actually cooking the dish.

The main ingredients of the dish are: fu jook pei (dried bean curd stick), black wood-ear fungus, carrots, diced chicken meat, tang hoon (mung bean vermicelli), quail eggs, red and green chillis, cilantro or parsley. Occasionally, she may also add mushroom meat balls, fish balls, sotong (squid) balls or cubes of fish tofu. That’s what I like about this dish… the ingredients can be added to, substituted or changed to vary the flavors of the dish.

First, the dried bean curd sticks have to be prepared. They are soaked in water for at least 4 hours. After which, they are quickly sautéed (not deep fried) in hot oil. This is to prevent them from disintegrating when they are cooked in the main dish. They are then rinsed in running water to wash away some of the oil from the sautéing. Next, they are put into boiling water and allowed to “boil” for about 10 minutes. Once drained, they are ready to be used.

Similarly, for the dried black wood-ear fungus, these are also soaked in water then rinsed well to remove all soil and dirt. Again, they need to be boiled for about 10 minutes before being drained and set aside to be used in the main dish.

The quail eggs are hard-boiled and peeled.

The red and green chillis (seeded and de-veined) are sauteed in a little hot oil with a little minced garlic and shallots beforehand.

The diced chicken meat is marinated with a little light soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar and a bit of cornflour. Next, it is sautéed in a little hot oil, until partially cooked through. 1 teaspoon of dark soy sauce is added before it is set aside.

Now for the dish proper… minced garlic and shallots are sautéed in hot oil until softened and fragrant. The carrot slices are added, followed by the wood-ear fungus. Seasonings of around 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tbsp oyster sauce, 3 tbsps rice wine and pepper are added. (Note: these quantities for the seasonings are for a BIG batch of the dish, and should be adjusted accordingly). Next, the chicken stock goes in, along with the dried bean curd sticks. More seasonings are added: 4 tbsps light soy sauce, ½ tsp sugar, 2 tbsps oyster sauce and 1 tbsp dark soy sauce. According to my mum, adding all the seasonings before adding the stock would lead to overly salty carrots and fungus, whilst doing it in two stages leads to a dish with nicely balanced flavors. The quantities for the flavorings may look like a lot, but it doesn’t produce a salty dish at all. My family is almost hyper-sensitive to saltiness. In Chinese restaurants we are constantly requesting for “less salt” in all our dishes. And this dish tastes just fine.

The tang hoon goes in next. The stock is allowed to come to a boil, before letting it simmer for about 15 minutes, uncovered. The last stage is to add the partially cooked chicken, hard-boiled quail eggs, chillis, and any other ingredients (eg mushroom meat balls etc) that are to be added but do not require much cooking time. The last to go in would be the cilantro leaves. The mixture is then brought to a boil, and a little cornstarch solution is added to thicken the gravy. After it comes to a rolling boil again, it is removed from the heat and served.

All that effort is worth it though… it tastes great, and even better the next day! Yum!

Copyright © 2003 Renee Kho. All rights reserved.
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