Broised Shredded Dried Tofu

SlNCE ancienttimes, people inthe Jianghuai area(between the Yangtzeand Huaihe rivers), havebeen producing a dazzling variety of dishesmade of bean products.The most renowned ofthese is surely BraisedShredded Dried Tofu(da zhu gan si).

As the story goes, the Qing Emperor Qianlong made six tours tosouthern China, transiting Yangzhou every time. On the last occasion, local officials racked their brains trying to come up with newdishes, since the emperor had already tasted all Yangzhou’s signature dishes. They recruited a number of chefs to create dishes forthe emperor, one of which-Soup of Nine Threads (Jiu si tang)pleased the picky imperial palate. This dish was adopted by the general populace, and in the process acquired its current name.

In the Soup of Nine Threads, apart from shredded dried tofu,other regular ingredients include shredded ham, bamboo shoots,silver fish, edible fungus, mushroom, seaweed, thin omlette andchicken, but other ingredients like shredded sea cucumber are addedoccasionally. Given the thin flavor of the dried tofu, additional savormust be introduced via deep and delicious chicken stock and theuse of nmltiple seasonings. During the cooking process these flavorspenetrate the tofu. The resulting dish tastes incredibly dainty.

Braised Shredded Dried Tofu has come a long way since theprototype described above. Shrimp, eordyceps, scallops, mushrooms and ham are now added to the basic ingredients. For a successful dish, only dried tofu of dense and fine texture will do; otherwise it will collapse during the demanding cutting process. Thiscalls for great knife skills. The cook is required to slice a cube ofwhite 1otn into 18 pieces, and then again, making 270 cuts in all.The fine shreds of tofu must all be neat, even, and no thicker thana matchstick.

The chef can ring seasonal changes: in spring, the addition of seafood will intensify the flavor; in summer crispy shreds of eel will bebraised with the tofu; in autumn, when the crabs are heavy with roe,they add this part to produce a thick golden colored sauce; in winter,the dish may be supplemented with wild vegetables, their greenerybringing fresh flavor and visual appeal to the dish. But whatever theseasonal variations the basic nature of the dish endures-eye pleasing, soft, tasty, and fine as thread.

In Yangzhou there is a boiled variation on the braised dish. Tomake Boiled Shredded Dried Tofu the shredded tofu is soaked andcooked in boiling water several times. Once the water has beensqueezed out, the tofu is plated, soy sauce poured over, and garnished with a sprinkling of dried shrimp and shredded ginger. Thistoo is quite delicious.