Steamed tofu with shrimp paste flavoured pork - 鹹蝦豬肉蒸豆腐

You may know Thai or Malaysian shrimp paste (kapi or belacan). Do you know there is also a Chinese shrimp paste or 'hum ha jiong' 鹹蝦醬? It's a pinkish brown, soft and smooth paste in a jar. I use Lee Kum Kee brand. It's not cheap about £5 a jar but it's a nice treat. The paste is will turn browner once opened and kept in fridge but does not affect the quality, will keep perfectly ok for a long time in the fridge. It is very pungent like kapi or belacan (like smelly socks), just don't take a deep breath if the opened jar is near you. Once mixed with other ingredients like this featured recipe it is very delicious.



My favourite use of this paste is mixed with pork and steamed with plain Chinese tofu. This paste is also very good for stir frying kangkong (water spinach) or Chinese spinach (spinach with stalks). Also very good adding a tsp or two to Chinese savoury pancake mix.

Here is a picture of my favourite shrimp paste pork and tofu.


Recipe will feed 3 - 4 people.

Ingredients:

500g of Chinese fresh tofu, medium soft or firm
300g of pork, sliced
2 tbsp of Chinese shrimp paste
2 tsp of sugar
1 medium size red chilli
1 tbsp of sesame oil
1 heap tsp of cornflour

Garnish:
2 stalks of spring onion (chopped)
1 tbsp of ginger (chopped)
more chilli (optional)

1 large steamer
1 deep dish

Method:

1. Mix pork with shrimp paste, sugar, sesame oil, chilli and cornflour for at least one hour.
   
2. Cut tofu into large chunks and lay pieces on a deep dish. Leave for few minutes and drain off any excess liquid.
3. Lay marinated pork on tofu and steam for about 20 - 25 minutes.
   
4. Sprinkle on chopped spring onion, ginger and chilli. Enjoy with plain rice.