Wuxi---【Mirror Box Tofu】
Thread Content
Created by Liu Junying, a renowned chef from Wuxi Yingbinlou Restaurant, it is prepared using Wuxi’s specialty product, \"small box\" tofu. In the 1940s, Liu Junying, a chef at the Yingbinlou restaurant, improved the home-style dish of meat-filled tofu by using small cubes of tofu instead of regular tofu blocks. He also added shrimp to the meat filling, resulting in a tofu filling that was plump, beautifully shaped, delicate, and tender. Hence, it was referred to as \"meat being gold, shrimp being jade, with gold inlaid in a white jade box.\" Since the tofu blocks resemble the mirror boxes used by women for dressing, it is named Mirror Box Tofu. This dish has an orange-red color, is tender and flavorful, combines meat and vegetables, and is suitable for people of all ages; it is a famous Wuxi dish appreciated by both connoisseurs and the general public.
Ingredients: 500 grams of tofu, 100 grams of minced meat, 12 large shrimp, 4 soaked shiitake mushrooms, 1 chicken egg white, 2 pieces of crab sticks. (I forgot to mention the egg; 2 pieces of crab sticks are sufficient, or it can be omitted.) Seasonings: rice wine, salt, soy sauce, sugar, ketchup, monosodium glutamate, chopped green onions, starch, oil.
Production steps: 1. Put the minced meat in a bowl, add shaoxing wine (25 grams) and fine salt (1.5 grams), and mix to form a meat filling. After cutting the tofu in half, each half is further divided evenly into 3 rectangular pieces (each about 4.5 cm long, 3 cm wide, and 3 cm thick), resulting in a total of 12 pieces. These pieces are placed in a strainer to drain excess water. 2. Heat the wok over high heat, add soybean oil, and when it is 80% hot, pour in the tofu from the strainer. Fry until a soft crust forms on the surface of the tofu and it turns golden brown, then remove it with a strainer to drain excess oil. Use the handle of a spoon to remove a portion of the soft tofu from the center of each piece (be careful not to pierce the bottom or damage the edges), then fill it with meat filling. Place a large shrimp on top of the filling to create the ‘mirror box tofu’ dish. 3. Heat the wok over high heat, add 25 grams of soybean oil, and fry the chopped green onions until fragrant. Then add the shiitake mushrooms and green beans. Remove the wok from the heat, arrange the raw tofu cubes in the wok with the shrimp side facing down, and place the wok back on high heat. Add 25 grams of shaoxing wine, soy sauce, sugar, ketchup, pork broth, 2.5 grams of salt, and monosodium glutamate; stir the wok to mix in all the seasonings. 4. Once boiling, cover the pot and reduce the heat to low; cook for about 6 minutes until the meat filling is cooked. Remove the lid, then increase the heat to high. Stir the pot to thicken the sauce, add slurry made from water and starch, pour in cooked lard along the edges of the pot, turn the tofu over so that the shrimp are on top (ensuring the pieces remain intact and neatly arranged). Finally, drizzle in sesame oil and transfer the dish to a plate.
I just like to eat boiled shrimp, with a little vinegar is enough
The key to this dish lies in its preparation
This dish can also be made at home.
Give it a try during National Day holiday, haha. The child is still young; we’ll stay at home during this holiday