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A relatively new dish in Hunan’s canon, Peng Family Bean Curd was
almost an instant hit when it was created in Taiwan by Chef Péng Chángguì 彭長貴.
Chef Peng is a native of Hunan who at the
age of 13 first studied under the Cantonese Tan family-style chef Cáo Gàichén 曹蓋臣 before heading north to the Yangtze River area,
and then he fled to Taiwan at the end of the Chinese Civil War. Once he was an
accomplished chef in his own right, he opened up his signature restaurant in
Taipei, as well as a now-defunct branch in Manhattan called Peng Yuan on 44th
Street near the United Nations, where Henry Kissinger helped stimulate interest
in both this restaurant and Hunan-style cooking.
Credited with developing some of the most
famous dishes in the Hunan school, Chef Peng produced “General Tso’s chicken” (
Zuŏ Zōngtáng jī 左宗堂雞), its
sweet-sour-spicy sauce entrancing Chinese diners at his Peng’s Agora Garden (Péngjiā huìguǎn 彭家會館) as much as his many other creations, such as
“minced squab in bamboo cups” (zhújié
gēzhōng 竹節鴿盅), which was always one of my favorites
when I was able to dine there as the interpreter-in-tow for the National Museum
of History.
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| Wick off the excess moisture |
This was always a dining experience for
me, as the museum’s director knew the menu like an old friend. Here we would
have honeyed ham, smoked pork charcuterie with garlic stems, and flash fish soup,
all of which never failed to elicit sighs of almost carnal pleasure in our
foreign guests.
His signature bean curd dish, though, was
more homey than fancy, and so it wouldn’t often make the cut at these banquets.
But that did not stop my husband and me from enjoying it there later on, as
well as our old haunt near the museum that was not as near as fancy—but almost
as good—as the original cooking palace of Mr. Peng.
Peng
family bean curd
Péngjiā
dòufu 彭家豆腐
Hunan
Serves 4 to 6
Serves 4 to 6
1 square (about 14 ounces) firm, fresh, organic
bean curd
2 to 3 ounces pork loin, shredded against the grain
1 tablespoon rice wine
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| Brown the bean curd |
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tender leek or 2 green onions, trimmed
¼ cup peanut or vegetable oil (used okay if it
smells fresh)
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
2 red jalapeno peppers, stemmed, seeded, and cut
into thin shreds
2 tablespoons fermented black beans, rinsed and
lightly chopped
½ cup hot filtered water
1 tablespoon regular soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1. Cut the bean curd square in half
lengthwise and then again crosswise into ¼ inch cubes. Place them in a single
layer on a clean tea towel, and pat the tops with the towel, too. Let them
drain while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
2. Place the pork in a small work bowl and
toss it with the rice wine and cornstarch. Cut the leek or green onions on the
diagonal into ½-inch wide strips.
3. Heat a wok over medium-high heat, and
when it starts to smoke, add the oil. Swirl the oil around in the wok and then
lay half of the bean curd squares in a single layer on the hot wok. Cook the
bean curd until it is a golden brown on one side, and then flip each slice over
and cook the other side. Remove the bean curd to a plate and repeat with the
other half of the bean curd. Pour out about half of the oil.
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| Marinate the meat first |
3. Raise the heat under the wok to high.
To the hot wok add the leeks or green onions and garlic, and stir-fry them for
about 10 seconds to release their fragrance. Toss in the pork and all its
marinade and quickly stir-fry them until the meat is no longer pink. Add the
peppers and black beans, toss them quickly to heat them through, and then the
hot water. Toss these all together and then scoot the vegetables up the side of
the wok.
4. Arrange the browned bean curd slices in
a single layer in the sauce, cover, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer
them for about 5 minutes. Turn the slices over, drizzle the cornstarch mixture
around the edge of the bean curd, and then gently toss everything together to
mix until the sauce thickens. Toss in the sesame oil, toss one last time, and
serve on a platter.
Tip
Chicken can be used instead of pork or
left out if you prefer this meatless; if no meat is used, stir the cornstarch
into the wine and toss it into the sauce right before adding the bean curd in
Step 4.
