The Sugar Bar

Once again, my Chinese blood is on a roll and I’m riding this wave to calm my raving tastebuds. Not to worry, the English dishes and baked sweeties will be back on the blog pretty soon — give me about a week though. For now, pray you’ll humour me as such because I’m having way too much fun here!

I didn’t want a cooked salad or a salad dressing to mix into the salad constituents so I settled for a topping which was thought up in approximately 6 seconds. How quick and easy is that? It couldn’t get any better especially because if you’re looking for a savoury accompaniment to your cold tofu and you love the heat of fresh chillis — this is, honestly, IT. You can temper with the heat of your topping with the type of red chilli being used. It goes very very well with the soy sauce, the flavour of the onions and the toasted sesame oil. Really good, light and tasty. Not to forget, it’s quite a pretty sight as well.

The topping will be great for garnishing scallops or little egg tofu rings as well I reckon. Will definitely try this out with those 2 ingredients in the future for a fancy but quick-to-make appetizer.

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In this month of May, Food Blogga is bravely holding a foodie event called Beautiful Bones to draw awareness to osteoporosis. It really is a worthwhile event. We are what we eat and no matter who or how old we are, we need to be able to take care of ourselves, beginning from the smallest, most minute detail — what we eat. My Mum has problems with her back and is plagued with slip discs and wasted tissue at the base of her spine. Although she decided last month to opt for physiotherapy over surgery, I believe she is still one of the strongest women I know. Being the paranoid person that I am, I also try to take lots of calcium in my diet and make great care in ensuring that I eat well. Due to previous Dance activities and intensive training sessions for my Cheerleading squad, some of my joints have taken quite a shocker (especially my knees and left foot). A while back, I had terribly clicky joints to the point where it was making me so exhausted and uncomfortable. Thank goodness that problem’s solved with the consumption of some very good oils (try evening primrose or cod liver oil).

dedicated to one of the bravest, strongest and most sincere chef in the world - my Mother

I’m sure there are little things each and every one of us notice now and again - things that aren’t quite right with ourselves. Although it’s not always a reason to flip out completely (I did that when I sighted a fine line on the left side of my face), it’s definitely good to be aware. It’s better to be safe than sorry. So watch out for yourselves, eat well and stay healthy, guys!

With no further ado, I clear my throat and present a tofu salad ready for 1, banged up with calcium (and other good stuff) -rich ingredients: tofu & soy sauce, fresh raw greens, sesame seeds.

This is for all the beautiful and strong women out there, and yes, to all the wonderful men (husbands, fathers, boyfriends, bestfriends, etc.) who stand by these strong women and watch over them.

With love.

Cold Tofu Salad with Spicy Oriental Topping
Ingredients

half a rectangle packet of silken/firm tofu
2 tbs orange pepper, chopped
about 1/2 cup of your favourite salad leaves (I’ve used a mix of lettuce, frisee, white and purple cabbage leaves)
sprinkling of black sesame seeds, for garnishing

For the topping:
some olive oil, about 1 1/2 tbs
1/4 cup onions, finely chopped
heaped tbs red chilli, finely chopped
1 tbs ground almonds
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs mirin
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp Chinese 5 Spice

Place some olive oil in a heavy based saucepan and on medium fire, cook the chopped onions. Once they start going translucent, lower the heat and let it sweat. When it is soft and more or less sweated through, add the soy sauce, mirin, sesame oil, sugar and chopped chilli. Using a wooden spoon, give it a good stir making sure it doesn’t burn. Let this cook on low heat for about 2min. Add the Chinese 5 spice and the ground almonds, stir. Let this sit on very low heat for about 20seconds, stirring to make sure it doesn’t burn. The liquids in the pan would have started to reduce and thicken up so be a little careful.
Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature, or at a temperature suitable to serve. Before serving, stir in half of the chopped peppers into it.

Place salad leaves on plate and gently sit naked tofu on the leaves. Spoon topping onto the tofu. Garnish with rest of the chopped peppers and black sesame seeds.

Have a ready glass of cold lemonade on the side to keep in theme with a spring lunch (and if you are afraid of chilli heat!).

*Similar Recipe: Tofu Salad with Oriental Sesame Dressing