Stir-fried cauliflower with fermented bean curd

September 2, 2022

   

Recently a friend passed a jar of fermented bean curd to me in a swap of a few household bits and pieces. I'd never used it before but was interested in giving it a go, and quickly found a simple vegan-friendly recipe on Serious Eats to get to know this ingredient better.

This stir-fry really is so simple, that's it's just granted me permission to apply the fermented bean curd as a condiment to any stir-fried veges. The bean curd has a savoury, slightly funky flavour that reminds me most of fermented black beans. The squares have the texture of cream cheese, so rather than being chopped they are easily mashed and spread around to coat the vegetables evenly. I was cautious about how spicy it might be, but it was milder than I expected and I've been spreading the curd around more generously in subsequent stir-fries.

In this original batch, with cauliflower, the bean curd and its chilli flecks are barely visible in the photos. The recipe includes a neat steaming technique for the cauliflower that won't always be needed for other veges. I skipped it a couple of days later, when I flavoured mixed green vegetables with the bean curd and served them with Anna Jones' sticky-soy cauliflower and rice. 

Stir-fried cauliflower with fermented bean curd

(a recipe from Serious Eats)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 head cauliflower, broken/chopped into large bite-sized pieces

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons water

3 cubes fermented bean curd

salt

Heat the oil in a wok until it is smoking. Add the cauliflower and stir-fry for a few minutes, until browning at the edges and becoming tender. Add the garlic and stir-fry for a further 30 seconds.

Add the water and cover the wok to steam the cauliflower for a couple of minutes. Remove the lid and stir through the bean curd, until it has evenly coated the cauliflower. Add salt and serve.