Steamed Prawn and Tofu with Sesame-Soy Sauce

Faced with a recipe with no picture, the obvious question arises: what should this look like?

Soups, salads, stir-fries -- even without a styled photo, most people would be hardpressed to fail at Presentation 101. However, the recipe for 'Steamed Scallop & Tofu with Sesame Flavour' called for a bit of head-scratching.

To add to the pressure, the results would be avidly photographed by other guests at The London Foodie's London Cooking Club, who convened last month in an attempt to demystify Japanese cookery with the help of Reiko of Hashi Cooking (who I interviewed earlier this year).

In the end, I smooshed down the tofu/egg mix with the back of a spoon before steaming. Later that evening, I found out that Reiko herself had only made the recipe once before, which relieved me of the guilty feeling that I'd destroyed a prized classic dish.

Here's the version I made (scallops replaced by prawns, due to popular allergy-related demand):

Recipe: Steamed Prawn and Tofu with Sesame-Soy Sauce
Adapted from recipe by Reiko Hashimoto

Ingredients

• 350g silken tofu 
• 160g prawns, shelled and de-veined, chopped into bite-size pieces
• 4 shiitake mushrooms, chopped finely
• 1 large egg
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• pinch of baking powder
• salt and white pepper
• 1 tbsp chopped chives

For the sauce

• 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 2 tbsp chopped spring onion

Prelim step: Wrap tofu in kitchen paper and press water out (leave for a few hours under a heavy weight if you feel like).

Remove kitchen paper, and heat tofu in microwave for 3 minutes. Leave to cool.

Prepare the prawns and mushrooms.

In a mixing bowl, use a fork to break up the tofu (as fine as you like). Mix in the chopped prawns and mushrooms. Beat the egg, and add the egg, cornflour, and baking powder to the mixture. Mix well, and season with salt and white pepper. 

Pour the tofu/egg mixture into a wide bowl (for steaming), and flatten the surface. Steam for 30 minutes or until set. Garnish with chopped chives.

For the sauce: heat all the liquid sauce ingredients in a small pan until hot. Add spring onions and take off heat. Pour over steamed tofu, and serve.

Comments

[The London Foodie]

You made one of the best dishes on the evening, and it looked very fine too. Thank you for coming to our cooking club, we could not hold it without the Japanese food specialist blogger! Great recipe.

Luiz @ The London Foodie

[Sasa]

Hope you had a lovely holiday! This looks so delicate and just what I need right now after what feels like months of bread...Won't be home for another week though but then it'll be Japanese for me all the way baby ;P

[JenJen]

Luiz - aww you're far too kind =) Thanks again for being an awesome host, as always!

Sasa - hope you've had a great holiday (or two) too! I ate far too much cured ham and blue cheese in France - with lots of and lots of bread....

[catty]

I have to say, your photo (or the corner of it anyway!) looks delicious, but really in the greater scheme of things, what's not to like about steamed tofu with prawns!