Silken Tofu
With Liv’s Soy Sauce Vinaigrette & Avocado
This is one of my favorite Lunar New Year dishes. Most newcomers to Chinese cuisine don’t know that tofu - especially the soft and velvety silken tofu - is wonderful when eaten cold. This is my favorite cold tofu dish. My mom, Liv Wu, likes to serve it as a part of an appetizer station of sorts. This is one of four to six dishes on the kitchen island for guests to nosh on before we get to the hot meal.
This dish is also a perfect showcase for various types of interesting eggs, both from the sea and otherwise. I have offered a couple of options for you to include some rare and strange ingredients with the base recipe. Don’t be scared, while the dish is wonderful without these additions, it becomes downright intoxicating with a few select egg-y partners — Erling Wu-Bower
Serves 6-10 as a stationed, nosh-y, appetizer
Ingredients:
½ lb Silken Tofu, cut very gently into 1” cubes
1 avocado, cut into approximately ½” cubes
2 tablespoons premium black bean soy sauce such as Live, Cook, Eat Finishing Soy Sauce
1.5 tablespoons Chinese black vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons mirin
Juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon sesame oil
½ cup cilantro leaves
4-5 large chrysanthemum leaves (try your local Korean market), torn into cilantro leaf sized pieces
¼ cup scallion tops, cut into the thinnest rings possible
Optional: (choose 1 or two!!)
1 tray of Uni (sea urchin)
3 “thousand year” eggs, cut in eighths…these are intense!
¼ cup cured salmon roe
¼ cup red tobiko
Method:
Mix the soy sauce, black vinegar, sugar, mirin and lime in a bowl. Make sure the sugar dissolves. Distribute the tofu evenly in a large coupe type bowl - a bowl that has a large flat bottom, but has high sides to hold sauce. Do the same with the avocado. If you have chosen to add some strange eggs, distribute those throughout the avocado and tofu. Pro tip - the best combination is uni and thousand year egg!!
Pour the vinaigrette over the tofu and avocado and then do the same with the sesame oil. Garnish with the cilantro, chrysanthemum and scallion. Serve immediately!
