hearty tofu & pork

This is another simple recipe from my late grandmother. She was such a gem. Every time I visited her, she would make this tofu & pork for me because it's my absolute favourite. Each and every grandchildren in our family has their own favourites, and everytime they visited her, she would make it for them. That was how she was, a doting grandmother. Every time I make this dish (which is quite often because it's so easy), I would remember how much joy she brought and all the funny little things that she said.


Hearty tofu & pork
by my grandmother

Ingredients:

• 3 stalks of spring onions
• 300-400g minced pork
• 3 gloves of garlic, crushed and chopped
• 2 tubes of egg tofu (2 x 245g)
• 2 cups of water
• 2tbsp of corn starch diluted in 600mL of room temperature water
• Soy sauce, salt, white pepper

Method:

1. Chop off the roots of the spring onions and discard. Finely slice the green parts of the spring onions and set aside. There should be about 3cm of the white parts left. We'll be using both of the green and the white parts later.
2. Heat a bit of canola oil on a frying pan on high heat. Add the minced pork and distribute evenly on the pan. Do not turn over until the pork is golden brown. When it's brown, turn over and start separating them with your spatula so it's not a lump of meat but small granules of meat. Season the meat with 2 tbsp of soy sauce, salt and white pepper to taste. Stir constantly.
3. Turn the heat down to low-medium heat, make space in the frying pan for you to add and sauté the garlic and the white parts of the spring onions until fragrant (usually only takes couple of seconds). When it has, stir to combine with the pork.
4. Add two cups of water and bring to a boil.
5. Stir the corn starch mixture you've prepared earlier and pour a third of it into the frying pan while you stir the contents of the frying pan vigorously. You will notice that the liquid starts to thicken up. When it has, add another third in, and stir until thick. And do the same for the last third.
6. Now that you've got some liquid, add the egg tofu into the frying pan. Cut up the tofu, with your spatula, into 1cm slices. Stir the contents together with a folding action so that the tofu stays beautifully round.
7. Add the rest of the spring onions and season with salt and white pepper to taste.
8. Serve with a bowl of warm rice