Savory and aromatic, with tender bean curd sticks and silky smooth sliced pork.
Yuba (dried tofu skin) is a beloved soy product that is most commonly served cold. However, it also makes a delicious hot dish that is surprisingly simple to prepare. Simply soak the yuba in cold water until it softens, and you'll enjoy a tender, silky texture that is completely different from its cold version. The pork slices in this dish are also incredibly tender, so don't hesitate—toss that Australian lobster in the trash and let's braise some yuba together!
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
200 g dried bean curd sticks (about 7 oz)
100 g lean pork
For best results, use high-quality dried bean curd sticks; otherwise, they may turn mushy after soaking and stir-frying.
You can use pork tenderloin, pork shoulder, or any lean cut of pork.
Marinade
5 g (about 1 teaspoon) Shaoxing wine
5 g (about 1 teaspoon) soy sauce
a small amount of cornstarch
Other Seasonings
10 g soy sauce
15 g (about 1 tablespoon) oyster sauce
5 g (about 1 teaspoon) white sugar
1 g salt
Ginger and garlic, each to taste
cornstarch to taste
Instructions
Instructions
Preparation
① Soak dried tofu sticks in cold water until completely soft with no hard center, then slice diagonally into small sections (Image 2). Thinly slice lean pork (Image 3). Mince ginger and garlic. Mix cornstarch with water to make a slurry and set aside.
*Soak the dried bean curd sticks for two to three hours in advance, or they won't fully soften—you'll feel a hard core when you pinch them. Do not use hot water, as it will make them mushy and fall apart.
*Slice the lean meat against the grain into thin pieces.
Marinate the pork: In a bowl, combine the sliced pork with 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of cornstarch, and 1 teaspoon of cooking wine. Mix well and let it marinate for 10 minutes.
Step 2: Add the marinating seasonings to the sliced meat, mix well, and set aside (Image 4).
*First, add the cooking wine and soy sauce and mix well, then add the cornstarch and mix until evenly coated.
Stir-fry the sliced meat in oil until just cooked through.
Heat the wok over high heat, add enough oil and heat to about 50% hot, then reduce to medium heat and slide the meat slices in until they are 70-80% cooked (Image 5), then remove and set aside.
If the meat slices are stir-fried directly in the pan and then braised with the bean curd sticks, they will become tough and chewy, so they should be pre-cooked first and only briefly braised at the end.
*Do not cook the meat slices all the way through during the initial stir-fry; if they are fully cooked at this stage, they will lose their tender, silky texture when later braised with the bean curd sticks.
Simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, allowing the tofu skin sticks to absorb the flavors and the pork to become tender.
Pour out most of the oil, leaving just a thin layer in the wok. Heat the remaining oil over high heat, then stir-fry the minced ginger and garlic until fragrant (Image 6). Immediately add soy sauce and let it sizzle for a few seconds (Image 7). Pour in an appropriate amount of hot water, then add sugar, salt, and oyster sauce. Bring to a boil, then add the sliced yuba (Image 8). Cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Next, add the pre-cooked meat slices and cook for another 30 seconds (Image 9). Thicken with a cornstarch slurry, then remove from heat and serve.
*Always sizzle the soy sauce in the hot wok to release its full aroma and remove the raw flavor.
When braising yuba, use a bit more water than you might expect, as the porous bean curd sticks are very absorbent and will quickly dry out if there's too little liquid, making it impossible to thicken the sauce properly. However, if you add too much water, you'll find excess moisture pooling in the dish once it's plated. So, use enough water to create a well-thickened sauce, but don't go overboard—add it in moderation.
*When adding the meat slices at the end, make sure to drain any excess oil and water from the plate, then thicken with a cornstarch slurry immediately after they are cooked through and remove from heat—otherwise, the meat will become tough if cooked too long.
A clever shortcut for busy cooks
If you find it troublesome to blanch the meat slices in oil, you can stir-fry them with a little oil first and then remove them from the pan—the result will be similar.
A step up in quality.
If you slowly deep-fry the dried bean curd sticks in warm oil until crisp, then braise them, you'll achieve a completely different texture—chewy, tender, and able to absorb more of the sauce, making it incredibly flavorful. Although this method is a bit more trouble and uses more oil, the resulting taste is unmatched by water-soaked bean curd sticks, and it's well worth trying!