咸肉豆腐煲 Tofu and Ham Pot

Pinyin: xián ròu dòu fu bāo

When cornstarch, also known as cornflour or maize starch, is mixed with water or milk it becomes something known as a dilatant, which means that it flows easily enough ordinarily, but under high velocity the liquid becomes much more viscous and acts similar to a solid. Military research is being conducted with dilatants right now because it is believed that the right dilatant would hold all the properties of great body armor. However, in cooking, cornstarch is generally used as a thickening agent for soups and liquids.

Cornstarch is derived from the starch of the corn kernel. Both the germ and the endosperm of the corn kernel contain starch, but the majority of the starch comes from the endosperm. The germ is the part of a grain that contains all the genetic material to produce a new plant, it’s essentially the plant embryo. The germ is rich in antioxidants and other nutrients but is typically removed from refined grains. Endosperm on the other hand surrounds the germ and provides nutrients to the plant embryo, it is the primary component in many refined grains such as wheat flour and rice flour .

To extract cornstarch from a corn kernel, the corn is first soaked in hot water for 30 to 40 hours. The kernels are ground which separates the germ from the endosperm. Starch, which is water soluble, is washed away from the gluten in cold water. Then centrifuges are used to collect the starch and from there it is processed into cornstarch.

Occasionally pregnant women suffer from a condition called Amylophagia in which they compulsively eat refined starches, chief among them is cornstarch.

This dish makes a great choice on frigid wintry days when the cold is especially biting. It is served nearly boiling and stays hot for a long time due to the cornstarch thickened soup. It’s a simple dish composed of just tofu, ham, spring onions and soup.

The ham isn’t exactly ham, rather it’s salt cured pork and therefore is much saltier and drier than regular ham. These characteristics are used to their full advantage in this dish by naturally adding salt and flavor to the soup while the meat is softened and provides a rewarding texture. The soup isn’t exactly soup either. It’s not something you can really drink like a soup rather the soup clings to the tofu and is simply eaten. The dish tastes nice and has a certain home style appeal to it, the salt plays well with the tofu and the thick soup warms the body deep down.

Try this dish, it’s very palatable to Western taste buds even though it’s basically all tofu. Eating should be an experience which means from time to time it’s necessary to step away from the known and experience a little of the unknown. This is a pretty common dish and isn’t too wild and it is served all year round so you’ve got no excuses, try it, enjoy it.