In celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, Meetup Live hosted a cooking demonstration with chef Wendy Kiang-Spray, author of The Chinese Kitchen Garden. Watch Wendy through the steps for preparing bitter melon tofu stir fry, a perfect springtime dish.
Timestamp:
Introduction (1:34)
Starting the marinade (3:28)
Prepping the tofu (9:00)
Preparing the other ingredients (13:21)
Stir fry (26:58)
Q&A (39.36)
Ingredients/Cooking Steps:
- 1 block extra-firm tofu, pressed for 1 hour and then cut into bite-sized cubes
- 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons rice wine
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- Dash white pepper
- Salt to taste
- 2 medium bitter melons
- 1 tablespoon fermented black beans, rinsed, drained, and chopped
- 2 tablespoons oil, like corn or peanut oil
In a medium-sized bowl, combine pressed tofu, garlic, rice wine, soy sauce, sesame oil, a dash of white pepper, and a pinch of salt. Allow ingredients to marinate for about an hour, gently turning occasionally.
Prepare bitter melon by cleaving off bite-sized slices of the outer part of the fruit, leaving the pith and seeds behind. It is fine to leave small amounts of white pith on the bitter melon pieces.
Heat wok over medium-high heat until hot, then add about 2 tablespoons of cooking oil to wok. When oil is hot, add black beans and stir fry for about 10 seconds until fragrant. Add bitter melon and stir fry until almost tender, about 4 minutes. Add tofu along with the marinade and cook until tofu cubes are warmed through and just begin to brown, another 1-2 minutes.
Top Q&A Questions:
- What zone are you in when you grow garlic? Any tips for growing garlic?
- I’m in zone 6-7 and mid-October is about the time. You know, you can’t go wrong with garlic. There was a time when I totally forgot and it was late November, and I thought it was going to be too late to plant it.
If you’re going to try to grow garlic, get seed garlic from a supplier.
- I’m in zone 6-7 and mid-October is about the time. You know, you can’t go wrong with garlic. There was a time when I totally forgot and it was late November, and I thought it was going to be too late to plant it.
- How can you identify if a bitter melon is ripe, under-ripe, or over-ripe?
- If you’re going to the supermarket, you wouldn’t really know if it’s overripe until you cut it open and you see that the inside is discolored. When that happens, you can still eat it.
If you’re growing them yourself, you’ll know when they’re ripe because they get a glossy look. When they’re first growing, they’ll have a dull color. They’re ready to harvest when the bumps smooth out a little bit and the skin is a little shinier.
- If you’re going to the supermarket, you wouldn’t really know if it’s overripe until you cut it open and you see that the inside is discolored. When that happens, you can still eat it.
- What’s a good substitute for rice wine?
- My father uses sherry as a substitute. At the Asian supermarket, there’s a whole aisle of Chinese cooking wine.
Please consider supporting your favorite AAPI cause. Stop AAPI Hate is one group that raises awareness, offers tips for how you can help support the AAPI community, provides resources for reporting AAPI hate incidents, and more. Learn more about the group and make a donation.
Last modified on June 23, 2021
