Beef con tokwa

Beef con Tokwa is not a saucy dish. In fact, it is almost dry. The one cup or so of sauce that is poured into it is just enough to coat the sliced beef and the tofu cubes. And there lies the secret.

Tokwa is the local name for tofu or soy bean curd. The firm variety is available at very cheap prices in all wet markets and they come in two sizes. I used three small firm tofu cakes and 400 grams of beef brisket to cook this dish.

Ingredients :

To prepare the beef :

400 g. slab of beef brisket
1 head of garlic
1 whole onion
4-5 peppercorns
1 bay leef
1 bunch of leeks
salt

To prepare the tofu :

3 small cakes of firm tofu
about a cup of cooking oil for deep-frying

To complete the dish :

1 carrot, sliced
1 tbsp. of finely minced garlic
2 onions, halved and sliced
3 tbsp. of oyster sauce
1/8 c. of light soy sauce
1/2 tsp. of ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. of sesame seed oil
1 heaping teaspoon of cornstarch
1/2 tsp. of brown sugar
1 c. of beef broth

Cooking procedure :

Wash the beef and place in a casserole. Cover with water. Add the head of garlic (pierced in several places with a sharp pointed knife), whole onion, peppercorns, bay leaf, leeks and salt. Set over high heat and bring to a boil, removing scum as it rises. Cover and simmer for two hours or pressure-cook for an hour. Remove the meat from the broth and cool completely. Strain the broth and reserve one cup for the sauce. Cool and refrigerate (or freeze) the rest for future use. Slice the meat thinly, about 1/8″ thick (refrigerating the beef prior to slicing helps).

Heat the cooking oil in a wok or skillet. Cut each cake of tofu into nine cubes. When the oil is smoking, fry the tofu cubes until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Pour off the cooking oil until only about a tablespoon remains.

Reheat the cooking oil. Over high heat, stir-fry the beef slices until the surface is shiny and the edges start to brown. Add the minced garlic and sliced onions. Cook for about 30 seconds. Add the carrot slices and continue stir-frying for another minute. Return the tofu cubes to the skillet or wok. Stir several times.

Mix together the beef broth, sugar, oyster sauce, soy sauce, pepper, cornstarch and sesame seed oil. Pour into the beef and tofu mixture, stirring. Cook until the sauce is thick and the mixture is almost dry.

Serve at once.