My sister-in-law, Sheila's, mom is another amazing Cantonese cook. I'm truly blessed by having all these great cooks as relatives! Aunty Kam and her husband also owned a Chinese restaurant in the Carolinas. She has taught me so many Chinese cooking hacks. I may actually need to visit her and document her recipes. These braised bean curd rolls (fu pei guen) are adapted from one of her recipes.
At the dim sum restaurants, braised bean curd rolls are usually steamed after a sauce has been poured over them. I've omitted that extra step of steaming, because these braised bean curd rolls taste just like the ones at dim sum without the steaming! These are also more flavorful, because the sauce has not been diluted during the steaming process.
Bean curd sheets are also known as tofu skin or yuba. It is made from soybeans and is the by-product of the tofu making process. It is a healthier option to the fried spring rolls because, just like tofu, it's high in calcium and protein.
Tips for making braised bean curd rolls.
Bean curd sheets.
Use "fresh" bean curd sheets that are usually frozen rather than the dried bean curd sheets. This is a game changer! Dried bean curd sheets are very brittle and hard to work with. Make sure you buy the frozen "fresh" bean curd sheets that are thin. Many of the packages have pictures that don't allow you to see the actual product. The bean curd sheets should be paper thin, somewhat translucent and bumpy rather than those that are thick as lasagna pasta.
Fresh frozen beancurd sheets
Filling.
I use the Wong Family's dumpling filling as the base. I then add fresh cilantro, canned bamboo strips and rehydrated shredded black fungus or woodear mushrooms. Use bamboo strips which are julienne cut bamboo shoots, and shredded dried black fungus to eliminate the need for extra cutting! However, the black fungus does need to rehydrate in a soy water solution to make it useable and for added flavor.
Adding the bamboo shoots and black fungus (woodear mushrooms) onto the filling while making the rolls, instead of adding them directly into the filling ensures that each bite will have some crunch.
Braised bean curd rolls. Each mouthful has a taste of bamboo shoots and black fungus for crunch.
Wrapping the bean curd rolls.
The frozen fresh bean curd rolls come in large circles about 24 " (61 cm) in diameter. The easiest way to cut these sheets is to cut the circle into 12 wedges. To make it easier to roll, dip each wedge briefly into a soy, water solution to make it softer and more pliable.
Shape of "fresh" bean curd sheet. About 4 sheets in a pack. Each sheet is about 24" (61cm) in diameter.
Rolled beancurd rolls prior to braising.
Braising the bean curd rolls.
Many recipes require frying the bean curd rolls first, creating a sauce that gets poured onto the bean curd rolls and then steaming the rolls. I find that a lot of oil is needed to fry the bean curd rolls to avoid them sticking to the pan. If you create a sauce first and place the rolls directly into the sauce to briefly cook, less oil is required, the bean curd rolls are more flavorful and you don't need to hassle with steaming the bean curd rolls. You save a step. it takes less time and it's more flavorful!
If you end up making these braised bean curd rolls, let me know what you think in the comment section!
BRAISED BEAN CURD ROLLS
Ingredients
- 1 pkg frozen fresh bean curd sheets
FILLING
- 8 g dried shitake mushrooms about 2 for 1x recipe
- ½ cup water
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 piece Chinese sausage.
- 3 inch stick of Chinese style bacon
- 1-2 scallions
- 75 g shallots about 3 for 1x recipe
- 16 g dried shrimp.
- 56 g diced salted turnip
- 125 g jicama
- 150 g Boneless Pork Butt / Shoulder Roast or coarse ground pork
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil. optional
- salt and pepper to taste
- light soy sauce to taste
ADD-INS
- 10 g shredded dried black fungus
- 10 g bamboo shoot strips
- 5 g Fresh Cilantro
BEAN CURD SOAKING SOLUTION
- 237 ml water
- 1 tsp DARK soy sauce
Instructions
FILLING
Rehydrate mushrooms
- Soak mushrooms and shredded black fungus in water and 1 tsp of soy sauce for at least an hour.
- Cut pork roast into ½" (1 cm) thickness
Pork meat
- Briefly cook in microwave (1 minute). Do not overcook. Partially cooking the meat will make chopping into fine pieces a lot easier.
- Chop pork into approx. 1/3" dices.
- Sprinkle with salt and pepper to marinate.
Other ingredients
- Chop Chinese sausage, Chinese bacon, Shitake mushrooms, shallots, dried shrimp, jicama into a 1/3"-1/2" (1 cm) small dice.
- Finely slice scallions.
- Rinse diced, salted radish with water through a strainer.
- Heat skillet over medium heat.
- Saute Chinese sausage and Chinese bacon, rendering as much fat as possible.
- Add partially cooked diced pork and stir to mix.
- Remove from pan with a slotted spoon.
- In the same skillet, add additional oil if there is not enough rendering to saute the shallots.
- Saute shallots until caramelized.
- Add diced shitake mushrooms. Stir.
- Add shrimp and diced radish. Stir.
- Add scallions. Stir
- Remove from heat and add to the cooked pork.
- Add raw chopped jicama and cilantro
- Season to taste with salt / soy sauce and pepper if necessary.
- Allow to cool before filling rolls.
MAKING THE ROLLS
- Cut each frozen fresh beancurd circle into 12 wedges or 5" x 7" (13 x 18 cm) rectangles.
- Briefly soak each beancurd wrapper in a soy, water solution before rolling. See video
- Add filling.
- Place bamboo strips and black fungus on top of filling.
- Roll the bean curd tightly to securely seal in the filling.
MAKE THE SAUCE & BRAISE
Video
Nutrition
SAUCE FOR BRAISED BEAN CURD ROLLS
Equipment
- skillet
Ingredients
- 237 ml chicken stock or water and chicken bouillon powder
- 1 tsp minced fresh garlic
- 1 Tbsp oyster sauce preferably premium
- 1 tsp DARK soy sauce
- 1 tsp Chinese rice wine
- ½ tsp sugar
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 1 Tbsp oil
Instructions
- Finely mince the fresh garlic
- Combine the chicken stock, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, wine, sugar and cornstach. Mix well.
- Heat oil in skillet.
- Fry the minced garlic.
- Stir the sauce mixture before adding it to the garlic.
- Stir mixture until thickened.
- Add the beancurd rolls. Braise the beancurd rolls in the sauce.
I haven't tried making this because I am vegan. Somewhere I remember have a similar roll to this, but vegan. Do you have suggestions for the filling for a vegan bean curd roll? Thanks.
You can use shredded tofu or just go vegetarian. Shredded tofu can be found in Asian grocery stores with the multitude of tofu varieties.
Interesting recipe, I'm not sure how you achieve 12 sections of bean curd from a single sheet but I will figure it out
The frozen bean curd rolls are about 24 inches in diameter. Cut it in quarters and then each quarter into thirds. Hope that helps and let me know if you try the recipe!