I began to realise that many of our traditional home cooking often involves a certain degree of fermented condiments to spruce up the dish. And recently, I am starting to be quite “obsessed” with using fermented black beans in my cooking too ! LOL. Ever since my mum told me that adding a bit of these dry beans can make the dish feel more tasty, I have been trying it on several different dishes and indeed I do agree with her. I think mum and me do share similar taste buds in certain ways now because all the while, we have always been quite different when it comes to food.



- 1 pc egg tofu, sliced thickly
- 1 tbsp cooking oil + more for deep frying the tofu
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 tbsp minced ginger
- ¾ tsp dry fermented black beans
- 1 chili, diced
- 100g minced meat
- ½ tbsp oyster sauce
- ½ tbsp dark soya sauce
- 100ml stock
- 100ml water
- ½ tsp chicken powder
- some spring onion, diced (for garnishing)
- For Thickening:
- 1 tsp corn flour + 1 tbsp water
Heat up some cooking oil till very hot. Deep fried the egg tofu until golden brown. (Note: The egg tofu browns easily if the oil is hot enough. Keep a close lookout and drain immediately upon the tofu turning brown.) Dish and drain well on paper towels and place them on a serving plate after that.
Add in 1 tbsp of cooking oil to a wok and stir fried the minced garlic, ginger, chilli and fermented black beans until fragrant.
Add in the minced meat. Stir to mix well and cook till they are no longer pink.
Add in the stock, water, chicken powder, oyster sauce and dark soya sauce. Allow the mixture to simmer till it boils.
Add in the thickening mixture. Once it thickens, off the flame.
Pour the sauce over the egg tofu in Step 1. Garnish with some diced spring onion and serve hot immediately.