Directions

To Make Tofu Fritters

1. Drain soaked mushrooms, reserve soaking liquid. Remove stems of soaked mushrooms, discard. Chop mushrooms very finely.
2. Place chopped mushrooms in frypan. Add soaking liquid (approx 200–250mL—leave behind the gritty bits at the bottom!) and light soy sauce. Boil on high heat, stirring regularly, until water evaporates, approx 5 minutes. Set aside.
3. Blitz crumbled tofu, egg whites, potato starch, salt, white pepper, sugar in food processor until quite smooth and thick. Check consistency, should be like hummus. Add a little more potato starch if too watery. Transfer to mixing bowl.
4. Stir in chopped carrot, daikon, nori, coriander, spring onions and cooked mushrooms.
5. Bring water for steaming to boil. Spray Chinese soup spoons lightly with oil, add dessertspoons of tofu mixture and mound to make a teardrop-shaped patty. Brush patties with a little oil. Place in steamer basket (I make 6 at a time). Cover and steam over medium-high heat for 10 minutes until glossy and firm. Remove cooked tofu patties from spoons, allow to cool. Repeat until tofu mix is used up. Re-oil spoons as needed.
6. Heat approx 2 cm frying oil in medium saucepan. Coat 4–5 tofu patties in rice flour/cornflour mix, dusting off excess. Fry until golden, approx 2–3 mins each side. Drain fritters on paper towels.

To Make Spicy Sichuan Sauce

1. Heat oil in frying pan or wok. Add Chilli Bean Sauce, stir until fragrant and oil turns red. Add garlic and ginger, stir 1 minute until fragrant.
2. Add water, soy sauce and tofu fritters, bring to boil. Simmer 5 minutes until sauce has thickened and reduced a little, stirring and coating fritters with sauce.
3. Stir in cornflour slurry bit by bit to make a gravy (you may not need all of the slurry). Stir in vinegar and spring onions, simmer 1 minute. Turn off heat, drizzle with sesame oil.

To Make Chilli Cucumber Salad

1. Lay cucumber between two wooden chopsticks. Starting about 2cm from round end (the head), cut straight across and down to the chopsticks (not all the way through the cucumber). Cut at ½ cm intervals, stopping about 5 cm before the tapered end (the tail). Turn cucumber over, realign the chopsticks, cut diagonally across ½ cm intervals down to the chopsticks, again not all the way through the cucumber, starting about 2cm from round end (the head) and ending at the tapered end (the tail). Your snake should now move like a slinky!
2. Sprinkle spiralised cucumber with salt, leave 10 minutes. Meanwhile, combine remaining sauce ingredients. Drain any water from cucumber, decorate with tongue and eyes. Serve with sauce for dipping/drizzling.
3. Serve with extra chopped spring onions and a choice of blanched vegetables (eg baby bok choy, carrots, red capsicum). Steamed rice is also a good accompaniment.