The potential for high drama in the kitchen unfolded following an impromptu visit to the Avondale Market. I usually get overly excited by market offerings and go completely overboard but this time I decided to be disciplined and only buy a few veges for the family’s dinner.
Resolute, I strode past the exotic Asian vegetable offerings and averted my gaze from the plethora of weird and wonderful Thai desserts. No burdock root, fakthong buat or sticky rice surprise for me! No siree; carrots, cabbage and onions it would be.
Emboldened by my rare and welcome burst of willpower, I eased up a bit towards the end and allowed my gaze to linger on a stall selling tofu products and unfamiliar looking gelatinous stuff. The temptation to inspect more closely proved irresistible and, before I knew it, I was the proud owner of a lump of konjac jelly.
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| The jelly had a really weird, yet familiar odour. I finally figured out it smells like soft prezels that are dipped in lye solution before cooking. I know this because I've made some! |
Eager to know more, I later Googled only to discover that konjac’s very firm gelatinous properties make it easy to inadvertently inhale while eating it and many people had choked to death as a result. Making a mental note to chew lunch carefully, I searched for recipes and came across this gem:
Mustard fried konjac recipe
1, mustard fried konjac knife into small modification of konjaku bean curd, open burning point konjaku bean curd quick-boiled salt water into the water, you can effectively get rid of Beany, shredded and then cut the mustard, ginger slices, cut the garlic sprout, red pepper crusted tuna cut ring garlic sprout flowers, stewed konjac with above work can begin the preparations;
2, and first to pot burning hot, placed moderation source, oil warm Shi placed is garlic minced fragrant hot sauce down fried fragrant, then to mustard silk, and red pepper crusted tuna ring Cook fried a will, moved fried out mustard aroma Shi placed konjac tofu turned fried Shang one or two Bell, then plus little water, water without too more just didn't had konjac tofu can, adjustable into salt, and health pumping, and sugar, pepper powder, will good taste Hou with small fires received juice;
3, when you juice your concentration, increased firepower in two thin powder, BA on konjac, then sprinkle with garlic Miao Hua, plus fried chicken powder and sesame oil doubled several times, broken health of garlic sprout, you can pan a plate, put under coriander decoration.
Tempted though I was by the prospect of eating a lunch containing ‘health pumping’, ‘crusted tuna ring’ and juiced concentration, I was hungry so I decided to take a short cut and create my own recipe.
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| I started by frying cubed konjac with lots of garlic and ginger, and shredded Chinese cabbage. |
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| Adding chilli and diluted peanut butter made for an aesthetically disgusting but nevertheless tasty Sichuan style dish. Like tofu, konjac is bland and serves as a carrier of other flavours. |
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| Voila! As for the creation on the left; that's made from something else I bought at the market but wasn't going to tell you about. Click here for an earlier blog about that foodie discovery. |
A few days after surviving the konjac lunch I came down with the flu and was bedridden for several days.
Food barely featured in my thoughts during that time but, for some weird reason, late one feverish night visions of my konjac creation slid through my mind with nauseating persistence.
I can’t say I’ll be cooking any more in a hurry.
