BURMESE TOFU FRITTERS

• Tohu Kyaw • Peanut oil or other neutral-tasting oil, for greasing and frying

• 100 g chickpea flour • 1/4 tsp salt • 1/4 tsp MSG or 1/2 tbsp chicken or vegetable bouillon • 1/4 tsp ground turmeric • 1/4 tsp baking powder • Tamarind Dipping Sauce (recipe follows), to serve

Step 1

Grease a 15 x 20cm rectangular container with oil and set to one side.

Step 2

Place the flour, salt, MSG, turmeric and baking powder and 1 1/2 cups (350 ml) of water into a large bowl and whisk thoroughly. Cover and leave somewhere cool for 2 hours, whisking once every half an hour.

Step 3

Add 1 cup (250 ml) of just-boiled water and 2 tablespoons of oil to a large saucepan and set over a high heat. Bring to a vigorous boil, pour in the flour-turmeric mixture and begin stirring with a large wooden spoon. Reduce the heat to medium-high. Continue stirring for 3–5 minutes, or until the mixture is fragrant and bubbling — the consistency should become a thick, silky soup. This is now tohu nway, molten tofu (literally "tofu warm"), which should be used immediately as a topping for tohu nway noodles (see Cook’s Note).

Step 4

Continue stirring the tofu mixture for a further 3–5 minutes, or until craters form on the surface and it is the consistency of very thick custard. Pour into the greased container and leave at room temperature for 1 hour, or until set.

Step 5

Drain away any liquid that comes out and then wrap the tofu in kitchen paper and return to the container. At this point, you can cover the container with plastic wrap or a lid and refrigerate until needed. It will keep for 48 hours and can now also be used for Burmese tofu salad (recipe in the book).

Step 6

When you’re ready to fry the fritters, unwrap the tofu and slice it into roughly 3cmsided triangles of 1cm thickness, Try to avoid making any cracks of jagged edges as these will cause the fritters to collapse in the hot oil.

Step 7

Heat a 5cm depth of oil in a wok or large saucepan over high heat until you can feel waves of heat come off with the palm of your hand. Using a tablespoon, gently drop the triangles into the hot oil, until the surface of the wok is covered, but make sure the triangles do not touch. Let the fritters fry for 2-4 minutes, until you can see them crisp up and turn golden around the edges, and then flip them gently and fry for another 2-4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and place in a colander set over a dish or frying pan to drain. Continue with the remaining fritters, frying in batches to avoid crowding.

Step 8

Now fry the fritters again in larger batches; this time you can add more fritters to the wok as the initial frying means they will not stick together. Fry for 2-3 minutes, until they are crisp. Remove and drain the fritters on plenty of kitchen paper, and serve immediately with tamarind dipping sauce (recipe follows).

Serves: 4–6

Cook’s Note: This recipe is actually for a variant known as na-pyan-kyaw (‘twice fried’) from the town Tuanggyi in the Shan State. It makes for a much crisper fritter, yet still meltingly soft inside.

Standard tohu kyaw is made as follows: slice the tofu onto rectangles of 5cm x 3cm and 1cm thickness and then make two parallel slashes all the way through the centre of each rectangle. Fry as above (but only fry once) and serve immediately as a garnish for Shan Noodles (recipe in the book), or as a snack with the dipping sauce, before the fritters lose their crispness.

Tohu nway noodles are a variant on Shan Noodles — simply pour the molten tofu on top and garnish with pea shoots.