There was a grocery crisis at the Burgerdogboy household last nite. Not a single burger, hot dog, or slice of pizza in the pantry, fridge, or freezer. Low on cash, so no delivery. Lazy, so no trip to the store. What to eat, what to eat?
Discovered a hunk of tofu in the fridge, WTF? What’ that doing there? Did someone buy it as a joke? Hmm.
I had a momentary taste and smell flash back to my days living in Yung Shue Wan in the South China Sea. At Mrs. Wong’s Sampan Restaurant, I would occasionally get some deep fried tofu with Lee Kum Kee Chili Garlic paste as an appetizer, working my way up to an entree of pepper salt shrimp (???) (recipe), or possibly whole garoupa, steamed with ginger and scallions.
Maybe I could replicate that dish at home? That’d be OK. I mean, it’s not a burger, but what the hell?
I went with a pan-fried version, using corn starch as a breading, in the traditional South Asian manner. Added some battered mushrooms to the meal plan, as well, and there not being an Chili Garlic sauce in the house, zipped over to Thai cuisine for making a peanut-chili-soy concoction as a dipping sauce.
All’s well that ends well. Of course I made too much. But it was a tasty dinner, even without ground beef in attendance!