Cantonese Silken Tofu with Century Egg

Ingredients

• 600 g silken tofu, very fresh, refrigerator-cold
• 2 century eggs (pi dan), rinsed, peeled, cut into wedges immediately before serving
• For the dressing
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp chili oil
• 1 tsp Chinkiang vinegar, optional
• To garnish
• 2 tbsp crispy shallots, added at the very last moment
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced
• 1 tbsp dried shrimp

Method

1. 1
   Remove the silken tofu from its packaging and lay it on a double layer of paper towel. Leave for 10 minutes to shed surface water, then transfer, cut-side down if necessary, to a cold serving plate. The paper towel beneath should show no further moisture before the tofu is moved.
2. 2
   Combine the light soy sauce, sesame oil, and chili oil in a small bowl. Add the Chinkiang vinegar if using. Stir once. The dressing should read as savoury and aromatic in the nose, with heat and fat in balance — neither the sesame nor the chili should dominate.
3. 3
   Peel and rinse the century eggs. Cut each into wedges immediately before plating — this is where the dish lives or dies: the cut face darkens and loses visual clarity within minutes, and the sharp contrast of translucent dark jelly against white tofu is as essential to the dish as its flavour. Arrange the wedges over the tofu without delay.
4. 4
   Spoon the dressing evenly over the tofu and egg. The quantity should be sufficient to pool lightly at the base of the plate without submerging the tofu; the dressing enhances, it does not overwhelm. Scatter the dried shrimp and spring onion across the surface.
5. 5
   Add the crispy shallots last, at the moment the plate goes to the table. They should be audibly crisp if pressed — any softness indicates they have been added too early and absorbed moisture from the tofu.