煎酿青辣椒Jiān niàng qīng làjiāo Stuffed Green Chilli Peppers

煎酿青辣椒Jiān niàng qīng làjiāo

 Stuffed Green Chilli Peppers  

This is another dim sum dish you’ll see the dim sum ladies pushing around in their carts. Traditionally green bell peppers are stuffed with a type of fish that becomes extremely “gluey” when pureed; tofu works well as a substitute, pan fried to a thick golden crust on one side, with the chilli slightly blistered on the other side. In our house my mum preferred the adrenaline roulette element of the stuffed hot chilli pepper. Addictive eating. Complemented perfectly by a light soy dipping sauce.
Serves 2, or 4 as a side

180g green chillies – fat ones, good for stuffing. I used chillies that were 20cm x 5cm approx. in size, as that was what was available. Choose chillies of medium heat.

250g firm tofu

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

¼ tsp salt

3 tbsp + 1 tsp corn starch/potato starch

2 spring onions/scallions finely chopped

Slice the chilli in half lengthways, remove the seeds and the white pith inside the chillies as these are the hottest parts. Take care to remove the top core near the stem but try to keep the stem attached to the chilli for presentation.

In a large bowl mash the tofu using your hands, until no lumps remain. Add other ingredients and knead; as the starch is added the mixture should start sticking together and feel a bit firmer. Use your hands to fill and press the tofu mixture into the chillies. It should come slightly above the level of the chilli so that it can brown in the pan.

Heat a non-stick frying pan on a medium heat, add 1 tsp oil. Place chillies tofu side down in pan. Fry for about 5 – 7 minutes, until tofu is uniformly crisp and golden. You may need to press the chilli down in parts if the chilli is curved away from the pan. Flip one over and press with your spatula. If the mixture feels springy, then flip on to the chilli side, cook for a further 1 – 2 minutes on that side until chilli is slightly blistered but still a bright green colour in parts.

Tip: The attraction of the dish is the heat of the chillies, but the dish is pointless if the chillies are too hot for you to eat!! I’ve found generally the wider chillies are less hot but you may need to research this before diving in – buy a couple of different individual green chillies, deseed, de-membrane and panfry them, then dip in soy sauce and taste for heat factor.