Page 7 - BACGG CNY Flipbook V2 03032021

Jai always tastes better the day after,
so I just let the pot cool overnight with
the lid off in a cold room and put it into
the fridge. Anything you can’t eat or
give to friends and family, put in meal
sized tupperware and freeze.
Defrosted and microwaved jai tastes
pretty good.

Mom pre-cooked and/or pre-soaked all
the ingredients. So I individually stir
fried each ingredient, which was good as each has a different cooking time.
Wood ear was the longest to cook to make tender. In the stir fry process, I
added a little of the tofu stick soaking water to help steam cook and not burn
the ingredients.

After you blanch the fried tofu, and press it between paper towels to remove
the grease, I threw it into the soup broth to reabsorb the soup, so each bite of
tofu is a burst of flavor.

Since there was so much oil in some of the canned jai ingredients, I collected
all this seasoned oil into a bowl and used the oil to stir fry.

Make sure when to buy the small fried tofu fresh. I bought too much from my
first batch, and froze a bag. I tasted fine initially, but after a few days it started
to turn the jai sour.

I'm sure there is a better way to make jai, but this was my path to make 10
wonderful quarts of jai for friends and family.

Do you know what the best taste was? It is then a friend said, “the greatest
tribute to your mom and family tradition is to carry forward her recipes”. I hope
this recipe inspires the same feeling in you.

Ron Chan