Coconut-Stewed Beancurd and Vegetables

Vegetable stews enjoy an honourable place in the Chinese cuisine and are popular throughout Southeast Asia. Meat and poultry are often expensive, but the cheaper beancurd and vegetables provide a healthy and flavoursome substitute. They are the principal dishes today for most rural Indonesian families and, in Thailand, they are prominent among the non-curry meals available at food stalls. This unusual recipe is of Vietnamese origin. The beancurd is deep-fried and then braised with vegetable