For this post, I am sharing my next food recipe, Hakka Yong Tau Foo or stuffed tofu, bean curd and okra with fish paste. By the way, you can also use brinjals, bittergourds, mushrooms and red chilis but I omit them because I'm not a fan of them and I'm cooking this dish for the whole family (means including our kiddos) so I have to omit spicy stuff for the moment until they mastered eating spicy stuff. Some yong tau foo recipes calls for fish and pork meat paste but I'm using ready-made fish paste for my recipe today.
I remember my late mum used to do this dish every now and then. She was of Hakka descendants and boy oh boy, I just love eating that dish and it was one of the dishes in my list that I want to replicate and I am very happy to be able to make this dish, though not the same taste but it was quite close. I still remember her buying the fishes (mackerel if not mistaken) from the morning wet market and made the fish paste from scratch.
Without further ado, here is the recipe for Hakka Yong Tau Foo:
Ingredients:
* Ready-made fish paste
* 3 okras (ladies fingers) - quantity up to you actually
* 8 fried tofu puffs - quantity up to you actually
* a sheet of dried Chinese bean curd sheet (rinsed to remove the salt)
* 3 bean curds (square white color) cut half diagonally - quantity up to you actually
* Garlic - 1-2 cloves chopped finely
* Oil - about 2 ~ 3 tbsp
Sauce:
* Water - 2 cups
* 1 tsp salt
* 1 tsp sugar
* 3-4 tbsp of taucheo (fermented yellow bean sauce)
Methods:
* Clean the okras and slit the middle, remove the seeds and pat dry for stuffing later. (You can do the same step if you use red chili)
* For the fried tofu puffs, rinse with water and poke an opening at the top surface with either your finger or knife for stuffing later.
* For the bean curd sheet, I soaked it in water for a few minutes to wash off the salty layer of the sheet.
* For the bean curd squares, slit gently in the middle for stuffing later.
* Stuff the fish paste into the okras, fried tofu puffs and bean curds.
* Put some fish paste into the bean curd sheet and wrapped it - thickness / layers depend on you.
* Place the stuffed ingredients onto a plate and steam for about 5 minutes.
* Fry the garlic next until you smell nice garlic-ky smell from the frying pan. Be careful not to overfry them as it will give bitter taste then.
* Pan fried the steamed yong tau foo for a few minutes.
* Add the ingredients for the sauce and stir in.
* Let the sauce simmer for about 15-20 minutes.
Outcome:
My hubby likes the dish very much and our 5 years old boy loves the bean curd ones while I preferred the ones in fried tofu puffs.
This recipe is for keeps!
To view my other recipes, feel free to hop over to my Recipe Library page for more info!
