Yong Tau Fu 釀豆腐 Stuffed Bean Curd And Vegetables - "Malaysian Monday 29"

This is a Hakka (客家) classic with a 500 year old history; made popular in Malaysia by Hakka migrants and can now be found in every corner of our beautiful country. Yong Tau Fu (or niang tiaw fu in the Hakka dialet) meaning stuffed bean curd is often served alongside a selection of stuffed vegetables as well. The most commonly used vegetables are red and green chillies, eggplants, okras, bitter melon and Chinese mushrooms. They are many variations for the stuffing, sometimes salted fish, dried shrimps or dried cuttle fish is also added. I am using shop bought fish paste available from most Asian butchers, it can also be found at the frozen department of any good Asian grocer. Serve this as part of a Chinese meal or use them as toppings for noodles. Also do try it with some of the other vegetables mentioned above.

P.S A big thank you to my friend Shaz from Test With A Skewer for suggesting this very delicious dish when I was struggling to come up with something exciting for this week's Malaysian Monday. 

serves 4 as part of a Chinese meal (makes roughly 20 pieces)
I am using;
4 oriental eggplants, halved diagonally
3 banana chillies, made a slit lengthwise and seeds removed
1 tub of firm tofu, cut into 9 pieces
oil for frying
corn flour solution for thickening
2 spring onions, chopped

for the stuffing;
500 g of fish paste*
500 g of pork mince (use veal mince for a halal version)
dash of light soy
dash of sesame oil
salt and white pepper to taste
* shop bought fish paste is already seasoned so go easy on the final seasoning.

for the sauce;
3 garlic cloves, chopped
5 cm knob of ginger, chopped
4 tbs of fermented soy bean paste
3 tbs of oyster sauce
2 tbs of sugar
1 tsp of sesame oil
dash of Chinese cooking wine
white pepper to taste
1.5 l of stock

For the stuffing - place fish paste and pork mince in a large bowl and mix well. Add seasonings and set aside.

To prepare the bean curd for stuffing - make a small cavity using a teaspoon, repeat the rest.

To prepare the eggplants for stuffing - make a cut lengthwise with one end still attached.

To prepare the chillies for stuffing - make a slit lengthwise and remove all membranes and seeds.

Stuff bean curd and vegetables using a butter knife.

Deep fry stuffed bean curd and vegetables in batches until golden and drain well. These can be use as toppings for noodles at this stage.

Saute garlic and ginger with a little oil for 30 seconds before adding the fermented bean paste. Continue to saute for a minute then add in the rest of the ingredients. Simmer for 2 minutes and check for seasonings. 

Arrange stuffed bean curd and vegetable neatly in the pan and simmer for 15 minutes with the lid on. Thicken the sauce a little with corn flour solution just before serving.

Serve with plenty of steamed rice and chili sauce on the side.

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