Cooking in Lockdown Series (1) Yong Tau Fu

Yong Tau Fu (known as 客家酿豆腐) is basically tofu and vegetables stuffed with ground meat or/and fish paste. A traditional Hakka Chinese dish served either dry with a side sauce or served a in a clear soup. Where I grew up in Malaysia, a variety of yong tau fu can be found, some stuffed with tofu, lady fingers (or okra), aubergine (or eggplant), bitter gourd.

How To Make the Filling?

As a student in studying in London, proper fish isn't easily accessible in supermarkets (you need mackerel fish for the fish paste, and it is more expensive to get hold of fish), hence, I will be using minced pork (all major supermarkets should have them, or alternatively, could pop in Chinatown grocery stores for fattier minced pork -- would highly recommend for the texture and taste!)

The meat paste is very simply made. You need minced pork, salt, white pepper, soy sauce, oyster sauce and cornstarch.

What Vegetables to Use?

I bought medium firm/firm tofu and lady fingers (or okra) from Chinatown and used them as vegetables which have a cavity to stuff the fillings. Feel free to experiment with other vegetables like aubergine, tofu puffs etc.

How to cook them?

I recommend pan-frying (without waiting too much oil with deep frying), which gives a nice charred color to the meat and vegetables.

Recipe

Filling Ingredients

• 300g minced pork (preferably with a higher fat %)

• A pinch of salt

• A dash of white pepper

• 1 teaspoon of soy sauce

• 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce

• 1 teaspoon of corn starch (dissolved in a tiny bowl of water)

Vegetables

• A block of medium firm/firm tofu

• 12-15 lady fingers (or okra)

Marinade

• 150ml of water

• 2 teaspoons of oyster sauce

• 1 teaspoon of soy sauce

• 1 teaspoon of cornstarch

Instructions

1. Prepare the filling. Mix the all filling ingredients in a bowl and stir well. Leave aside to marinade in the fridge while prepping the vegetables.

2. Prepare the vegetables.

   1. Remove the tofu from its packaging and drain all water. Pat dry with a kitchen towel. Cut the tofu into 12 equal pieces. Use a spoon/small knife to carefully scoop out the middle section of each tofu (take note not to scoop too much out, or the tofu will break! But also make sure you scoop enough to insert the fillings later on).

   2. Cut the top end of the lady fingers and discard. Slice each lady finger into half horizontally. Remove seeds with a spoon.

3. Stuff the filling. Use a small spoon to scoop and insert the filling into the tofu and lady fingers. Could overstuff the filling to give a nice firm look when it cooks.

4. Pan-fry the vegetables. Preheat a frying pan with oil. Pan-fry the tofu with the meat side down to give a nice golden brown colour. Turn over each side of the tofu to give a nice outer colouring. Pan-fry the lady fingers next with the same method.

5. Add marinade. Add the pre-made marinade and let it simmer on low heat for 10-12 minutes. Adjust seasonings according to taste. Make sure there is a nice amount of sauce left when you take the pan off the heat.

6. Serve. Serve the dish with a hot bowl of rice, pouring yourself a generous amount of sauce over it!

There you have it! A simple, comfort meal (with lots of sauce/gravy to tempt you into getting second/third servings of rice~) cooked in less than 40 minutes :)