Yong Tau Foo is a dish where vegetables like bitter gourds, eggplants, and peppers are stuffed with meat or fish paste. Try out our Hakka-inspired Yong Tau Foo recipe! Making Yong Tau Foo is an activity family members can bond over. Enjoy each other’s company as everyone gathers around the dining table to prepare the vegetables and tofu and stuff them with juicy pork filling.
Meal: Lunch, Dinner Cuisine: Chinese
Preparation time: Cooking time: Total time: Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients
For the filling:
500g of ground pork
700g of fish paste
5g of pepper
4.5g of salt
60ml of water
15ml of sesame oil
11ml of fish sauce
36g of chicken bouillon powder
Ingredients to be stuffed:
1.5kg of tomatoes
500g of eggplant
500g of fried tofu
500g of bitter gourd
200g of chilli
Other ingredients:
Cooking oil
For the sauce:
500ml of water
36g of chicken bouillon powder
19g of sugar
53ml of light soy sauce
53ml of oyster sauce
20g of potato starch
15ml of water to mix with potato starch
Equipment
1 large bowl
1 small knife
1 teaspoon
1 colander
1 large frying pan or wok
1 pot
1 small bowl
Directions
Mix the ground pork, fish paste, pepper, salt, water, sesame oil, fish sauce, and chicken bouillon powder in a large bowl. Set aside.
Cut the tomatoes in half horizontally. Gently squeeze them to remove excess liquid and remove the seeds with a teaspoon. Place the tomato halves open side down in a colander – this helps reduce the moisture as the filling won’t stick if the tomatoes are too wet.
Take your eggplant and make an incision 1cm from the tip that goes halfway through the eggplant, then make another cut that slices it off. Repeat this for the remaining eggplants. Now, you’ll have pieces of eggplant with an opening to stuff the filling.
Take your fried tofu and make an incision in the centre. It should be around 3cm long and 1cm deep.
Slice the bitter gourd into 1.5cm thick slices and cut out the centre with a small knife.
Take your chillies, make an incision from the top to the bottom of the chilli, and remove the seeds with a teaspoon.
Use the back of a teaspoon to scoop and stuff the filling into the prepared vegetables and tofu. Be careful not to overstuff as it’ll be too heavy for the vegetables and tofu to hold onto.
Heat the cooking oil in a frying pan or wok over medium heat. The oil should be enough to cover the base of the pan.
Pan-fry the stuffed vegetables and tofu, put the filling side down to cook them until golden brown, and then flip. Pan-fry the ingredients in batches, and each batch should take 10 to 15 minutes.
Mix the water, chicken powder, sugar, light soy sauce, and oyster sauce in a pot. Simmer the sauce over medium heat.
Combine the potato starch with 15ml of water in a small bowl, then slowly pour the potato starch mixture into the sauce while stirring.
Serve the Yong Tau Foo with the sauce.
The Best Produce
You can use any vegetables when making Yong Tau Foo, but we recommend using seasonal produce. To make the tastiest Yong Tau Foo, you would want to use the freshest and best produce. Here’s how to you pick them:
Bitter gourd: Choose ones with longer grooves as they’re less bitter.
Chillies: Choose straight and thick chillies as they’re easier to stuff.
Tofu: Choose fried tofus as they’ll hold the stuffing better and keep its shape.
Missing some ingredients?
Gather the family and make this delicious Yong Tau Foo recipe together. Before everyone gets excited, make sure you have all the ingredients! Order your eggplants, mushrooms, ground pork, and fish paste on pandamart. Our drivers will deliver your neatly packed ingredients to your doorstep in under 20 minutes.
