Yong Tau Foo (Stuffed Vegetables with Fish Paste)

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cakes bean curd (taukua)
• 3 ladies' fingers or okra
• 1 bittergourd
• 4 large chillies
• 2 sheets bean curd skin
• 6 tbsp cooking oil

Photo of Bitter Gourd and Okra

STUFFING INGREDIENTS

• 2/3 1b/ 340g Spanish mackeral or herring
• 1 tbsp cornflour & 1/2 tsp salt & 4 tbsp water (stir well together)
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp sesame oil

HINT: You can purchase fish paste from your local Asian grocery store which works just as well. Look for them in the freezer section, or if you're lucky, in the fresh fish aisle.

STOCK INGREDIENTS

• 1pt/ 600ml chicken stock
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 - 2 stalks spring onions (chopped)
• 2oz/ 60g small onions (finely sliced and fried till golden brown)

CHILLIE SAUCE INGREDIENTS

• 6 cloves garlic & 6 red chilies (pounded together)
• 1 large tomato
• 1 tsp cornflour
• juice of 2 limes
• salt to taste
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup/ 60 to 120ml water

• Clean fish and slice it thinly. Remove all skin.
• Pound or blend fish, adding salt water slowly.
• Add sesame oil and pepper and pound or blend till mixture is fine.
• Add cornflour and mix into a paste.
• Slice bean curd through the centre. Stuff with fish paste.
• Slice ladies' fingers (okra) and chillies along the length. Remove seed and stuff paste into each.
• Cut bittergourd into thick slices along the length. Remove white core and stuff with paste.
• Slice bean curd skin neatly into half.
• Heat oil in pan.
• Fry each yong tau foo till brown on both sides. Remove.
• Put stock ingredients in a pan.
• Just before serving, put the yong tau foo to simmer for 5 minutes.
• Sprinkle in the spring onions and fried onions.
• Serve with chillie sauce.

• Boil tomato.
• Romove skin and mash.
• Put mashed tomato and other ingredients in a pan.
• Bring to a poil.
• Pout into small sauce bowls.