Hakka Yong Tau Foo Master Class

The Making of Hakka Yong Tau Foo (YTF)

Delicious Home Made Hakka YTF

By MasterChef Aunty May Yee

The day has come where Lyn & I dutifully reported ourselves on the dot at Aunty May Yee's house, all geared up to absorb the teachings of a Masterchef. There will be no measurements and we will post to our best abilities based on our experiences and tips & hints dropped by the Master.

 Ingredients 

• Minced pork - 1 kilo
• Whole Tenggiri - about 1 kilo
• Fried Mui Heong Salted Fish - as much or as little as you wish (remove bones and crumble)
• Chinese Shitake Mushroom - as much or as little as you wish (soaked & diced finely)
• Water - about 2 cups
• Salt - about 6 tsp
• Sugar - about 3 tsp
• White Pepper - large dash
• Sesame Oil - about 3 tsp
• Shiao Hsing Rice wine - a dash
• Corn Flour - about 2 tbsp
• Dark Soy Sauce for colouring

 Method for the stuffing 

1. Only the species of Tenggiri without STRIPES but with 'Mui Fah' Spots makes best fish paste.
• Get fishmonger to fillet the fish
• Scrape the meat off the skin gently with a spoon. Its easily removed
• There is no need to chop the hell out of the meat, just squish it with hands will be good enough
• Add a couple tsp of salt and 1 cup of water and squish the fish meat to form into paste
2. Add minced meat to fish paste and continue squishing with hand.
• Add more water once paste feels slightly hard, you will need to add water bit by bit. You will need to add in close to about 2 cups of water
• Add the rest of the seasonings
• You will need to squish the paste till you feel the bounce. Take a small handful of paste and if you are able to see the bounce when you throw the handful of paste back to the rest, you are set! It is quite a workout as the paste will tend to go hard as you squish, keep adding water little by little until you reach a gluey consistency ('hei gau') 
• Taste and adjust seasonings
3. Leave to stand for a while while you prepare the ingredients to be stuffed.

 Ingredients for Superior Stock 

• Large Pork Bone
• Pork Ribs
• Tenggiri Bones, Skin & Head

Boil the above together to make a stock for later use. Season to taste.

 Ingredients to be stuffed 

We prepared several favourites of ours : Soft TF, TF Pok, Brinjals, Bittergourds, Chilies & Ladies Fingers. Some tips we got:

1. Cut TF lengthwise and make slits with a chopstick. Do not use knife as we need the rough edge at slits to hold the stuffings better
2. Pre - blanch the bittergourd disks in order for even cooking time
3. Slit Brinjals at the sides for easier stuffing 
4. Tear the TF Pok instead of cutting it as the rough edge hold the stuffings better.

 Method - cooking stuffed YTF 

1. Pan Fry all the stuffed items
2. Arrange them in a deep serving vessel
3. Add prepared superior stock 3/4 way full
4. Arrange some dried beancurd on top
5. Steam for about 5-8 minutes
6. Sprinkle lots of spring onions and coriander and steam for another 2 minutes
7. Serve!

 

Crumbled Mui Heong Salted Fish

Tenggiri without stripes

Scrapping the Tenggiri

Ready to be stuffed

Ready to be steamed after panfried

Finally got my fingers to set up Simple Pleasures

It is less than 24 hours to YTF (Yong Tau Foo) Masterclass with my Chi Mui, Lyn-ku's Mom. I am especially glad that Mrs Loh has agreed to show us her secrets to a good ole' home made meaty YTF. We hope to be able to master more of her receipes and in hope to pass them down to the next generation.

Tastes of our childhood seems to be deminishing at a rapid rate these days and it is horrifying to imagine that basic everyday food will come pre-packaged and massed produced in factories! 

Some people like Lyn and I refused to be fed with anything else but the real stuffs! (in 20 years time, if we are still with our molars!)

So, with this reason, this blog will serve as a personal diary of our discoveries in methods & techniques, of ingredients, on places and even stuffs or knick knacks that is of interest to us and maybe some of our readers.

Cheers!



Aunty May Yee, our Masterchef

Relaxing while we slave away....