Yong Tau Foo, with Soup

A favourite of many many Asians - the Yong Tau Foo. Healthy too, I'd say. Made these over the weekend with mum. I enjoyed making this as it was fun! It's like playing masak masak (a kid's play of cooking) with the many shape and colour of the vegetables!

The main ingredient would be the fish paste, which I earlier blogged about. He he.. That was fun too, mincing away the fish to become a paste... with my cats waiting for some fish!

:: Vegetables I used and prepared for my delicious Yong Tau Foo ::
Green bittergourd
Green large chilis
Red large chilis
Large purple brinjal
Ladies finger/okra
Dried shiitake mushrooms - Soften in warm water for a few minutes
and close to vege:
Beancurd

The veges are then stuffed with fish paste (like in picture above). The idea is to slit the vege a little and stuff in the fish paste before you cook it. It is then lightly fried and put aside.

You can eat it in a few ways... steamed, fried or with soup. I prefer with soup. Some Yong Tau Foo stall sellers even have a Tom Yum based soup to spice it up. For my home treat, here is how we do it.

:: Soup Base ::

Water
Oyster Sauce
Light Soy Sauce
Garlic
Shallots
Chinese parsley

We cook a very simple soup - stir fry some crushed garlic and minced shallots. Add about 2 cups of water and bring to boil. Season with oyster sauce and light soy sauce. Taste it - it should not be too salty... and add chinese parsley.

After it is done, we put in the cooked yong tau foo and just let it simmer a little, and serve immediately. It taste great and what more, fun to eat with your family and friends - especially when they chew on the bittergourd
be sure to have your camera ready to candid their faces! Uuh so bitter! :-P
My favourite is the brinjal... then the chili, then ladies finger and mushroom. Yumz! I eat the bittergourd but not if it is TOO bitter.. I guess I have a low tolerence level for bitterness! - That now explains why I really really hate Mondays :-(

Ah yes, add some nori (dried seaweed) into the soup - this taste great as well for the Yong Tau Foo!