Yes, I still have the 闲情 to go make yong tau foo from scratch! Yong tau foo is a big part of my diet because I love to deceive myself just how healthy it is! It is healthy if you choose the fresh ingredients like broccoli, xiao bai cai, seaweed, tomato, lady’s finger, and maybe add a dumpling or two, but it is NOT healthy if you order alllll the deep fried stuff and eat it with curry gravy!

But that’s just the way I like it! Apart from curry or laksa gravy, I also really like the gravy of Hakka Yong Tau Foo. I am hesitant to call this recipe ‘Hakka’ YTF because all the versions I’ve eaten before outside are stuffed with a mixture of minced meat and fish paste, but I only used fish paste and salted fish for mine. Can someone tell me more about authentic Hakka YTF? The gravy is quite close to what I’ve tried though. Shiok with ladled on top of all those (air) fried stuff!

The ‘tedious’ part is in making the fish paste mixture, but if you have a food processor, just chuck everything in and 80% of the job is done for you. Then it is just a matter of stuffing your vegetables or wrapping the bean curd skins. I airfried my ingredients (except the fish balls and fresh bean curd skins, which I boiled) after brushing with a thin layer of oil, but of course, you can also deep fry.

Let’s see if I have the time (or the energy) to make this again before Chua Bee Bee comes out! I want to make a version with fish, pork belly and salted fish!

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I’m going to Japan in a week! I made Jason promise he would only eat Yong Tau Foo (no carbs!) for lunch every day, so that he can eat his ramen, tempura, sushi and tonkatsu during the trip without worry.

His reply? Even if he doesn’t eat Yong Tau Foo every day, he will still eat during the trip without worry. How can?! His face looks like it’s going to explode. If it does then how? I gotta clean the floor! I cannot let that happen.

So we’ve come to a compromise. He will eat Yong Tau Foo or Fish Soup with half a bowl of rice every day. Once a week, he can have his Laksa Yong Tau Foo but cannot drink the gravy and if he opts for Laksa, he cannot eat rice. We’ll see how it goes.

For me, I HAVE TO LAY OFF THE SNACKING. I love Muruku, but I love tonkatsu more. That only means more low-carb options these days.

Today I have a recipe for Low Carb Pappardelle in Light Cream Sauce. How can pasta be low carb? Well it sure can, if we’re using tofu in place of pasta. These are actually Baiye Tofu, sold in folded sheets, hygienically-packed for sale in the chiller sections of major supermarkets. I found mine in Giant for about $2.55 a packet, good for three servings. These weren’t available before – I’ve only started noticing these a couple of months ago and thought they would make a great carbs substitution. Apparently, this is really popular with the Chinese from China (this is a factual description) and you can find these in Mala Xiang Guo too. This is what the packaging looks like:

I was quite apprehensive that the husband wouldn’t like it but he surprisingly was very receptive and said he would ‘order’ it again! Small win here. Slicing into broad strands, like Pappardelle:

The best thing about these is that you can slice them however way you want them – as angel hair spaghetti, No. 5 spaghetti, fettucine, tagliatelle or even use them as lasagne sheets. In the local context, that means you mian, mee pok, kway teow or mee hoon kueh – you get the drift.

Ok so, verdict. Texture wise, these tofu noodles are slightly chewy with a nice bite. They aren’t doughy or heavy, so don’t expect them to satiate your carb cravings. Taste wise, they don’t taste overwhelmingly of soy and don’t absorb the taste of other ingredients – quite a neutral tasting ingredient, which isn’t surprising at all. I actually think they will be best as fried noodles. For this recipe, I made them in pasta form with sliced Portobello, baby asparagus and ham in a light cream sauce. I also tried them in clear Chinese soups (like fish ball noodles soup) and liked them that way too. Quite positive I’m gonna cook Tofu Fried Noodles soon. Check back for the recipe! For now, I hope you like these in cream sauce. You can technically use any ingredients you want, but I find that this goes well with mushrooms and asparagus.

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Recently, I’ve been thinking of ways to cook tofu. I’m not exactly a fan of tofu in its purest form – soft and silky with not much of a texture at all. Don’t get me wrong. I do eat steamed tofu or tofu in soup, and absolutely enjoy my agedashi tofu, but if given a choice, I’d much rather eat stuff with contrasting textures than say, chawanmushi.

I’ve been wanting to make these for some time now. Tofu puffs stuffed with soft tofu. These are easy to make, fun to eat and taste fabulous. You’re getting interesting textures of both crispy and soft tofu all in one dish. The kids would like them! All you need? Tau pok, tofu, prawns, corn, and fish paste. You could even omit the half teaspoon of salt as the fish paste is already salted, but one of my aunts always complain food isn’t salty enough, so I didn’t want to take chances.

/Sidetrack. The aunts ended up drowning my precious tofu puffs in stupid chilli sauce. It’s really a pet peeve of mine.. whenever I cook ‘Western’ food – grilled fish, battered fish, roast chicken leg, pork chops, whatever – the first thing they do is reach for that bottle of Lingham or Maggi chilli sauce and then go on to slather the offensive thing on my yummy food! My delicious sauces, wonderful marinade, painstakingly thought out combinations of flavours…. all murdered by chilli sauce. And all you taste is the chilli sauce!! Super hate.

That said, these tofu puffs would go well with a *little* bit of sweet thai chilli sauce. That’s mayo in the pictures – I had two dips – but felt sweet chilli tasted better. These would be a great idea for a party. They make great finger food. Just be sure to *not* let the tofu mixture sit around before stuffing and frying. Tofu gives out lots of water. Best to mash, mix, stuff and fry without stopping in between. The first time I made this, I was cooking a few dishes at a time (as usual) and let the mixture sit for a tad too long. It became more watery than I would have liked. Not what you want.

This is the tau pok (tofu puffs) that I used – mini type:

Cut a slit across and invert, taking care not to tear them. I made these in the airfryer. There’s simply no other way for me, but you could also deep fry these yummy bites. Have fun this weekend and check out all my other airfryer recipes =)

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My favourite hotplate tofu is from a zi char stall at Blk 279 Bukit Batok East Ave 3. The signboard reads “Mei Chin Seafood” (maybe from eons ago) but the packaging and receipt all read “大食家”。The dish is just a little spicy, with onions, shallots, a bit of chilli bean paste, tofu, prawns, minced meat, vegetables and beaten egg served in a hot plate.

I was having such a craving on Tuesday that I just had to cook it.. and I did, with Prima Taste’s Sweet and Spicy Seafood Sauce, which is recommended for cooking hotplate tofu:

*For crispier tofu with more bite, you can coat it with a light dusting of corn flour and let it fry in the Happy Call before adding it back to the dish. I skipped that step. I also added more ingredients because this was a one-dish meal for us that night.

Ok technically for hotplate tofu, you’re supposed to dish up the ingredients in step 4 first and set it aside. Then in a clean pan, pour in the beaten egg and let it set just a bit. Return the sauce and arrange the ingredients back into the pan when the egg is still a bit a tad runny. This way, you will have an barely-set omelette at the bottom with ingredients and gravy on top. I chose to combine the egg into the gravy for an egg-y gravy over rice. It’s your choice!

Thank you Prima Taste, for sending me your Authentic Asia Cooking Sauces!

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“Tofu Canapé” is a name invented by Jason and I like it! I was going to name this erm “Steamed Tofu with Minced Pork and Shrimp” yeah so original I know. But of course, unlike a real canapé, you can’t hold this with your fingers although you can probably eat this in one bite (or two)!

I was thinking of what else to do with tofu. I’ve made claypot tofu (look out for my recipe!), Mapo Tofu, cooked them with tau cheo, used them in soups.. I love Agedashi Tofu but I don’t do deep fry. So I thought of 方太 (haha!) and remembered those tofu parcels with meat topping that I watched her make on television, and these Tofu Canapés were created! For those not in Singapore, 方太 is a popular cook in the 1980’s to early 1990’s who had her own cooking show. Every mother in Singapore knows 方太! (“这就是我为你们准备的鲜虾肉圆蒸豆腐，你也可以在家试一试。” Haha!)

For steaming, I used my Zojirushi rice cooker which came with the steaming pan:

Of course you can steam them in a wok or stacked steamer. The water chestnuts lend a nice sweet crunch to the minced pork. I get those pre-peeled ones from Sheng Siong at $2 a packet. Please use fresh ones if you can! Leftovers can be used to brew a waterchestnut drink or my Wintermelon Soup with Pork Balls. I hope you try making the Tofu Canapés.. I had fun cooking these little parcels!

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