Niang Toupok and Chillies

When talking about niang toufu (stuffed bean curd), most of us know it is the signature dish of the Hakka people. When I was young, my mother used to prepare this dish during Chinese New Year and other Chinese festivals. She bought the fish from the market and scraped the meat to make into fish paste and used the fish bones for making stock. In modern society, fish paste can be bought easily from wet market from the fish ball stall. It really saves a lot of the trouble and work needed to make it ourselves.

Today, I didn't make niang toufu. I "niang"ed tau pok and chillies. My gravy for the chillies is unlike people who put black bean paste (taucheong). I only used light soy sauce, sugar and water. This is my mother's recipe and my family liked it very much.

Recipe

Ingredients:

~ 1) fish paste 400g

~2) Minced pork 200 g

`3) water chestnuts 6 ( coarsely chopped)

~4) red chillies 10 pcs

~5) green chillies 5 pcs

~6) small square taupok 20 pc

~7) spring onions ( finely cut)

~8) pepper, salt, sesame oil to taste

Gravy for the chillies:

3 tablespoon light soy sauce

1 1/2 - 2 tbsp. sugar

1/2 cup water

cornflour for thickening the sauce

Method:

1)THOROUGHLY COMBINE fish paste, minced meat, salt, spring onions, water chestnuts.

2) cut each red and green chillies length ways. Remove the seeds and thick membranes. Pad dry

with kitchen tissue pepper and spread little cornflour on the inner surface.

3) Cut each taupok into half. And turn inside out.

4) Fill the chillies, taupok with minced mixture.

5)Heat up wok, put enough oil , When the oil is hot , carefully place the taupok pieces, meat side down, deep fried until lightly golden brown, turn to the other side. When both sides are golden brown, transfer to a plate.

6) With the same wok, remove excess oil, just leave enough oil to pan fry the chilies, meat side down. When the meat colour change white , pour the light soy sauce , stir fry for few seconds until you smell aromatic. Pour in water and sugar, let simmer (low heat, do not cover with lid) until the chillies are cooked. Thicken the sauce with cornflour. Garnish and serve.

NOTE: fish paste from the market is quite salties. So do not add too much salt.