Yong Tau Foo (Air Fryer) — Beautiful Voyager
Check out full recipe here.
Yong Tau Foo is a very common local street food in Southeast Asia. In Singapore, you can almost always find a stall selling yong tau foo in food courts and hawker centres, while in Malaysia, it’s hard to miss the famous Ampang Yong Tau Foo. Literally meant ‘Stuffed Tofu’, Yong Taw Fo or Yong Tau Fo is one of the popular Hakka Chinese cuisine made by stuffing minced and seasoned meat or fish in tofu (bean curd) and vegetables such as eggplants, okra (ladies’ fingers), mushrooms, bitter gourd, chilli, capsicums. Food vendors usually serve it in yellow bean soup or curry soup, or dry drizzled with shallot oil, chilli and/or sweet sauce.
The traditional Hakka Yong Tau Foo is typically made of tofu cubes stuffed with seasoned minced meat (either minced pork or minced lamb), then fried until golden brown, finished with a braised bean sauce. My maternal family is Hakka and we usually stuff inverted taupok skin with minced pork and fish paste, then steamed before serving. And since I’m not a big fan of steamed food, nor do I like deep frying, I decided to try it out with my Ninja Max XL Air Fryer and boy it’s really easy and quick to make delicious Yong Tau Foo.
I picked my favourite vegetables — ladies’ fingers, eggplants — and of course taupok (tofu puffs). Season minced pork and fish paste with soy sauce, sesame oil, white pepper, Shao Xing wine. I used 五花肉 / pork belly as recommended by my mummy, she said the texture of it will be better for making Yong Tau Foo. Stuffing the meat into the vegetables can be fun and using corn flour mixed with water really helps to ‘seal’ the meat within the vegetables and taupok.
If you are interested in more air fryer recipes, check these out: Air Fryer Ngoh Hiang, Air Fryer Carrot Fries, Air Fryer Lamb Chops and Potatoes.
Finally if you tried making this popular hakka dish using Air Fryer, please do share with me and my audiences by dropping a comment below. Ciao and enjoy cooking!
INGREDIENTS
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 1.5 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp Sarawak white pepper
- 1.5 tbsp Shao Xing wine
- Cooking oil
- 1 tbsp corn flour or tapioca flour
- 1 tbsp corn flour mixed with 1 tbsp water To be used as ‘glue’
- 450 g minced pork belly 五花肉
- 150 g fish paste
- 8–10 Ladies’ fingers
- 2–3 Eggplants
- 10–12 Taupok (tofu puffs)
INSTRUCTIONS
Mix fish paste, minced pork, soy sauce, sesame oil, white pepper, corn / tapioca flour
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Wash and slice eggplant into about 4mm thick slices, slit without cutting through the middle section
Wash and slit ladies’ fingers lengthwise without cutting through
Wash and cut taupok on one side to open the pocket
Mix 1 tbsp corn flour with 1 tbsp water
Stuff meat into the vegetable and taupok, then seal with corn flour and water mixture
Pre-heat air fryer at 180 degree celsius for 3 minutes
Place stuffed eggplant and ladies’ fingers in air fryer and take note not to overlap the vegetables
Lightly brush oil all over
Air fry at 180 degree Celsius for 8–10 min until nicely browned
Repeat step 8 for stuffed taupok, however air fry at 180 degree celsius for about 12 min
Originally published at https://www.beautifulvoyager.com on September 9, 2021.
