As my family is of Hakka descent, we love making typical Hakka dishes like Yong Tau Foo and Hakka Stuffed Oyster. I remember we have Yong Tau Foo almost every week! My father would buy huge tenggiri (mackerel) from Pudu market, and my mother will be scrapping the meat with a spoon and bouncing the fish paste on a huge wooden board.
I enjoy watching her sitting on the floor, using her hands to smack the fish paste again and again, and would eagerly try the first few fish paste to see whether it was tasty enough. If it wasn’t my mother would add more salt and sesame oil.
Most often than not, my mother would have extra fish paste in the fridge, and would make fish balls and other dishes with it. One of my top favourite dish that my mother makes is steamed egg tofu topped with homemade fish paste and tasty oyster sauce. Whenever she makes this, I will eat a lot more rice than usual. When I eat the last piece, I always feel that she makes too little of it.
Recently, as she was teaching me how to make this dish, I asked “Mummy, who taught you this dish? I’ve never seen it anywhere else” to which she replied “I don’t know. Maybe I invented it”. So this is probably truly my family recipe. (If you’ve seen this dish somewhere – let me know!). I am probably bias, but this is really super delicious! It’s such an easy and quick dish to make, not to mentioned low in calories and healthy. Do try it!
TOOLS
- Wok + Steam rack (to steam tofu and fish)
- Pan/pot + spatula (to make sauce)
RECIPE CARD
Steam Tofu with Fish Paste & Oyster Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 egg tofu, sliced into 10 pieces
- 80 g fish paste
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- SAUCE
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- ½ tsp Sugar
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp of water
- 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
Directions
- Step 1 PUT FISH PASTE ON TOFU: Place about 1/2 tbsp of fish paste patty onto sliced tofu.
- Step 2 STEAM: Steam for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, cook sauce.
- Step 3 MIX SAUCE: In a bowl, add sugar, cornstarch, oyster sauce, soy sauce and water. Mix well.
- Step 4 COOK SAUCE: Heat 1 tbsp of oil over medium-high fire. Fry garlic until fragrant. Add seasonings and cook until sauce thickens. Pour sauce over fish paste. Serve hot.
SHORT RECIPE
Chop 1 egg tofu into 10 slices. Top with fish paste (80 g). Steam 5 mins. Mix 1/2 tsp sugar + 1 tsp cornstarch + 1 tbso water + 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce + 1 tbsp soy sauce. Fry 3 cloves of minced garlic in 1 tbsp of oil. Add seasonings. Cook until sauce thicken. Pour sauce over fish paste.
COOKING TIPS
- Buy store-bought fish paste if you’re too busy to make your own. They are available at wet market.
- Add sesame oil and white pepper to store-bought fish paste. However, note that store-bought fish paste may not be as fresh, add 1 tsp of sesame oil and a few dashes of pepper to rid of the fishy odour.
Enjoy!
Pingback: Easy Malaysian Rasam (Indian Soup) – 10 Ingredients – New Malaysian Kitchen