Awhile ago I wrote a post on Yong Liew. In this dish, you stuff fish paste into different vessels. Then you fry them or cook them in your chosen broth. Please refer to this recipe here

Today I have an update. I tried this combo a few times. I found I really like it. Good fish paste is very hard to get in the UK. More often than not, I am most disappointed. Can’t even get the fish I want most times when I feel like making. So I decided to combine chicken and prawns and I found it very palatable. So this is a new take on Yong Liew I am not posting again my recipe again. Please use the link above as guide. Instead this update will be all pics with guidelines.

This paste is 500g chicken meat, 500g prawns, 1 tsp shallots oil, 2 heap tsp cornflour, salt + pepper to season and half cup water.

As I am frying the stuffed vegetables, I decided to fry some prawn crackers first. This not only flavoured the oil but less wastage because I will bin the oil after.

TIPs 1 – Put in more oil in the beginning when frying the prawns crackers. Then remove as I go on.

TIP 2 – First fry the inside out stuffed toufo-pop. They need more oil to crisp all round evenly.

TIP 3 – Then comes the stuffed aubergines as they also needs more oil to fry. If you have stuffed the paste well, the stuffing will remain intact. Your pot must be just right for the pieces to sit up close and personal. This ensures the stuffing does not break loose or fall out.

TIP 4 – When frying the toufo, it is a MUST to handle gently and this soft toufo breaks easily. Remove some oil before placing the toufo in stuffing side down. Leave them to fry for a good 2 minutes before flipping gently or you will mess them up, aka breaking.

TIP 5 – Remove even more oil before frying mushrooms and chilies. When you tidy your chilies to stuff, you must consider which side to place them. This way, they can be placed stuffing side down in the oil. You literally only need to fry the paste side. Remember you do not need to fry the vegetables. This means your paste stuffing will NOT fall out of your chilies.

TIP 6 – You can stuff bak choy and anything you wish. Just needs to gently press the paste into the nooks and corners. Again you make sure oil is only like 1cm deep. Just fry the paste side for 2 minutes. Then flip and remove. The residue oil will wilt the leaves.

TIP 7 – You can freeze toufo-pop because they freeze well for months. You can also freeze ‘hard/tough’ vegetables like bitter gourds. But soft vegetables like aubergines, bak choy, long beans, do not freeze well. They become horribly soft and mushy when defrosted. Well, you can if you like baby food.

Side Note – After you stuffed your vegetables they are all in room temperature. When hot oil hits them, they cook in minutes. Please do not fry too long. This is especially important for the toufo-pop if you want to freeze them and air fry another day. Today I braised some with ginger and yellow beans because hubby is nursing a bad tooth abscess. Hence all the soft toufo goes to him but he loves the stuffed chilies too.

The post Yong Liew – Yong Tou Fo (Update) appeared first on Just Julie.

I have been hankering for something Asam quite awhile now. I know today is going to be HOT and it might end up being the hottest day of the year 2024 in UK but I have bought these skate wings on Saturday and they must be eaten by today. I do not want to freeze them. The chap selling did tell me I could freeze them but I prefer them inside my tummy.

So it’s kinda a, if needs must cook/eat time. I woke up early to water my plants and then started in the kitchen. I wanted to finish cooking before the midday sun. Today I have decided to part with half of my precious frozen torch ginger. No point in saving it for a rainy day. Just eat. kekekekeke

I did not have any fresh tomatoes as the ones left in my little kitchen garden are still green So for the different level of sourness, I decided it’s time to rinse out that bottle of tomato sauce that I have been saving too. I am happy to report that it works!

During the summer in UK when the weather is like now I am usually blessed with an abundance of laksa leaves or Vietnamese mint. I know people freezes them and I do too but when there is a plenty I like to use them fresh. Today I cooked with my own laksa leaves and chillies. Them chillies has a bit of a kick.

I repeat again, my recipe is a guide so please make it your own. I made extras kuah today because hubby said he wants some tomorrow. So tomorrow I will add in a tin of sardines and maybe more red onions and he would be a very happy man. Weird kwai loh that he is!

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Ingredients

My Asam Paste

• Ginger
• Galangal
• Onions (shallots)
• Garlic
• Dry chilli + fresh chillies + Kashmiri chilli powder
• Lemon grass
• Torch ginger flower

Seasonings

• Asam Jawa – tamarind juice
• Salt & Pepper
• Sugar
• Asam keping
• Tamarind juice

Extras

• Laksa leaves
• Red chilli slices
• Okras aka ladies' fingers or Aubergines
• Fresh tomatoes
• Tapioca flour
• Turmeric flour

The post Asam Stingray, Ray Wings (ikan pari) appeared first on Just Julie.

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Yong Liew (Yong Tau Foo)

Ingredients

• 500 g Mackerels or white fish or the frozen one in my pic
• Freshly ground white pepper
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tbsp Cornstarch
• 1 bowl Cold water

Notes

TIP – Use a clean chopping board
TIP – If you are using a chopping board make sure to line your floor with paper and board on top as the fish paste will fly everywhere.
TIP – You can use a food processor but make sure not to overflow it as they get stuck in the middle inside the blade.
TIP – Use enough water to reach the consistency and softness you want. Fresh fish may needs more water.
TIP – Use cold salt water to wet your hands when you are throwing the paste.

The Paste Mix. You can just use the fish paste on it’s own by adding, salt, white pepper, cornstarch and cold tap water. As far as I could remember this was how my grandmother used to do hers. 

I have make fish paste mix with salted fish, fish paste with dried shrimps and chicken with prawns. I love all of them. Remember if you use salted fish and dried shrimps it is better to fry them first for that amazing umami taste. Wash and soak dried shrimps and pound them slightly before frying.

Please remember you can add in sesame oil, chicken powder and soy sauce even. Adding mince pork makes for firmer paste. Use the mixture of fish and prawns for bean-curd wraps and bak choy. They are better with softer paste. 

The vegetables you can use to stuff with your paste. You can use not only the usual toufo fresh or fried, bean-curd skin, chillies, long beans, bitter-gourds, mushrooms, Chinese fried dough you tiaw, aubergines, flipped inside out toufo pop, baby pak choy …….let your imagination run wild.  

Misc pics. 

The final presentations.

Enjoy trying.

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