Yong Tau Foo (Stuffed Vegetables with Fish Paste)

Ingredients:

3 cakes bean curd (taukua)
3 ladies’ fingers or okra
1 bittergourd
4 large chillies
2 sheets bean curd skin
6 tbsp. cooking oil

For Stuffing:
340 grams Spanish mackeral or herring
1 tbsp. cornflour & 1/2 tsp salt & 4 tbsp water (stir well together)
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. sesame oil

For Stock:
600 ml. chicken stock
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 - 2 stalks spring onions (chopped)
60 grams small onions (finely sliced and fried till golden brown)

For Chili Sauce:
6 cloves garlic  and 6 red chilies (pounded together)
1 large tomato
1 tsp. cornflour
juice of 2 limes
salt to taste
1/4 to 1/2 cup/ water

Procedure:

Clean fish and slice it thinly. Remove all skin. Pound or blend fish, adding salt water slowly. Add sesame oil and pepper and pound or blend till mixture is fine. Add cornflour and mix into a paste. Slice bean curd through the center. Stuff with fish paste. Slice ladies’ fingers (okra) and chillies along the length. Remove seed and stuff paste into each. Cut bittergourd into thick slices along the length. Remove white core and stuff with paste. Slice bean curd skin neatly into half. Heat oil in pan. Fry each yong tau foo till brown on both sides. Remove. Put stock ingredients in a pan. Just before serving, put the yong tau foo to simmer for 5 minutes. Sprinkle in the spring onions and fried onions. Serve with chillie sauce.

To prepare Chillie Sauce:

Boil tomato. Remove skin and mash. Put mashed tomato and other ingredients in a pan. Bring to a boil. Put into small sauce bowls.