The Food Canon

This is my third crustacean recipe.

You may recall my lament on how crustacean-like the aliens are in Hollywood movies. Prawns can look downright scary. My second post - fried Assam fully dressed ones - did not fare very well in the looks department either. 

I have to say though, that this particular one looks ravishing. Stripped off from their head gears and gowns, naked for a brief moment and then coated in a spicy red glistening sauce, they are dressed and ready for the dinner ball.

And best of all, if you are like my wife, you will love the fact that you don't need to do any peeling at the dinner table. As all good spouses do, I sometimes have to do that for her. With this, I can focus on my own prawns.

In this post, I will summarise the recipe for Hakka YTF in one table. I will not list out every piece here but will do so for those that use different techniques for preparation. Please read my previous posts on HYTF here.




Download the recipe in printable PDF format here 

I have lost count on how many times I have cooked my Mum's Char Siew since I first posted the recipe. (Check the series of posts on Char Siew here. Go here for a pictorial post of this recipe)

I have experimented with different method and ingredients.

I have had it pressure-cooked, "su-vied" and oven-ed.

I have added other ingredients, hoping to improve on the recipe.

I could not believe that it did not need garlic or ginger.
I have wondered what oyster sauce is doing in there.
I had doubts on the amount of oil she started with.

This is the last of the trilogy (ahem) on my Mum's Hakka Yong Tau Foo.

As you can read from earlier posts (here and here), this dish is actually very "individualistic" as each piece - may it be brinjal, okra or foo chook - though stuffed with the same paste, is cooked differently and carries it's own special flavours and texture. It is certainly not a melting pot.

This is what makes HYTF special. Adding pork and salted fish may make it Hakka but good YTF should not be a generic pool of something. Each piece should have its own flavour and unique preparation.

My butcher sold me a kilo of pork collar recently.

He took it quietly from beneath his counter, as if it was some kind of illegal contraband.

He insisted that it should be made into Char Siew and not cooked in any other way. "Char Siew only. Promise?" I was more than happy to comply, of course. He had no idea that I am the son of the famous Auntie Ruby. It looked great. "Can I have one more kilo?" "No," he replied. "Just try this out and if you like it, come back and I can give you more."

Malaysian brand from Sheng Shiong

In the introductory post on my Mum's Hakka Yong Tofu, I gave the recipe on making the stuffing or filling. Once you get that done, the rest should be easy. I also gave details on making stuffed brinjal. I continue here with the rest of the HYTF pieces. Most of these should come to you naturally as you get down to this. Don't expect to get it all perfect the first time round. As I have advised, start with 2 or 3 types first. But once you have eaten this, there is no turning back and it will be etched forever in your gastronomical memories: this is Hakka YTF.   

It was Levi Strauss who said that "the process of cooking is the process by which nature is turned into culture."

Nothing can be more true when it comes to Hakka Yong Tau Foo. In the hands of a Hakka cook, some common and ordinary ingredients are mixed, chopped, stuffed, steamed, boiled and fried. The end result is a classic masterpiece. 

When it comes to Yong Tau Foo, it is Hakka and the rest. The rest are relegated to the generic pool of YTFs, much like how Hainanese Chicken Rice leads the pack.

When you think of steaks, you will normally think of sirloin or rib-eye. Or the more expensive tenderloin.

The rest are "the rest." You throw them into a stew or rendang, often cut into smaller pieces.

They are normally cheaper because they are "not tender."

There is a pre-occupation with whether a steak is "tender" and if your knife can easily cut through it, then it must be good.

My experiments with Home Sous Vide (pronounced suːˈviːd/) continues. I am simply intrigued by this cooking method. I have already blogged my first experience with Roast Ribeye Beef.

So, what do I think about the Sous Vide Magic (SVM) gadget? Bang for the bucks, it is one of the best kitchen gadgets I have had in recent times. For USD160, it opens up a new method of cooking, extending the multitasking capacity in my kitchen. I would never have imagined that the rice cooker area can be used for anything other than cooking rice. And not to mention, it has been put to egg service regularly for my household and for parties.

Countless recipes to make it with but a few techniques to get it right

Fried rice paradise, Nasi goreng very nice
That’s a speciality, 99 varieties...

You may have heard of this famous song by Dick Lee. Dare to hum the tune and it will be stuck in your head for the next 24 hours. (Ok. too late...there you go.)

Indeed we do live in a fried rice paradise in Southeast Asia. Thai, Malay, Indonesian, Indian or Chinese, this dish has been "wokked" out in every variety. There are probably more than 99: there are countless varieties actually when you think of what households will do with their dinner leftovers.