fried tau pok skin with minced meat, fish and prawns

I was inspired to cook this after seeing a photo of a similar dish made by my friend, Sharron. When I saw how she had cooked this, I sat in front of my pc, and wondered WHY I had never thought of turning a piece of tau pok skin (toufu puffs) inside out before stuffing it before?

I mean, it made so much sense on every level. By turning the tau pok inside out, the exterior of the tau pok would be so much more crispy after frying.

Needless to say, I was really keen to make this dish.

To make the stuffing, I first chopped some prawns. Because I wanted the prawns to retain a bit of texture, I didn't use a mincer. I simply roughly chopped the prawns with my chopper.

This was placed into a mixing bowl with minced pork (you can always use minced chicken) and fish paste. I didn't bother with mincing the fish. I bought a couple of tubs of this from my fishball-guy at the market.

Into this, I added the seasonings and corn flour, as well as chopped spring onion. Using my hand, I mixed everything together. It is also a good idea to add some chopped chili (I forgot to do so).

I cut the tau poks into halves, and very carefully, I enlarged the openings and turned them inside out.

Then I stuffed the tau poks with the minced meat mixture. Tale care not to over-stuff them.

It is a good idea to stuff the tau poks ahead of time, and return them to the fridge for at least 2 hours so they harden a little and would retain their shapes when frying.

You would also want to fry these on low to medium heat so that the meat is cooked through before the exterior turns too brown.

Once fried, the tau poks were placed onto a wire rack to drain.

Because they stay crispy for quite a while, this is a great dish to cook for a party!

They are really good with a nice sweet chili sauce!

Or a thick sweet soy sauce, if you don't like spicy.

It was a good thing I made a lot of these for dinner tonight.

:)

RECIPE
Fried Tau Pok with Minced Meat, Fish and Prawns (Makes 20)

Ingredients:
250g minced pork (or chicken)
150g prawns, chopped
150g fish paste
1 bunch spring onion, chopped
2 large chilies, seeds removed and finely chopped (optional)
2 teaspoons corn starch
1 teaspoons light soy
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 pack (10 pieces) large tau pok, halved

Method:
1. Cut the tau poks in half. Turn them inside out.
2. Mix together all ingredients (except tau poks).
3. Stuff the tau poks with the filling, taking care not to over-stuff).
4. Cover with cling film and return to fridge for a couple of hours.
5. Fry at low to medium heat until the exterior is golden brown and the meat is cooked through. Drain on kitchen towels.
6. Serve hot, with sweet chili sauce and/or sweet soy sauce.