Stuffed Hairy Gourd With Fish Paste And Fresh US Scallop

This is a very homecooked dish.  My mom used to stuff hairy gourd with minced meat and salted fish, braised with oyster sauce till the gourd is soft and tender. She cooked this dish often and my siblings and myself loved this dish very much. I still crave for my mom's cooking. She was one good cook and I regretted not having learned more from her when I was a teenager but as you know when I was a teenager I only know how to eat and sleep :p

My mom was called home eight years ago and gosh how I miss her....she was my best friend and she raised me up well. The only solution to the craving is to replicate her dish . Instead of stuffing with minced meat and salted fish...I used store bought fish paste and some fresh scallops. I steamed the stuffed gourd instead of braising . And gosh it was good too but can't beat mom's cooking.  I still need to improve my cooking skills.

I blanched the gourd for a min in hot boiling water

before filling with the desired meat filling

steamed until the filling is cooked thru and the gourd has 

become tender soft.   Cook a thickening sauce and pour over 

the steamed stuffed gourd

serve with hot piping hot rice

Stuffed Hairy Gourd With Fish Paste And Fresh US Scallop

1 med sized hairy gourd - pare off skin , slice diagonally into 1 3/4inch lengths, 

                                      remove center pulps with seeds, blanch with hot boiling water

                                      for a min, drain off water and keep aside

ingredients for filling

fish paste - store bought

fresh US scallops

Sauce

the excess water from the steaming + 1/3 cup water

1 tsp + of oyster sauce

1 tsp of chinese cooking wine

1 tsp of corn flour

a dash of ground white pepper

* optional -salt to taste

garnishing

spring onion and crispy fried garlic

Method:

1.  Pare off skin from hairy gourd, slice diagonally into 1 3/4inch lengths, remove center pulps with seeds, blanch with hot boiling water for a min, drain off water and keep aside.

2.  Stuff blanched gourd with fish paste into hollow part and place a fresh scallop on top, push the scallop inner so that it will not fall off the fish paste while steaming. Repeat until all the gourds are stuffed. Place on steaming plate and steam in hot boiling steamer for 15-18 mins or until filling is cooked through and the gourd is tender soft.  Pour excess water collected in steaming plate during the steaming process into a small cooking pot and add in oyster sauce and chinese cooking wine and corn flour, white pepper and cook under med heat to make a thickening sauce. Once the sauce thickens, pour over the steamed gourd and garnish with spring onion and crispy fried garlic.  Serve with hot piping rice.

Enjoy !