Stuffed Veggies With Meat/Fish Paste

Sometimes when I harvested just a few strings of longbeans and a small bittergourd  from the garden, not enough to cook a dish on its own, I will just stuff them with meat paste. Braise the stuffed veggies with a savoury sauce of fermented bean paste and preserved plum and tada.... I have a delicious savoury dish for dinner. The most important element in this dish is the meat paste. A combination of minced meat with fish paste with added chopped onions and white pepper will make a delicious fillings for the homegrown veggies. All the work involved in preparing this dish is worth it when you whip up a dish that is almost as good as the Hakka Yong Taufu.

first give the long beans a quick blanch (just to lightly

soften it so that it will not break when

you coil it into a loop and tuck in the end

stuff the longbeans , bittergourd slices and red chillies

with the seasoned filling of meat/fish paste

once the veggies are stuffed, prepare the

non stick pan for pan frying the stuffed veggies

add a few tbsp of veg oil and pan fry the veggies till 

lightly brown and the meat fillings are cooked thru

prepare the fermented bean paste and plum sauce

for light braising of the cooked stuffed veggies

this is so worth the effort of preparing this dish

yumm!

Stuffed Veggies With Meat/Fish Paste

Ingredients:

8 strings of longbeans - blanch and coil into a small loop
1 bittergourd - cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
4 red chillies - slit and deseed

fillings -  use a pair of chopsticks and stir till paste is sticky
300gms minced meat
50gms fish paste
1 tbsp chopped spring onions
1/8 tsp of ground white pepper
pinch of sea salt
1/2 tsp of corn starch
1/2 tsp of sesame oil

a few tbsp of cooking oil for pan frying

Sauce:
1 tbsp of chopped garlic
1 tbsp of fermented bean paste ( tauchu)
1 piece of preserved plum - mashed
1/2 tsp of preserved black bean
1/2 tbsp of corn flour +  2 tbsp of water - thickening

Method:
Stuff all the veggies with the above meat filling paste. Add a few tbsp of cooking on a non stick pan and when oil is hot, gently place piece by piece of the stuffed veggies onto the pan and pan fried till the filling is golden brown . Dish up all the cooked stuffed veggies and keep aside

Using back the same pan, add in chopped garlic and saute till fragrant. Add in the fermented bean paste, mashed preserved plum, and preserved black bean and continue to stir fry till fragrant. Add in 1 cup water and thickening and add in the pan fried stuffed veggies and braise them in the sauce cover with lid till the sauce has thicken . Dish up and serve with rice.