Mandy says: “This dish is known as yong tau fu. My mum used to make this often for our dinners, and you can make it as simple or elaborate as you like, in terms of how many ingredients you stuff and what you use to make the filling. The only prerequisite are the tofu puffs, being the namesake of the dish. I really recommend using long, thin Asian aubergine for this dish, as their skins are much thinner and the flesh sweeter than the Middle Eastern type.

You can use pork, prawns, firm white fish or a combination of these, minced in a food processor, for the filling. And if you cannot find Asian aubergine or tofu puffs, use a couple of red or yellow (bell) peppers instead. Simply cut in half, remove the seeds and slice each half into square-like quarters to be filled.

To make this dish vegan, rehydrated soy mince would work really well for the filling and simply substitute mushroom stir-fry sauce for oyster sauce.”

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 long, thin Asian aubergine
8 tofu puffs
6 red chillies
1 tbsp cornflour

For the filling:

1 spring onion, finely chopped
150g prawns, deshelled
150g minced pork
½ tsp ground white pepper
3 tsp cornflour
1 tsp sesame oil
½ tsp salt

For the seasonings:

2 tsp cornflour, mixed with 2 tsp water to form a slurry
1½ tbsp oyster sauce
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp white sugar
1½ tsp light soy sauce
1/8 tsp ground white pepper
1 tsp sesame oil
½ tsp Shaoxing rice wine or white rice vinegar

For the braising sauce:

80ml oil
2.5cm ginger, cut into fine matchsticks
2 spring onions, 1 cut into 5cm pieces, 1 finely sliced, to garnish
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
500ml water
1 red chilli, finely sliced
Finely sliced chillies in soy sauce, to serve (optional)

Vegetables and tofu

Slice the aubergine on the diagonal into 2.5cm pieces. Then lay each piece cut side down on the chopping board, and slice through the centre horizontally, stopping just after halfway, so that you are able to open it up like a small envelope. Salt the aubergines in a colander sitting in a sink and leave for at least 30 minutes.

Slice the tofu puffs almost in half, but not completely, so each opens up like a Pac-Man.

Deseed each chilli but leave their tops on for aesthetics. Do this by making a neat incision from top to bottom with a knife, removing the pith and the seeds with a teaspoon.

After the aubergines have rested for 30 minutes, squeeze them gently in the colander to drain.

Filling

Using a food processor, mince the spring onion, and then the prawns and pork mince. Add these to the other filling ingredients in a bowl and stir well to combine.

Working one by one, dab a bit of cornflour into the centre of each piece of sliced tofu puff and vegetable. Insert a tablespoon of the filling into each piece of tofu, aubergine and chilli. If your chillies are big, you will need to use two tablespoons’ worth of filling.

Seasonings and braising sauce

Mix together the seasonings in the order that they appear in the list.

Warm up the oil in a large frying pan or wok over a medium heat. The oil is hot enough when a quick, steady stream of bubbles rises around a single wooden chopstick when held upright in the oil.

Cook the stuffed aubergine first, in two batches, frying gently for two minutes on each side. Remove from the pan.

Add the 5cm pieces of spring onion to the pan and fry, stirring every now and then, for one minute. Add the ginger and stir-fry for 30 seconds, and then the garlic for 10 seconds.

Pour in the water and sauce seasonings, and bring the pan to a low simmer. Once the sauce has thickened, add the chillies and tofu puffs (filled-sides up) and simmer for three minutes until the filling is cooked. Add the fried aubergine, stirring gently to coat with the sauce.

Serve immediately, garnished with sliced spring onions and chilli. Serve with the chillies in soy sauce, if using.

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