Pork-stuffed steamed tofu is a traditional Hakka dish that has many variants. Hakka means "guest family" and the Hakka people migrated from northern to southern China. In the north, wheat is the staple grain, and steamed buns made from wheat flour are popular. In southern China, the wheat to make buns was not available, so tofu was used as a substitute to recreate the meat-filled steamed buns of northern China. This recipe is not complicated, if you can do it well, then it will be a delicious and beautiful dish, it looks like a snack, but it will actually appear as a dish on your lunch or dinner table.Some variations of this dish use salted fish or fish sauce, others use shrimp and pork. The Guangxi version is noted for use of Chinese chives. You can purchase fried tofu cubes, or you can make them yourself by cutting firm tofu into cubes, deep-frying the cubes in oil till golden on the outside, then submersing them in cool water for two hours, until the cubes puff up. To make this recipe, we first hollow out the soft inside of the fried tofu cubes. This soft tofu is minced and mixed in with the pork stuffing. After mixing the pork with other ingredients and seasonings, gently stuff the hollow tofu cubes with the meat filling, then steam them. After cooking, you will get a delicious tofu stuffed with savory minced pork.
Chop the pork and ginger and put them together. Remove the roots of the mushrooms and chop them. Peel and chop the carrot. Remove the top of the fried tofu and take out most of the white part in the middle. Chop the soft tofu and put it together with the carrots and mushrooms.
Add 2ml (>½ tsp) salt to the minced pork, stir until it becomes sticky, then add 10ml light soy sauce, 2ml (>½ tsp) dark soy sauce, 2ml (>½ tsp) white pepper powder, and 5ml (1 tsp) oyster sauce. Stir the ingredients in one direction, consistently, until well mixed.
150 g Pork, 2 ml Salt, 10 ml Light soy sauce, 2 ml Dark soy sauce, 5 ml Oyster sauce, 2 ml White pepper, 3 g Ginger
Add carrots, mushrooms, chopped tofu, and 5ml (1 tsp) sesame oil. Stir well, stirring in the same direction as the previous step, until well mixed.
40 g Carrot, 3 Shiitake Mushrooms, 5 ml Sesame oil
Use a spoon to fill the tofu with the meat filling.
90 g Fried tofu cubes
Add water to a steamer, bring the water to a boil and add the tofu. Cover the steamer with a lid. Steam over medium heat for 15 minutes.
Finally, take the tofu out of the steamer and sprinkle some chopped green onions on it. Transfer to a plate and serve.
Notes
The stirring in steps 3 and 4 should be done in one direction, which makes the meat filling become sticky faster.
1 teaspoon = 5 ml. 1/2 teaspoon = 2.5 ml. 2 ml is slightly less than 1/2 tsp, and 3 ml is a rounded 1/2 teaspoon.