PETALING JAYA, Oct 3 — It's not easy to get good Hakka yong tau foo.
Most times, it's just stuffed with fish paste. However, true blue Hakka versions should include minced pork and salted fish. Sadly, those two ingredients have been omitted with the rising costs.
Hence, my eyes lit up when a fellow foodie recommended this stall at Paramount Gardens. He uttered the magic words: pork and salted fish!
That was worth a drive through evening traffic. Unfortunately I found out after my long journey that they close for business on Thursday.
I even stumbled upon other people looking for the stall. It seems many regulars have been promoting this place via word of mouth.
My next visit was more fruitful and I finally got my yong tau foo. Select from varieties like white tofu, bitter gourd, brinjal, red chillies, ladies' fingers and yau char kwai. The yuba or beancurd skin is available in two forms: sliced or rolled.
For the tofu puffs, they are stuffed and served deep fried or with soup. There are also dumplings, a choice of deep fried or served with soup. You can also order fish balls and meatballs. Each piece is selling at RM2.
Patience is required when dining here, as everything is prepared once you order. This ensures that your yong tau foo is fresh especially for the deep fried items.
My order came in two parts. Some items were deep fried while other items like the stuffed tofu puff and white tofu were served with a clear soup.
The deep fried items like the tofu puffs and yuba rolls were golden, crispy bites. I also enjoyed the brinjals as these were cooked till the flesh was silky soft.
The bitter gourd was cooked through too, which I appreciated as I've eaten some at stalls where they serve them hard and crunchy. These were slowly relished as you get a distinct flavour of the salted fish. It's not a strong presence but the small addition enhances the stuffed items so that you want more of the yong tau foo.
Their white tofu is quite unusual as it's served unstuffed. Instead, you get a piece of the stuffing shaped in a patty, which is deep fried.
For bigger groups, you can order the curry fish head that is served in a claypot. They also have a seafood version. I spied one table eating this and it looked good.
There's also a small selection of dishes like stir fried kampung chicken, petai with minced pork and stir fried cabbage with dried prawns. Apparently the petai dish is a crowd favourite too.
But one needs to wait for these dishes too as it's all cooked upon order.
The drawback about this place is seating is limited. You have a few tables in front of shop lots that are covered while some of the tables are on the roadside, which means no shelter if it rains.
Most customers prefer to take away the food to eat at home instead. Right next to this stall is Sweet Home Dessert that serves tong sui like bubur cha cha and red bean. Just ask for it to be packed home and you can have a satisfying meal of yong tau foo and tong sui for dinner.
Apparently from what I heard, this stall that opened in June this year is related to 126 Hakka Yong Tau Fu at Kepong's Taman Intan Baiduri.
126 Hakka Yong Tau Fu & Famous Curry Fish Head, Store 13, Jalan 20/16, Paramount Garden, Petaling Jaya. Open: 5pm to 9.30pm. Closed on Thursday. Tel: +6012-2995151.
