Lucky Tofu Pouches

Today is an auspicious dish for festive gatherings: tofu pouches stuffed with preserved sour mustard greens and ground pork. The preservation process begins with sun dried sour mustard greens packed into jars and allowed to ferment once again, becoming savory "fu cai". Mix the fu cai with seasoned ground pork and gently tuck it into fried tofu puffs and slowly simmer over low heat in a light stock.

The drawstring bag appearance symbolizes gathering and keeping good fortune. Fu cai itself represents blessing and continuity in Hakka culture. This dish is part of my ongoing “Life of a Mustard Green” series. From xuelihong and Hakka sour mustard greens to fu cai and mei gan cai, the series records how mustard greens transform over time and become different beloved flavors in home-style cooking.

 

Watch step by step recipe video below:

Ingredients

• 400 g ground pork
• 50 g preserved mustard greens (soaked, drained weight)
• 70 g bamboo shoots
• 1 green onion
• 10 g ginger
• 30 g water
• ½  tsp salt
• ½  tsp sugar
• ½  tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp potato starch
• 1 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• Tofu Pouches
• 10 fried tofu puffs
• 5 stalks Chinese celery
  

Broth

• 500–600 ml chicken stock
• ¼  tsp salt
• ¼  tsp white pepper
• ½ tsp sesame oil
• chopped green onions, to taste

 

Homemade Hakka "Fu Cai"  (Watch more in video)

 

Preparation:

 

1. Dice the cleaned fu cai. Cook over low heat until dry. Set aside.
2. Dice the bamboo shoots. Set aside.
3. Slice the ginger into thin strips and cut the green onion into sections. Add 30 g water and squeeze to extract the ginger scallion water.
4. Place the ground pork in a bowl. Add salt, sugar, and white pepper first and mix well. Then add oyster sauce, ginger scallion water, bamboo shoots, fu cai, and potato starch. Finally add sesame oil and mix thoroughly until well combined.
5. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the Chinese celery with a little salt and cook until softened. Remove and let cool. Tear the celery into long strips and set aside.
6. Cut about 1 cm off one end of each fried tofu puff to form a pouch.
7. Stuff the pork mixture into each tofu pouch. Tie the opening with a strip of celery. Repeat to make 10 pouches.
8. Line the bottom of a braising pot with napa cabbage leaves. Arrange the tofu pouches on top, then add the chicken stock. Cover and simmer over low heat for 25 to 30 minutes.
9. Season with salt, white pepper, and sesame oil. Sprinkle with chopped green onions before serving.