Gannan Hakka Stuffed Tofu

Gannan Hakka Stuffed Tofu

　　Features

　　 Light taste, tender texture.

　　 Ingredients

　　 Tofu, minced pork, eggs, shiitake mushrooms, winter bamboo shoots, dried shrimp, scallions, ginger, salt, MSG, starch, soy sauce, cooking oil, broth, sesame oil.

　　 Preparation Method

　　 Cut tofu into 3×5cm strips, remove the middle part of the scallions above the tofu. Mix minced pork with seasonings, chopped ingredients, and starch to form a filling, then stuff it into the tofu. Smooth over with starch water. Pan-fry the side with filling until the skin sets. Add broth, MSG, and a little soy sauce for seasoning, braise slightly. Place in a bowl with the filling side down and steam for 10 minutes. Invert onto a plate, pour on glossy starch sauce, drizzle with sesame oil, and sprinkle with scallions.

　　 Cultural Background

　　 Stuffed tofu is a traditional Hakka delicacy, said to have a history of over a thousand years dating back to the Tang Dynasty. The Hakka ancestors originally lived in the Central Plains, where wheat was abundant and people often made dumplings with flour. After migrating to Jiangxi, Fujian, and Guangdong, where only rice was grown and flour was scarce, making tofu from soybeans became a skill mastered by many farming households. Thus, the Hakka ancestors thought: if minced pork wrapped in flour dough can make dumplings, wouldn’t it be even more delicious to wrap the meat filling inside tofu? And so, stuffed tofu came into being.

　　 According to an article written by a Gannan TV reporter who interviewed overseas Hakka people in Nanyang in 2004, “Stuffed tofu” is not only a delicious dish among Chinese Hakka people, but it has also been passed down in Hakka restaurants in Southeast Asia such as Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia, becoming an iconic dish. There are also specialty shops that solely serve stuffed tofu, where overseas Hakka people often gather. You’re sure to find stuffed tofu in any Hakka restaurant.

　　　A famous dish from Ganzhou, Jiangxi: Stuffed Tofu. Stuffed tofu is considered the top dish and the most iconic dish of the Hakka cuisine. Dr. Sun Yat-sen was of Hakka descent. In 1918, he praised this dish highly after having it at the home of a fellow Tongmenghui member in Songkou, Meixian, Guangdong.

　　 In many parts of southern Jiangxi, stuffed tofu is served as a special banquet dish and is also associated with the “Start of Summer” festival. In Xinfeng, when hosting guests, locals modestly describe their regional cuisine as “salty, spicy, numbing, and mixed.” This means the flavors are rich, bold, and oily. During the Start of Summer festival, Xinfeng people steam pork with rice flour, steam crystal tofu, and make stuffed tofu, in addition to making egg dumplings, boiling eggs, and stir-frying snails. They say, “Start of Summer, Start of Summer, eat snails at night,” reflecting the joy and abundance of farm life and the rustic countryside flavor.