Recipe Notes:

• You could substitute fish stock with chicken stock or plain water.

• To season the fish stock, you could substitute fish sauce with light soya sauce or salt.

• You could substitute snapper fish fillet with any firm flesh fish that you prefer.

• Seafood and vegetables in a claypot with a thicker stock will cook slightly slower than cooking the same using plain water.

INGREDIENTS FOR CLAYPOT TOFU WITH SEAFOOD

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(Serves 4-8 peoples)

✅️ 5 Blocks White Tofu

✅️ ±180g Snapper Fillet

✅️ 5 Scallops, large

✅️ 4 Prawns, large

✅️ 1 Squid, large

✅️ 20 Pcs Snap Peas

✅️ 1 Carrot, medium

✅️ 3 Fresh Shiitake Mushrooms

✅️ 4 Baby Corns

✅️ 1½ Cup Fish Stock

✅️ 2 Tbsp Fish Sauce

✅️ 2 Tbsp Corn Starch (mix with 2 Tbsp plain water)

✅️ 1 Cup Cooking Oil

METHOD OF PREPARATION:

1. Chop garlic and ginger into a fine mince and set them aside.

Slice each tofu block into half from its side and set them aside.

Make a small cut at the stem ends of the snap peas and pull downwards to remove the string. Repeat the process using the other end of the pea stem if the string breaks halfway. Cut the mushrooms into 4 slices. Cut the baby corn in half horizontally then further slice them into halves vertically. Cut each halves of the carrot into 8 even sticks. Further cut the carrot sticks into half horizontally. Set the prepared vegetables aside.

Cut the fish fillet into half lengthwise and further slice the halves to about 3.5cm wide. Leave the scallops as whole. Remove the prawns head and shell leaving their tails intact. Slice open the bottom part of the prawn and remove their intestinal tract. Gently pull out the squid’s head that link to its intestines and ink sack. Remove the intestines and ink sack attached to the head and cut the head into half horizontally. Peel and discard the thin dark spotty skin from the squid’s body. Pull out and discard the clear bone from the inner part of the body. Slice their wings to separate from the body. Insert the knife into the squid's body and slice it open lengthwise. Make a shallow diagonal cut in a crisscross pattern on the inner side surface of the body. Scoring the squid this way will give a beautiful ‘pineapple’ cut pattern when they are cooked. Cut the scored squid into half vertically. Further slice each halve crosswise into 3 sections. Set the prepared seafood aside.

2. Heat up the cooking oil over MEDIUM heat until they are very hot. Deep fry the tofu slices in small batches at any one time until they are golden in color. Remove the fried tofu slices with a slotted spatula. Once all tofu is fried, switch the heat OFF and remove the oil with a ladle leaving about 3Tbsp of cooking oil in the pot. Add the minced garlic and ginger to the pot. Stir until they are golden in color over MEDIUM heat. Add fish stock, cooking wine and fish sauce to the pot. Stir them to mix well and bring to a boil over HIGH heat. Once boiling reduce heat to LOW and let it simmer for about 5 mins.

3. Add corn starch mixed with plain water to the pot. Stir the fish stock until it reaches a thick consistency. Add sesame oil to the pot and stir to mix well. Leave the fish stock in the pot aside to cool completely.

4. Arrange the fried tofu and the prepared seafood and vegetables neatly in a claypot.

5. Fish stock will turn gel-like when it is completely cooled. Stir with a with a spoon to make it runny again. Spread the rich fish stock evenly over the tofu, seafood and vegetables and leave them to stand for about 5 mins. The 5 mins standing time will allow the fish stock to flow downwards and fill the base of the claypot to avoid the bottom from burning during cooking. Cover the claypot with its lid and bring it to a boil over MEDIUM heat for about 5 mins.

6. After 5 mins switch the heat OFF and carefully remove the hot claypot's lid. The heat from the hot claypot will continue cooking the food without any further heating. Enjoy the delicious claypot tofu with seafood over a warm bed of rice.

RECIPE PHOTO GALLERY