YueFoo (Fish Omelettes)

That's what Wey called these little pieces of delicious egg-fish fritters. Fish omelettes. Yuefoo, as we call them in Chinese, are usually bought ready-made from the wet market and usually cooked in steamboats. Most people have never made it at home so I asked my friend Angie and she willingly shared this 'secret' recipe with us all.

I had intended to make yuefoo for my steamboat dinner 2 days ago but when I tasted them fresh off the wok, they were SOOOO TASTY there was no reason to dunk them in boiling soup. They had to be eaten hot, with fingertips dancing around the edges of these omelettes to prevent them (fingers) from getting burnt because the just-cooked omelettes are too hard to resist. The omelettes remind me of German pancakes, all soft and light but savory instead of sweet. This is a must-try recipe but do remember not to eat too much because they're deep-fried and full of eggs and oil!

Yuefoo

150g fish paste (the paste for making fishballs; use doefuyue for smoother & sweeter taste)
3 eggs (I've reduced this for a less eggy flavor)
50 ml ice water
1/2 t salt
1/2 t white pepper
2 heaped T cornflour

1. Place everything in a food processor or mixer and whiz/whip until thick. Mixture consistency will be like waffle batter, runny but thick. You can keep it in the fridge until ready to cook, or fry immediately.

2. Heat a lot of oil in a wok or pot and when a drop of batter dropped into the oil rises immediately to the top, the oil is ready. Using a tablespoon (or teaspoon to make smaller ones), drop the batter by the spoonfuls into the hot oil, using chopsticks or tongs to prevent the omelettes from sticking to each other. Do not fry too many at a time and do not let them go brown (they should look pale yellow). Turn over and drain on paper towels.

The yuefoo will shrink when it cools. If you are going to go against tradition and eat them as snacks like we did, then fry them a little longer until golden. Otherwise, they should be a pale yellow if you want to cook them in steamboats and stews.

I once saw Toto of TVB's food program visiting a yuefoo factory in China. The yuefoos were big round balls, very airy and light and it is a practice in that part of China to dip them in fine sugar. Would be odd for me to eat a savory food with sugar, but these guys were popping the fish puffs into their mouths one after another, making me wish I was there. I tried making a choux pastry mixed with fishpaste today and although the yuefoo were more puffs than omelettes, they tasted blah because there was too much flour (I used wheat flour) and too little fishpaste. So looks like I have to find a way to make the puffs airier. Bear with me.


Experiment that failed...too doughy and burnt.