Peel Road Yong Tau Foo

Sis has been telling me about this really yummy Hakka Yong Tau Foo (YTF, for short) in Peel Road. After much persuasion, she agreed to take me there during one of my long lunch breaks. It's in a little wooden house/shop thing with fold-tables all around and umbrellas to protect you from the sun. Not exactly the Ritz but if the food is good, who bothers about being a little hot and sticky, right?!

Their choices of YTF are laid out in the centre of the shop and are constantly being added on, fresh from the frying wok, as they disappear too quickly!

The lady in the blue hat is draining freshly fried YTF, hot from the wok!

Left: Tofu, meatballs and fishballs and Right: Chillis, fried tofu, bitter gourd and ladies' fingers

Right: More tofu stuff and fu-chok (beancurd skin)

You make your choice of the spread of delicious YTF before you then fill out a little piece of paper provided and pass it on to the lady in charge.

All these for 3! :)

Then, you make your way to an empty table (if you're lucky) and wait for your number (ours was No. 47) to be called! According to Sis, they have "specials" everyday as well and they do a pretty mean asam fish. However, their main special of that day was curry chicken which we didn't feel like having. We did order another of their specials though - pork trotters in vinegar!

Trotters cooked in black vinegar with lots of ginger slices

I took a mouth and was immediately transported back to my childhood days when Grandma used to cook this. All the while I thought it was a Hokkien dish only to be told it's actually Hakka! But it was very home-cooked with a rich sour broth. My only complaint is that the meat was rather fatty but others said it was just fine!

Our first dish of ladies fingers, tofu, bitter gourd and brinjal. These were stuffed with fish paste then lightly fried. The fish paste was one of the best I'd eaten! I always thought Hakka YTF was fish paste mixed with meat but this was purely fish paste which was tasty and "fishy", ie it tasted like it had a good portion of fish in it instead of starch.

Some fishballs and meatballs (bigger ones). The meatballs were really good! One of the best I've tasted!

And our last platter of fried various stuff. Clockwise from right: A fried shui kao (wantan wrapper with minced meat which was very big and good), a fried fish cake and some foo chok (beancurd skin with a thin sliver of fish paste in between).

Overall, it was a very satisfying and filling lunch! :) And definitely one I'll return to again, if I can! Thanks to sis!