Fu Pei Kuen

It's time for some Grandma's Stories, yes, story about my Grandmother, Ah Poh, my maternal. Her name is CHAN YUET SUN and if not deceased will be more than 100 years old. She is the daughter to CHAN SOW LIN, who must be someone prominent as there is a road in Kuala Lumpur, named after him. Her husband, YAP THAI KHIM is one of the sons of YAP KWAN SENG, and there is also a road in Kuala Lumpur named after his father. It is so sad to know that my mother is related to YAP KWAN SENG but has no relationship. I saw in the net about his family tree and i did not find my Ah Koong's name in it.

When Ah Poh was alive, we knew she had a brother but there were no family gatherings or such, so we never really knew his family.



Ah Poh stayed with us in Seremban while Ah Koong stayed with his other wife 'Mang Ngan Poh' named so cos she has very poor eyesight, in Kuala Lumpur.



Ah Poh had 5 daughters and my 'Yoke Yee' came with her when she got married. It was confusing when i was young, that i had 2 'Thai Yee Mah'. My mom, who is 82 years old, is the youngest of the girls. There is a 'Kow Foo' from Ah Koong's third wife who left him and of course 'Kow Foo' was not allowed to leave as he is the only son but his older sister left with his mom to the United States.



I had just wanted to say that 'Fu Pei Kuen' was one of my Ah Poh's favorite, she has good taste, but i got carried away with this lengthy story. Ah Poh would request my mom to make her 'Fu Pei Kuen' and the filling will be 'Beansprouts, shrimp and fried Tofu' but i have made mine using the dish Yee Mah Kar Luoi which is 'shredded zuchini, dried shrimp and mung bean noodles'. Ah Poh liked the 'kuen' lightly 'ngat' - heated on a lightly oil pan which made the skin soft like fresh foo chuk.



Ingredients:

1 lb beansprouts
a few sprigs of chinese chives or spring onions - washed and cut into 1 inch in length
1/2 lb peeled shrimp - deveined
1 small piece of firm tofu
1 clove of chopped garlic
1 tsp fish sauce
a dash of pepper
Oil about 1/4 cup



2 sheets tofu skin (fu pei) - available in the freezer of asian stores
1 tablespoon tapioca starch, mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water to make a paste for sealing the edges of the tofu skins

Method:


Marinate the shrimp with 1 tsp salt and 1 tbsp tapioca starch for at least 1/2 hr. Wash the shrimp to rid of salt and starch with running tap water. Drain and pat dry , then season with 1/4 tsp of salt, sugar and pepper.

Cut the firm tofu into 1/4 inch slices, then into 1 inch in length. Julienne into 1/4 inch shreds.

Heat 1/4 cup oil in a wok until moderately hot. Add in the shredded tofu and add in a little salt to the tofu. Fry until tofu is slightly brown. Turn off the heat. Remove and leave aside.

Remove all the oil and leave about 1 - 2 tbsp. Reheat the oil.

Stir fry the shrimp until cooked, then add in garlic and beansprouts. Fry until beansprouts are still crunchy, add in fish sauce, chives/spring onions.

Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool.

Meanwhile, spread out the tofu skins on a work surface. Cut each skin into 4 inch squares. Dampen the skins with a little water and cover with a damp cloth.

Spoon 1 portion of the vegetable mixture onto each tofu skin square, fold a corner over to firmly encase the filling and tuck the corner underneath. Fold in both ends of the wrapping skin, as if wrapping a parcel, and roll up to resemble a filled pancake. Spread a little of the tapioca paste on the edges and press firmly. Repeat with the remaining wrapper skins.

Heat a lightly oiled flat skillet (frying pan) until moderately hot. Reduce the heat a little and pan-fry each tofu roll on each side until the tofu skin is soft

Serve with chilly sauce.