Ngoh Hiang
This classic Peranakan dish is made with pork, crab, prawns and five spice. It’s a sausage, of sorts, that’s rolled in bean curd, steamed then fried. Serve it with kecap manis or a chilli sauce.
Servings
4servings
Servings
4servings
Ingredients
Sauce
Instructions
  1. Place the pork, prawns, crab meat, water chestnuts, spring onion, pepper, five spice and sesame oil into a bowl. Mix well. Portion the mixture into 150 g patties, or use a ½ cup measure. You should get 7 patties.
  2. Lay the bean curd sheet lengthways on the work surface, with the long side facing you. Place the mixture onto the bottom of the long side of the skin, forming a sausage shape about 3 cm thick. Leave a couple of centimetres of room either side of the log. Roll to the halfway point, tuck in the sides, then brush the remaining skin with egg white. Continue rolling to seal. Repeat with the remaining mixture, then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
  3. Place a large saucepan on the stove, add a few centimetres of water, then bring to the boil. Place a round piece of baking paper into the bottom of a bamboo steamer. Smear a little sesame oil over the paper then pierce it with holes, for steaming. Place the chilled rolls into the lined steamer, cover with a lid, then steam the rolls for 8 minutes. If the steamer isn’t big enough, steam the rolls in batches. Once steamed, remove the rolls and place onto a plate. Refrigerate until cool.
  4. When ready to fry the rolls, cut them into 4 or 6. Lightly dust in cornflour then carefully drop into the hot oil. Fry until golden, then drain on absorbent paper.
Sauce
  1. Blend all ingredients until the chilli is finely chopped. Check that all the flavours are well balanced.
  2. To serve, arrange the fried ngoh hiang on plates and serve with the sauce. Eat while hot.
Recipe Notes

I’ve halved the original recipe and added a little salt to the mixture, despite Damian’s recipe not having it. Make the chilli sauce ahead of time, if you wish. Also, I also tried shallow frying the whole steamed roll in a few millimetres of oil, rather than deep-frying. I didn’t use cornflour and the skin had a texture I preferred.