Fish Maw - Yùh-Tóuh - 魚肚

Last week I went to Tai O 大澳 (Daaih-ou – means big-cove) with a group of friends. We stayed one night at the Tai O Heritage Hotel (TOHH) a newly renovated old police station turned into a hotel. If you have read my previous post on Tai O you already know that I often go to this former fishermen village. It was the first time I stayed overnight and furthermore in this exceptional place. 

If you want to know more about the history and story of the hotel click here >>>.

Lotus Root, Dried Octopus and Pork Soup

Dried Octopus

Whenever I prepare lotus root, dried octopus and pork soup I cannot help but think of Tai O and its stores displaying dried products: octopus, fish maws, shrimps, scallops, etc under rows of bright red lights. I already wrote about Tai O village in a previous post.  At week-ends tourists and locals alike packed the former fishing and salt-making village to enjoy its charm and fresh seafood.

Street hawkers selling live fish in plastic buckets from carts

Tangerine peel and fish hung up in the sun to dry

 

Steamed Eggplants & Silver Fish

Yesterday we went to Tai O village, a former fishing village on the western side of Lantau island. We walked from Tung Chung (we could see the planes taking off and landing at Chek Lap Kok airport as we walked along the coastline) to Tai O under a scorching sun. Today in the SCMP they said that yesterday was the hottest day of the year with records as high as 34 degrees C in the city! No wonder we sweated a lot! 

We reached Tai O at about 1:30pm and went straight to a small local restaurant called Lìhn Hèung Jáu-gâ (Lotus Fragrance Restaurant). Although it does not look anything special, we like going there each time we go to Tai O.  The dishes are local, light, and delicious.

People waiting to get a table

We ordered our favourite: Steamed Eggplants with Silver Fish (ngàhn-yú). This dish has been once recommended to us by the lady boss and each time we have it! Last time we went to Tai O I brought back some dried silver fish so I could make this dish at home. But, as I put less oil in it's less fragrant than at Lìhn Hèung. That gives us one more reason for going back to Tai O!

Steamed eggplants and silver fish

I like the contrast between the eggplants which are tender and the small dried fish slightly crunchy. The addition of spring onion sprinkled on the top of the dish not only bring colour to an otherwise "pale" dish but also a tinge of pungency. The hot sesame oil poured over the dish makes the dish more fragrant.

We also ordered a dish of mixed seafood, fried fish maw (fâ-gâau), black fungus (wàhn-yíh -cloud ear) and angled luffa (sî-gwâ -silk gourd). This is not a stir-fry dish. The ingredients are cooked in a light fish broth. I like the earthy taste of the silk gourd.

We could not order more for the 2 of us as the dishes are rather large.  We washed our meal down with fresh Qingdao beers.  Afterwards, we felt refreshed and crossed the village passing by the many shops selling Tai O's famous dried fish and shrimp paste (hâ-jeung) as well as other products: dried shrimps (hâ-máih), octopus (jêung-yùh), fish maw (yùh-tóuh), etc.