Ngo Hiang is a minced meat, tofu skin-wrapped treat that I can’t get enough of. And it’s surprisingly easy to make.
Ngo Hiang has consistently been a go-to choice for me when indulging in Chinese cuisine. My initial encounter with this delectable dish occurred during a visit to Sembawang, where I paired it with Lobster Porridge. Since that memorable experience, Ngo Hiang has always piqued my interest, yet the thought of recreating it at home never crossed my mind.
Fast forward to many years later, and here we are in my kitchen with my very own homemade Ngo Hiang. Let’s get into the ingredients.
Key ingredients in Ngo Hiang Recipe
Minced Chicken – traditional Ngo Hiang calls for minced pork, as this is generally a pork dish. You can use pork if you’d prefer, but I have used chicken as I am more familiar with this meat.
Minced Prawn – this might be more difficult to get compared to the chicken. If you can’t find it frozen, then get fresh prawns, peel and devein them, then mince them in a food processor. You can do it by hand if you prefer, it’ll just take a while.
Water Chestnuts – I was fortunate enough to find peeled water chestnuts at Sheng Siong. Keep a look out for these in Sheng Siong, NTUC or other supermarkets.
Spices – I’ve used Chinese 5-spice powder in making this, but I reduced the quantity to prevent the whole thing from tasting too pungent. You can increase it if you prefer.
Fish Sauce – I can’t do anything without it, so I replaced the Light Soya Sauce in this recipe with a tasty fish sauce. Nope, not low sodium.
Making Ahead
If you’re making this ahead of time, you can make this recipe until you steam the flat, wrapped sausages. After that, you can let it cool, stack the rolls into a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
When you want to make the Ngo Hiang (like during tea, for example), simply remove and defrost them in the microwave, then fry them individually. To prevent the prepared and frozen Ngo Hiang from sticking to one another in the freezer, I’d recommend freezing them individually first. Then, combine them in a large bag and place it back in the freezer.
Using an air-fryer to make Ngo Hiang
I have yet to use my new air fryer to make these; I decided to fry them properly the first time I made it. You can choose to use the air fryer, which is just a fancy, smaller oven (in my humble opinion). Remember to brush the Ngo Hiang with a generous layer of oil before you put them into the air fryer so that they crisp up nicely in the oven.
Ngo Hiang Recipe
Course: AppetizersCuisine: ChineseDifficulty: Medium12
sausages30
minutes20
minutes300
kcalYou’ll need;
200g minced chicken
100g minced prawn
150g water chestnuts, chopped finely (see notes)
100g shallots, chopped finely
5 spring onions, chopped finely
2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp sugar
1 egg, beaten in a bowl
2 ½ tbsp plain flour (see notes)
2 large soya beancurd skin sheets, cut into large rectangles (about 20cm x 10 cm)
You’ll need to;
- Add all ingredients except egg, flour and beancurd skin into a large bowl, and mix to form a homogenous paste. Then, add only half the beaten egg and all the plain flour. Mix again to ensure no streaks of flour remain, then set this aside.
- Place the shorter end (10cm-end) of the beancurd skin rectangle nearest to you. Using a wet towel, brush off access salt from the beancurd skin. Then, place a small dollop (about 1.5 tbsp full) of minced meat mixture along the edge of the short end, leaving a small rim around the edges. Paint the rim with the remaining beaten egg.
- Start wrapping: First, wrap the long sides of the beancurd skin into the meat so that the filling doesn’t spill. Then, roll up the Ngo Hiang towards the other edge of the beancurd skin. Be sure to use liberal amounts of egg to seal the Ngo Hiang.
- Once completed, lay all sausages flat inside a steamer and steam for up to 15 minutes. Remove from the steamer and let it cool, before frying it in hot oil like I did or air frying it.
Notes
- Water chestnuts tend to break up easily. Try to chop them up into small pieces, though you don’t have to be too precise. A few larger chunks in the final dish add texture.
- You can add shredded carrots to this dish as well.
- The amount of plain flour can be adjusted if your mixture is too soft and needs to be a bit more resistant to your spoon.
- Frying: I shallow-fried the Ngo Hiang as I didn’t want to use too much oil when making this. You can choose to deep fry it if you prefer.