Place the chicken stock in a medium pot. Bring to a boil. Add the anchovies and soy beans. Bring back to a boil and then lower the heat to let it gently simmer for the next 30 minutes. Turn off the heat. Strain and discard solid. Season with salt and sugar to your taste
Prepare the sweet sauce:
Preheat a small sauce pan. Add cooking oil. Stir fry the minced garlic for about 30 seconds, add water, followed by ground bean sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar. Stir until the sugar is melted. Have a taste. The sauce is sweet and savory. Give the cornstarch solution a stir and then pour in and continue to stir until the sauce is thickened
Preparing the filling:
I use store-bought fish paste and ground pork. Mash the salted fish if using. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to mix everything. Cover and chill in the refrigerator while you are preparing other things
Preparing the veggies:
Soak the dried shiitake mushroom in warm water until soft. Remove the stems. Cut the firm tofu in 12 pieces. Use a small spoon to scoop out the middle of each piece (be careful not to tear it apart). Save the tofu that you scoop out. You can mince it up and mix it into the meat/fish paste. Set aside
Cut both ends of bitter gourd off and then slice into 1 -inch ring. Use your thumb to push out the seeds in the middle of each ring and discard the seeds. Slice the okra and chilis in half lengthwise and scoop the seeds out. Slice the eggplants into 1/2 inch pieces at an angle
Stuffing the filling:
Use a spoon or table knife to scoop the filling. Kinda overstuff the meat a little bit to the side and at the top, because the meat paste will shrink when you cook it and it looks nice because it fills up the hole nicely and firmly
Pan fry the veggies:
Preheat a skillet with about 1 Tbsp of oil. Pan fry the veggies batches by batches until they are golden brown and cooked through. Each veggies will cook at different time. I suggest to brown them and then cover with a lid to "steam" cook them (as shown in the video). They cook faster this way
Serving soup version:
When ready to serve, arrange pieces of yong tau foo items in a bowl. Generously ladle the hot soup over them. Garnish with green onion
Serving dry with sweet sauce:
Arrange pieces of yong tau foo items in a bowl. You can serve the sauce on the side or drizzle them on top of the yong tau foo. Your call!