Baso Tahu (Meatball Tofu)

One of the Indonesian road foods I really miss is Baso Tahu which means Meatball Tofu. It is called that name because we literally put meat and sometimes, shrimps/fish in the tofu except we do not shape them in the shape of balls. In reality, baso tahu does not only have tofu but also have cabbages, potatoes and eggs. How do we have them? The customers will choose which kinds of baso tahu they want, then they will cut them into bite size and pour lots of delicious spicy peanut sauce and ABC kecap manis aka sweet sauce. The vendors also will sprinkle lemon/lime juice. And what should we have it with? I like to eat it with a glass of warm orange juice and some Indonesian shrimp crackers.
Well, those can only happen in Indonesia. In Erie, PA, I have to make my own baso tahu.
So time to roll my sleeves and head to the kitchen.

The recipe for Baso Tahu,

Ingredients:

For the filling:
400 gram ground meat (can be ground chicken/turkey but not beef)
300 gram ground shrimp
150 gram tapioca flour (I used cornstarch)
3 cloves of garlic (chopped and mashed)
1 egg white
1 tsp of salt
½ tsp of pepper

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients until well incorporated. Set aside.

We also need:

One or two boxes of extra firm tofu.
One small head of cabbages
Two or three Eggs
One or two of potatoes
(if you like, you can also have bitter grouds. Just fill the hollow part with the meat filling)

For tofu:
Cut a block of tofu into 4 pieces. Make a deep square cut in the middle (but don’t cut through) and scrap the tofu in the middle with a spoon to put the filling in. Pack the filling as much as you can. Shape it like a small dome. Do the same with the rest of the tofu.

For the cabbages:
Peel the cabbage leaves and boil them until tender. After they are done, stack 4 pieces and fold them together to make a roll and pierce it with a tooth pick.

For the eggs:
Hard boil them and peel. Set aside. Do the same with the potatoes.

For the Peanut sauce:

Ingredients :

100 gram of creamy peanut butter
2 cloves of garlic, mashed
Salt
3 tbsps of granulated sugar/Javanese brown sugar
150 cc water

Directions:

Boil the water, add in all ingredients and boil again. Stir constantly. Set aside.

Final directions:

Prepare a steamer, put the prepared tofus and steamed until they are cooked.

Source: Yeni's kitchen (caution: link is in Indonesian)

When the tofu are done, it is time to eat. As the vendors do, put some tofu, rolls of cabbages, one egg and one potato on the plate. Cut them into bite size. Pour the peanut sauce and kecap manis and sprinkle with lime juice. Enjoy! Have an extra spoon of chili sauce if you dare!