Quick Answer: What Are Stuffed Three Treasures?
Stuffed three treasures (煎酿三宝; jiān niàng sān bǎo) combines vegetables or tofu with a savory filling, then fries the pieces. Fish-paste versions are familiar street snacks in Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong.[5]
- Carriers: Eggplant, peppers and tofu are a familiar Hong Kong combination.[1]
- Filling: Dace, shrimp and fish-and-pork fillings appear in different recipes.[1][3]
- Method: Dry, lightly dust with starch, fill and cook through.[3]
The name allows variation: a Shunde combination uses bitter melon, eggplant and peppers.[4]
A good piece brings the browned filling and its vegetable or tofu base together in one bite. Learning how they attach is as useful as choosing the trio. This is one approachable part of Cantonese cuisine where the same stuffing technique creates several textures on a plate.
Vegetables, Tofu and the Filling
Use eggplant slices, deseeded peppers and hollowed firm tofu or opened puffs.[3][1] Choose the recipe’s specified tofu type; firm blocks and fried puffs are different ingredients.
One home version uses 300 g raw shrimp filling for eggplant, peppers and tofu puffs.[1] Distinguish this from the spoonful of shrimp seasoning paste in the following mixed filling.[3]
Another version combines prepared dace fish paste with 80 g minced pork and 1 teaspoon shrimp seasoning paste, plus sugar, pepper and starch.[3] A white-fish alternative starts with 320 g skinned, deboned sole or other firm white fish, adding two rehydrated shiitake mushrooms and optionally 10 g dried shrimp. These are separate filling formulas, not ingredients to combine at their full quantities.[2]
How to Stuff and Pan-Fry the Pieces
Choose a complete recipe for the quantities and pan setup. This sequence shows the shared technique and one covered-pan finishing option:
- Make room for the filling: Remove pepper seeds, open tofu pockets or hollow a little firm tofu, and cut the eggplant to expose a stable surface for stuffing.[3]
- Dry and dust: Pat the receiving surfaces dry and apply a light coating of cornstarch where the filling will touch.[3]
- Press in a thin layer: Press the seasoned fish or shrimp mixture firmly onto or into each piece, avoiding a heavy mound that can brown before its center cooks.[2]
- Brown the filling side: Pan-fry with the filling side down first, then turn the pieces carefully to cook the vegetable or tofu side.[2]
- Finish cooking through: If using the covered-pan method, add the recipe’s small amount of hot water and finish over gentle heat; check the thickest filling reaches 75°C (167°F) for 30 seconds.[3][6]
- Sauce and serve: Serve promptly with the chosen soy drizzle or finish the cooked pieces in the prepared sauce, keeping the coating suited to the version.[1][2]
One shrimp version uses approximately 1 cm eggplant slices, 5 cm pepper pieces and a 3 mm filling layer. Thicker pieces need different cooking attention.[1]
One covered-pan preparation adds 3 tablespoons hot water after browning, cooks covered on low until it evaporates, then finishes over medium heat.[3] Check the filling’s temperature as well as the browned exterior.[6]
Hong Kong and Shunde Variations
| Preparation | What changes |
|---|---|
| Hong Kong fish-paste snack | Eggplant, pepper and tofu or tofu puffs provide varied bases for the filling.[1] |
| Shrimp-filled home version | A shrimp filling replaces dace fish paste, while retaining the stuffed-vegetable format.[1] |
| Shunde bitter-melon combination | Bitter melon, eggplant and peppers hold a dace-and-pork mixture, with braised and pan-browned preparations documented.[4] |
The Shunde record describes a wider family of dishes that fill vegetables, tofu or mushrooms. It helps explain the shared technique without making every stuffed vegetable the same named dish or proving a single inventor.[4]
For the snack’s place among fish balls and other local foods, continue with Hong Kong food culture. The trio above is a useful starting point rather than a rule for every stall or household.
Sauces and Serving
Sweet soy suits the snack format; a plated version may use thicker sauce with fermented black beans.[1]
One documented pan sauce combines black bean sauce, oyster sauce, stock, sugar and a starch mixture. The cooked stuffed pieces return to the boiling sauce to heat through and become coated.[2]
Serve promptly while the vegetables and filling retain their different textures. Some street-snack presentations use skewers, while a sauced home preparation is easier to share from a plate.[5][2]
FAQs About Stuffed Three Treasures
Must there be exactly three kinds of ingredients?
No. The familiar trios vary, and the broader stuffing technique accommodates other vegetables, tofu and mushrooms.[4]
Why does the filling fall away from the vegetables?
Dry the surface, lightly dust with starch and press the filling into place before frying.[3]
Is stuffed three treasures vegetarian?
Usually not: these versions contain fish, shrimp or pork despite their vegetable and tofu bases. A vegetarian adaptation needs a different filling and suitable sauces.[2][3]
資料來源
[1] Auntie Emily, original recipe. Fried Stuffed 3 Treasures
[2] Lee Kum Kee Professional, first-party recipe. Three Stuffed Treasures
[3] May Lee and Wai Yee Yeung, original cooking segment via SBS Cantonese. Street Snack: Fried Three Treasures
[4] Foshan Shunde Library, Shunde Food Database. Stuffing and Gentle Braising in Shunde Cooking
[5] The Hong Kong Cookery, original home-cooking account. Three Fried Stuffed Treasures
[6] Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety. Cooking and Reheating