With Dick Beaumont
This very tasty dish is a favourite onboard White Dragon because, not only is it very tasty, but it’s also a fast one-pot cook.
Ingredients
(for a four hungry crew)
- ¾ kg (1 1/2lb) x Skate cheek balls but any white firm fish; bass, wahoo, grouper, Spanish mackerel, kingfish and/or shrimps, prawns or scallops.
- 1x large pack of Chinese egg noodles (8 layers)
- 6 cloves of garlic
- ¼ cup x sliced fresh ginger
- 1x large onion thinly sliced, longwise
- 1 cup x mushrooms thinly sliced (optional), bean sprouts are a good alternative but they don’t keep long on board.
- ½ cup x fish stock
- ½ cup x sunflower oil
- 1x tbs sesame oil
- 2x tbs oyster sauce
- 2x tbs light soy sauce
- 2x tsp Shaoxing wine
- 2x tsp fish sauce
- 1x large pinch Chinese five-spice powder
- 1x tsp potato starch or cornflower
- 1x ground pink peppercorns, use green peppercorn as a substitute.
- ½ lemon
Method
- Add the egg noodles to a pan of boiling water and cook for 5 mins, then strain the noodles and wash them with cold water in a colander. If you have time, cook the noodles two or three hours before use and put them to one side, so they are moist, but not wet.
- Mix together the fish stock, Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce and squeeze the lemon into the mixture. Add the potato starch powder and stir it in so it’s fully absorbed in the mixture. Do not add any salt to this dish as the fish sauce is very salty.
- Now put this mixture to one side ready.
- Fry the sliced garlic in a deep pan for two or three minutes at full heat. Don’t brown.
- Add the sliced ginger half way through cooking the garlic and turn the heat to half so the ginger doesn’t scorch.
- Add the onions and turn the heat up to medium-high, stir vigorously to stop the garlic from sticking to the bottom of the pan, don’t overcook the onions, 3 or 4 mins is fine.
- Turn the hob up to full and add the sesame oil and the diced fish and or shrimps/ prawns, stir gently for 2 mins max trying not to break the fish up. The fish should still look undercooked.
- Add the noodles and toss vigorously for 2 or 3 mins, again trying not to break up the fish.
- Lastly, pour in the liquid mixture and stir for 2 or 3 mins. When the sauce thickens it’s done.
- Serve using soy sauce on the table rather than salt if more salt is required to taste.
