by Grace Young
This stir-fry consists of fish that has been oil blanched before stir-frying. Grace herself is not a fan of this type of preparation, but included it in her book because it is so popular with Chinese restaurant chefs, and for us to experience what it is like. She even states this method is not practical (using and discarding two cups of oil) or healthy for the home cook.
I took a cue from Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories, and placed the oil blanched fish on a plate lined with paper towels, and dabbed the top of the fish with another paper towel to help soak up some of the oil before proceeding with the recipe.
Mise en place.
Bowl 1: Codfish, egg white, salt
Bowl 2: Garlic, ginger
Bowl 3: Bell pepper
Bowl 4: Scallion
Bowl 5: Chicken broth, dry sherry, cornstarch, sugar, salt
The recipe calls for fish with the skin on; this is to help keep the fish from falling apart when (ever-so-gently) stir-frying. However, the cod from the fish market was skinned, hence the broken pieces of fish.
I always seem to mutilate my fish when I remove the pin bones. Maybe using pliers instead of tweezers might help. I was able to get out all of the bones! And that is a good thing.
This would be a great stir-fry for those with a tame palate. Me, I prefer more bold flavors - I'm thinking a bit of soy sauce added to the broth mixture and some Thai red pepper would be a tasty addition to this dish.
We have been asked not to post
the recipes here on our blog. If you would like the recipe, you will
find it on page 176, of Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge, which you
can purchase at your local bookstore or find it at your local library. I
highly recommend purchasing the book - you won't be disappointed.
I'm with you Cathy. My husband, with the bland palate, loved it. Me... I need some spice. I also was pretty sure that we would have tons of bones, but mine seemed to dissolve in the process.
ReplyDeleteI think that some sesame oil would be a natural, although I am sure you don't want to add extra oil. :-) I should try this, though, and I think it looks really nice with the fish in smaller pieces! Have a great weekend! ~ David
ReplyDeleteCathleen, your stir fry has a beautiful color - all those yellow pepper strips certainly add a very pretty touch to your dish - and the recipe does sound quite delicious even if you found it a tad bland.
ReplyDeleteLovely Wok Wednesday post, as always!
Hope your summer is going well,
Andrea