Neil Perry's Stir-fried Fish with Variations

[khiemtran]

We've tried this recipe three times now, and this is the closest we've come to actually having all the right ingredients.

The first time, we didn't have Sichuan pepper and peanuts, so we omitted the pepper and substituted cashews for peanuts.

The second time we didn't have fish either or dried chillies, so we had stir-fried pork with cashews and no dried chillies. Still tasted okay. We have also noted a certain resemblance to a recipe for stir-fried chicken with dried chillies in Fuchsia Dunlop's Sichuan Cookery, so it seems there's plenty of room for more variation. All ourmy cooking attempts end up like this.

This time, however, after a trip to Chinatown, we were properly prepared with both a fresh bag of dried chillies, and, crucially, a stash of Sichuan peppercorns...



So, getting started now, first we took one egg white and mixed it with a tablespoon of corn flour and a pinch of salt.



Next we took our fillet of trevalla (blue-eye cod)... Or we would have if the fishmonger had had any. Instead we used this gemfish.



We cut the gemfish into cubes and marinated it in the egg white mix for ten minutes.



Meanwhile, we combined the sauces listed in the recipe (Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar and rice wine vinegar).



And prepared the other ingredients. The garlic...



The dried chillies...



The Sichuan peppercorns...



And the spring onion ... um... No spring onion. "Is it okay if I use normal onion?" I ask HL. "Why not? It's not like you followed the recipe last time..."



Oh, and of course the "peanuts"...



The next step is to fry the fish pieces in peanut oil. Neil Perry says "1 minute or until half-cooked", but he didn't specify which half.



The fish after frying...



Now, you have to move fast. Make sure you have all the ingredients ready. First, fry the chillies and Sichuan pepper.



This is the best part about cooking with a real wok - it's a great tool for releasing aromas. You want to fry it until you can smell the spices "bloom".



Next add the garlic and "spring onion". Same deal here, you want to stirfry just long enough to let you smell it. This is cooking with your nose instead of a timer. You probably don't want to try it if you have a headcold...



Add the fish and the sauces. Stir, stir, stir, until it comes to the boil (it should only take seconds).



Finally, add the "peanuts", stir once more and you're done. The sauce should mostly all be gone by now.



The finished product. Not too bad, except the chillies and Sichuan peppers came out quite mild tasting. Think I might have to double the quantities next time. This was a new pack of dried chillies from a different brand than we're used to, so they may have been milder than the ones we normally use. Note: you don't actually need to eat the dried chillies, they're mainly just for flavouring the rest of the dish.



Now, just to figure out what to do with the one leftover egg yolk...

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Everything in this post looks so, so delicious. I'll probably have to do some of your early substitutions, though, if I try it myself.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

I can certainly recommend it. We'd usually have everything except the Sichuan pepper corns and the peanuts (we used to buy mixed nuts, but then we realised that everyone was just picking out the cashews first, so we just bought cashews only from then on).

Now that I've finally found some sichuan pepper, it's going to be Gong Bao chicken from Fuchsia Dunlop tonight...

Oh, hang on... without spring onion...