A love letter to rice and a humble stir fry
Hiya!
Hope you’re enjoying the snow as much as I am? Currently feeling like I’m in a 90’s music video staring out the window at the snow in a warm jumper and a cup of tea, but instead of music, I’ve got the soft hum of my heater fan in the background. Oh well.
So I’ve had recent revelation about how much I love rice. Growing up in Singapore, rice was almost always at every meal so I guess I sort of took it for granted. But having lived here in the UK for almost 8 years now – a land full of pasta, potatoes and bread – I don't have rice all that often anymore which means that when I do actually cook it, I am overcome by raging, animalistic, hysteria which causes me to blackout and eventually come to consciousness with rice grains all over my face and none left in the pot.
Which leads me to this week's recipe: a very humble Dark Soy and Ginger Fish and Vegetable Stir Fry which goes divinely with rice, with a sauce that will (or at least, should) become your new go-to for any and all stir fries in your foreseeable future.
I've had a lot of stir fries here in the UK but this one reminds me most of home. The recipe below yields quite a lot of sauce because I love dowsing my rice with it (see above for my love of rice) but if you want less, you can probably halve the ingredients for the sauce – but why would you want to do that when the sauce is just SO. DAMN. GOOD.
This recipe honestly works for all meats, tofu or veg – I just happened to focus on fish this week because the Lunar New Year starts tomorrow (happy year of the ox!) and the Chinese commonly say 年年有余 (pronounced: nian nian you yu) to wish each other a year of abundance ahead. The word 余 (which means surplus or remainder) shares the same pronunciation with the word 鱼 (which means fish), which is why it’s always on the table at some point during the Lunar New Year celebrations.
An optional ingredient in this recipe is the sweetclems or mandarin oranges, which I've included because I like the occasional fresh, sweet, citrusy burst. But more importantly, mandarins are incredibly symbolic in Lunar New Year celebrations because they resemble Chinese gold ingots, so giving mandarins to loved ones during this time is a symbolic way of wishing them happiness and prosperity, as you are literally giving them “wealth”.
Hope you enjoy my stir fry recipe du jour and here's wishing you a prosperous, joyous and insanely abundant Lunar New Year!
Dark Soy and Ginger Fish and Vegetable Stir Fry
Inspired by Mark Wiens' trip to Chez Wong in Peru, who speaks about food with boundless child-like enthusiasm and wonder (love him). Perfect with white basmati rice.
Serves: 3 - 4
Prep time: 40mins
Hob time: 20mins
Shopping list:
The fish and veg:
Salt fish, 1 fillet – yes, Caribbean and Chinese food have salt fish in common! This is optional but recommended, and you can find this in the international section in most supermarkets
Basa fish, 2 fillets or approx. 250g (you can use cod or any other meaty white fish, although I find Basa less fishy and more affordable than cod at the supermarket)
Pak choy, 1 large
Sugar snap peas, approx 180g (or use a mix of 90g sugar snaps with 90g trimmed fine beans instead)
Spring onions, 4 or 5
Baby button mushrooms, approx 200g
Sweetclems or easy peelers, 2 or 3 small, or use 1 mandarin orange – optional
Fresh red chilli, 1 medium
Corn starch, 3 tbsp
Salt and ground white pepper
The sauce:
Dark soy sauce, 2 tbsp
Oyster sauce, 2 tbsp
Sesame oil, 2 tbsp
Honey, 2 tbsp (or replace with sugar instead)
Shaoxing cooking wine, 2 tsp
Rice vinegar, 2 tsp
Ground white pepper, 1/2 tsp (ground black pepper is fine if you're in a pinch)
Garlic, 2 fat cloves
Fresh ginger, 1 thumb's worth
Okay cool, now:
1. Prep all your veg by roughly chopping the pak choy and 4 spring onions width-wise into 1.5 inch-wide chunks and finely slicing 2 cloves of garlic, 1 thumb of peeled ginger and 1 fresh chilli. I leave my sugar snap peas and baby button mushrooms whole because I like the stir fry quite chunky, but feel free to halve them if you’d like. If you’re using sweetclems / mandarin oranges, peel them and pull the segments apart before setting aside in a separate bowl.
2. Prep your sauce by mixing 2 tablespoons of dark soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce, 2 tablespoons of sesame oil, 2 tablespoons of honey, 2 teaspoons of Shaoxing cooking wine, 2 teaspoons of rice vinegar and 0.5 teaspoons of ground white pepper in a bowl.
I don't usually ask you to do all the prep upfront, but because the actual cooking of the stir fry goes by in a crazy, hasty flurry, you’re going to end up in a fluster if you’re not fully prepped beforehand.
3. Prep your Basa fish by slicing them into thick 1 inch-wide strips. In a medium bowl, scatter 3 tablespoons of corn starch, a big pinch of ground white pepper and 0.5 teaspoons of salt over the sliced fish and give it a light toss with your fingers to coat. Fingers are far gentler than cutlery, so please bear with this step if only to save your fish from being obliterated into a million pieces.
If you’re using the salt fish, go ahead and rinse 1 fillet under plenty of cold water to rinse off the excess salt before patting them firmly in a couple of paper towels to absorb as much moisture as possible. Then chop it up into 1cm cubes and set aside in a small bowl.
4. Get your fry on by placing a large pan (preferably with a lid) on the hob on medium-high heat. Once hot, tip in your diced salt fish and fry for a few minutes until crispy and golden brown before removing with a slotted spoon and draining on a paper towel.
Add the sliced ginger and garlic to the pan and fry for a minute or two, stirring constantly. Once fragrant, pour 200ml of water and the sauce mixture into the pan and bring to a boil before adding the Basa fish (and any remaining cornstarch from the bowl) to the pan – slice by slice. Spread them out as much as possible so they’re not touching each other. After a couple of minutes, turn the fish over piece by piece and after another two more minutes of cooking, gently remove the fish pieces into a bowl and set aside.
Tumble all your veg (except the sweetclems) into the sauce and toss to coat. Cover the pan with the lid or a large plate to steam for 3 - 4 minutes before uncovering and tossing again. Once the veg is tender (but still crisp), toss in the sweetclems and fried salt fish to coat in your velvety brunette sauce.
5. Spoon into a bowl or plate, top with the cooked Basa fish pieces and serve hot with steamed, white rice – enjoy!
So there you go, a humble and comforting meal that is sure to hit the spot. Lunar New Year celebrations are all about food, friends and family, so I hope you make this and enjoy it with your loved ones either in person or via Zoom. Sending you much love as always, and 新年快乐 (xin nian kuai le)!
Happy cooking and see you for another issue of Forks & Chopstix in a couple of weeks.
x Mark
Fancy another savoury something? Why not try:
Or how about a sweet little treat?
And don’t forget to tag me on Instagram if you try any of these recipes: @forksandchopstix