Monkfish in Salted Soya Bean & Black Bean Sauce

Monkfish is not the best looking fish amongst all fishes you could get. But, it is probably the fish that I love most! Monkfish is a whitefish. It has got firm and meaty flesh that is very suitable for stir-frying. The secret to make good stir-fry fish dishes is to make sure the flesh doesn’t break into small pieces. Back home in Malaysia, my mom likes to use red/grey snappers or grouper. In London, the size of the red or grey snapper is somewhat like sea bream, which doesn’t give as chunky flesh as those big red or grey snapper.

I made Seabass in Salted Soya Bean Sauce a while ago. Like last time time, I used salted soya bean but I added some fermented black bean. I mashed both to form a paste. Besides, I grounded some fresh chilies and mixed it into salted soya bean and black bean paste. For some reasons, I have been craving for a spicy and pungent dish. That’s why I added some chilies and used quite a bit of garlic!!

To be honest, I like to eat fish with skin on. Of course, the scales are off!  The reason being, if the skin is left on, I would deep-fry the fish to have the crispy top layer. Crispy fish skin, yum! This also avoids the fillet to break into small pieces. Over here, fish bought from the supermarkets is always filleted and without skin. Unless, I buy whole fish! Even so, I shallow fried the fillets to achieve slightly brownish and crispy top layer.

This time, I have adjusted the recipe slightly and add tomato. Hope you will like it!

Tomato Risotto

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Prep Time:
20 minutes

Cook Time:
30 minutes

Yield:
2 persons

Ingredients:

For the Monkfish in Salted Soya Bean & Black Bean Sauce:

3 tbsp sunflower oil
250g monkfish or any other firm meaty white fish, cut into chunks
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp fermented black bean
2 tsp salted soya bean
2 red chillies, ground
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1cm piece ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1 tomato, cut into wedges
50ml water
1 spring onion, cut into 4cm length

Method:

1. Heat 2 tbsp of the sunflower oil over medium heat. Dust the fish with some cornflour and cook for 3-4 minutes or them until brown. Drain and set aside

2. Put the fermented black bean and salted soya bean in a bowl and give them a good mash. Once they form a paste, add the ground chili paste, mix and set aside.

3. Add the rest of the sunflower oil in a plan over medium-high heat, put the garlic and ginger and cook for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant. Then, add the mixed paste and tomato. Stir and cook for 2-3 minutes.

4. Pour in the water and bring to the boil for 1 minute. Add the spring onions and fried fish, thoroughly coat with the sauce. Cook for 1-2 minutes to warm through. Serve warm.

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