Teochew Fish Porridge
Minggu, 18 Oktober 2020
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Teochew fish porridge is kinda similar fish soup amongst rice. Most people consume it every bit a one-bowl meal. Any type of mild tasting white fish amongst a fine, smoothen texture may live on used, but it must live on really fresh.
Besides proficient lineament fish, my mother's fish porridge has a particular ingredient. It's dried squid which must be: (1) julienned lengthwise; (2) soaked till completely soft; too (3) really lightly blanched inwards the porridge, merely plenty to brand the julienned squid curl.
Dried squid lifts the umaminess of porridge to a higher level. But, if yous don't follow the iii steps, it'll live on tough too rubbery. You'll mean value there're prophylactic bands inwards the porridge. You direct been warned.
How create yous say if the fish yous wanna purchase is fresh?
(a) It doesn't odour fishy. (b) The eyes are bright. (c) The gills are red. (d) It feels firm. (e) The pare is shiny. (f) All of the above.
If yous select "f", too then sorry, you're wrong . . . mostly.
xx years ago, "all of the above" would direct been the right answer. These days, the fish may experience too expect fresh because it's preserved amongst formaldehyde, the materials used yesteryear embalmers. Nice, eh?
So how create yous say if the fish is embalmed?
If the fish is cheap, such every bit ikan kuning, ikan selar or about farmed fish, it's in all likelihood safe from chemicals added postmortem.
More pricey stuff, similar large white pomfret too large bounding main prawns, are to a greater extent than probable to live on preserved. Without a lab test, yous tin say if it's fresh entirely yesteryear eating it. If it looks too smells fresh but it's tasteless although it's wild caught, too then you've been had.
When you've NOT been had, fish porridge is an absolute delight. It's sum of the sweetness of fresh fish, dried prawns, dried squid too 冬菜. It is light, amongst no fatty other than a few drops of garlic or shallot oil, but it's totally delicious.
How to brand Teochew fish porridge
Step-by-step guide
Teochew fish porridge yous purchase at a hawker middle is fish soup amongst cooked rice added. The rice has really picayune flavour. This recipe cooks raw rice inwards dried shrimp stock. The rice is infused amongst lots of umami flavour earlier fish is added. Julienned dried squid too 冬菜 are mixed through at the terminate to increase the umami boot further.
INGREDIENTS
- 20 g dried prawns – rinse, soak 10 minutes or longer inwards merely plenty H2O to cover
- 10 g dried squid body, quill discarded, at room temperature – amongst scissors, cutting crosswise nearly 3 cm long; cutting 10 g lengthwise into sparse strips nearly 1 mm thick; rinse; soak inwards merely plenty H2O to comprehend till soft, nearly xx minutes
- 200 g white fish fillet – rinse, while bite-size 3-4 mm thick, mix evenly amongst 1 tsp lite soya sauce, sprinkle amongst ½ tsp cornflour or tapioca starch, mix again
- 120 g long-grain jasmine rice
- 800-900 ml boiling water
- 1 tsp lite soya sauce
- 1 tsp Tianjin/Tientsin pickled cabbage (天津冬菜)
- 1 tbsp fried garlic or fried shallots
- 1 tbsp outflow onions cutting 3-4 mm thick
- ground white pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
- Prepare dried prawns, dried squid too fish every bit detailed above.
- Put kettle on. Wash rice till H2O runs clear. Add dried prawns, along amongst soaking liquid, too 750 ml boiling water. Bring to a boil. Stir thoroughly to preclude rice from sticking. Keep rice boiling chop-chop for 10 minutes, checking too stirring from fourth dimension to fourth dimension to brand certain rice doesn't boil over.
- Top upward amongst boiling H2O if necessary, depending on how thick or sparse yous similar your porridge. Continue boiling chop-chop till rice is merely soft but surface is all the same smoothen without whatever sign of turning mushy, about other v minutes or so.
- Season porridge amongst 1 tsp lite soya sauce too 天津冬菜. Add fish too stir through gently. Turn off rut i time porridge returns to a gentle simmer. Add dried squid, along amongst soaking liquid, too stir through. Remove pot from stove.
- Quickly gustation too conform seasoning if necessary. Immediately transfer porridge to serving bowls to preclude fish from overcooking. Sprinkle amongst outflow onions, fried garlic too solid seat down white pepper.
- Serve straight off amongst lite soya sauce or lite chocolate-brown taucheo (fermented soya beans) every bit a dip, amongst lime juice and/or thinly sliced bird's oculus chillies added if yous like, to convey out the sweetness of the fish. Fish porridge is best eaten steaming hot.