steamed 鲈鱼 stripe bass

my OPS bro WT brought back from shanghai & gave me a 1kg 鲈鱼 stripe bass. i decided to cook it on 15.2.2108. ^^

like the 桂鱼 mandarin fish i did previously, as i was not certain how fish the fish might be, i decided to steam the fish separately & pour away the juice,. always felt wasted, but what the hack right?

steamed 鲈鱼 stripe bass

i butterfly the fish & cut the sides.

i added sliced ginger to the fish & added 1 tbsp shaoxing wine, & a dash of sea salt.

steamed 鲈鱼 stripe bass

steamed for 8 minutes & discard the steaming juice.

steamed 鲈鱼 stripe bass 

i then fried the ginger & chilli padi in a wok with 2 tbsp olive oil & 3tbsp light soy sauce.

steamed 鲈鱼 stripe bass 

then i poured the sauce over the fish & placed the sliced ginger nicely with the cuts, and added some cut spring onions…

i must say the fish & preparation were excellent! fish texture was firm & a bit like cod actually, and very sweet without adding sugar. really i think this preparation is excellent & better than the quite expensive 鲥鱼 in shanghai (which cost like 1/2 fish for RMB360).

this one here, cheap & simple and very tasty, sweet, flavourful fish. quite prefect la!

c.h.e.f andy

pencai 盆菜

made  a real full-size pencai 盆菜 first time successfully on 15.2.2018. ^^

braised pig trotters

there is the usual chicken feet, whole chicken leg, chinese dried scallops & also canned abalone juice that can be used as the stock base.

i decided this time to use braised pig trotters as i wanted the gelatinous 胶 stock base.

braised pig trotters

so just usual braising the trotters, about 1 hr sufficient as there is another 2hrs to braise the fish maws.

the belly pork was braised together for 2.5hrs, and set aside for the topping/layering.

added sea cucumber & fish maw

i used 11 ingredients for the layering-

1 cabbage
2 leek
3 braised pig trotters
4 braised fish maw
5 braised sea cucumber
6 braised belly pork
7 pan-fried chicken thighs
8 pan-seared scallops
9 small abalones
10 brocoli
11 prawns

added sea cucumber & fish maw

added the cabbage & leek to layer the bottom in a claypot, then the braised trotters

added the fish maws, and braised another 2hrs.

& add sea cucumber towards the end and braised for 15-30mins, then ready for layering & serving.

pencai 盆菜 topped up ingredients

i had the other ingredients ready – poached brocoli, pan-grilled chicken thigh, canned small abalones, steamed prawns, and the braised belly pork…many pencai 盆菜 included roast duck, roast pork & even poached chicken..i just used braised belly pork for convenience in preparation since i was braising the trotters.

pan-seared hokkaido scallops

and also pan-seared scallops..

topped up pan-seared hokkaido scallops, grilled chicken thighs, steamed prawns, poached broco

topped up pan-seared hokkaido scallops, grilled chicken thighs, steamed prawns, poached brocoli

i just topped up the claypot with the other ingredients – pan-seared hokkaido scallops, grilled chicken thighs, steamed prawns, poached brocoli..

my first attempt, so i did not want to add too expensive ingredients, also lazy to go buy them..anyway the stock base is to me most important. i can certainly try a lot of chicken feet plus whole chicken leg to give the sweetness & also the gelatinous texture/flavour of the stock.

for this time actually the stock was very good, just that ingredients like grilled chicken thigh, steamed prawns, even braised belly a bit ordinary…

i not very fascinated with pencai 盆菜  as a dish in any case. i had bought a 6pax one from tunglok like 6-7 years ago for like S$248 or thereabout & i thought it was really ordinary and miserly in ingredients, and totally not worth it. and i feel most important is first the taste of the stock, so a good braise; & second the texture of the various ingredients, if trotters, belly pork, fish maws &  sea cucumbers done nicely they can be very tasty & enjoyable too.

my first attempt, perhaps nothing standing out for this dish, just a decent looking pencai 盆菜  & quite tasty dish la.^^

c.h.e.f andy