Pictorial: Fried Bass with Tofu Sheets (Sticks)

[hzrt8w]

Pictorial Recipe

Fried Bass with Tofu Sheets (beancurd sticks) (枝竹炆鱸魚)

This is my family's hand-down recipe.

Picture of the finished dish:

Serving Suggestion: 2

Preparations:

Main ingredients:

- 1 fresh farm-raised bass, about 1 1/4 lb.

- 4 stalks of green onions

- Garlic, about 4-5 cloves

- Ginger, use about 1-inch in length

- (See next picture) Tofu sheets (beancurd sticks), use about 3 sticks

- (See next picture) About 12 dried black mushrooms

This is the featured ingredient: Beancurd sticks. There about about 8 sticks in this package. Use about 3 sticks for this recipe.

Use 3 of the beancurd sticks and about 12 dried black mushrooms.

The beancurd sticks are very brittle. Break them apart at about 2 inches in length. Use a mixing bowl to soak the beancurd sticks until soft, about 1 hour.

Soak the dried black mushrooms in warm water for about 2 hours until soft.

Trim and discard the stems off the black mushrooms. Slice each mushroom in half.

Trim the ends of 4 stalks of green onions. Cut the white portion into about 1 inch in length. Finely chop the rest (for garnishing). Cut the ginger (1 inch in length) into fine slices. Peel and mince 4-5 cloves of garlic.

Rinse the bass thoroughly. Pat dry. Gently rub about 1/4 tsp of salt on the body (both sides).

Cooking Instructions:

Start by pre-heating a wok with high stove burner setting. Add about 4-5 tblsp of cooking oil. Wait until oil is hot.

Gently lower the bass onto the wok. To ensure the fish doesn't stick to the wok, try to hold the fish for a few seconds once its skin touches the hot oil. Let the skin brown slightly before letting go the fish.

Turn down the heat to low/medium. Fry the fish for about 3-4 minute.

Take full advantage of the shape of a wok. Don't move the fish. Instead, tilt the wok at different angles to fry near the tail.

Tilt the wok the other way to fry near the head.

Use 2 spatulas to gently lift the fish and turn it over to fry the other side. Try not to break off the skin. The second side takes less time.

Remove the bass from the wok.

Set the stove at high again. Wait until wok is hot and oil starts fuming.

Add minced garlic, sliced ginger and chopped green onions (white portion only). Add 1/2 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of chili bean sauce and 1 tsp of ground bean sauce. Stir well. Stir-fry for 20 seconds.

Add reconstituted black mushrooms.

Add about 1/4 cup of chicken broth and 1/2 cup of water. Add 1-2 tsp of sugar, 2 tsp of oyster sauce and 1 tsp of dark soy sauce. Bring the mixture to a boil.

Drain the soaked beancurd sticks well. Add the beancurd sticks to the wok. Continue to cook for 5 minutes. Stir well.

Return the fried bass to the wok. I wanted to keep the fish whole for presentation. I left the fish on top of the bed of beancurd sticks. You may braise the fish among the ingredients if you like.

Cook with the lid on for another 5-10 minutes. Let the heat from the steam to finish cooking the fish.

This is how it looked after 10 minutes of braising. Transfer the fish to a serving plate. Scoop the beancurd sticks and lay them around the fish (but not on top of it) for presentation. Line up the black mushrooms along the edge of the fish.

Use corn starch slurry (suggest: 2 tsp of corn starch and 2 tsp of water) to thicken the remaining braising liquid to make the sauce. Pour the sauce on top of the fish.

Picture of the finished dish. Sprinkle some finely chopped green onions on top for garnishing. Serve immediately.

[flowbee]

nice stuff! now i know how my mom uses those tofu sheets

[jtnippon1985]

Made this the other night, came out fabulous. Thanks for the recipe.

[akaray]

leung sifu, how do i make doughfoo bahnnahn fahn (pronounced in cantonese)?

Tofu with fish fillet rice, that is a dish, i've been wanting to make. one of my favorite places in chinatown (nyc) makes this the best. I'm not sure how they make the sauce. I made a sauce somewhat similar using oyster sauce, mushroom soy sauce(dark),sugar, garlic, ginger, star anise powder, white pepper, msg, shaoxing wine, and chicken broth. But there's something lacking in the sauce. it just doesn't taste quite the same? what am i missing? could you show me how you would prepare it?

[hzrt8w]

leung sifu, how do i make doughfoo bahnnahn fahn (pronounced in cantonese)?

Tofu with fish fillet rice, that is a dish, i've been wanting to make. one of my favorite places in chinatown (nyc) makes this the best. I'm not sure how they make the sauce. I made a sauce somewhat similar using oyster sauce, mushroom soy sauce(dark),sugar, garlic, ginger, star anise powder, white pepper, msg, shaoxing wine, and chicken broth. But there's something lacking in the sauce. it just doesn't taste quite the same? what am i missing? could you show me how you would prepare it?

←

akaray: Welcome to the China forum!

The "doughfoo bahnnahn fahn" that you mentioned, which means "tofo with rockcod over rice": specially "bahnnahn" means the "belly" of the rockcod. The fish belly is typically a little bit fatty, it is slightly battered and deep-fried first. Then a sauce (garlic, cooking wine, broth, oyster sauce, salt, MSG, and corn starch, etc.) is cooked and the fried fish belly is thrown in at the end.

[akaray]

leung sifu, how do i make doughfoo bahnnahn fahn (pronounced in cantonese)?

Tofu with fish fillet rice, that is a dish, i've been wanting to make. one of my favorite places in chinatown (nyc) makes this the best. I'm not sure how they make the sauce. I made a sauce somewhat similar using oyster sauce, mushroom soy sauce(dark),sugar, garlic, ginger, star anise powder, white pepper, msg, shaoxing wine, and chicken broth. But there's something lacking in the sauce. it just doesn't taste quite the same? what am i missing? could you show me how you would prepare it?

←

akaray: Welcome to the China forum!

The "doughfoo bahnnahn fahn" that you mentioned, which means "tofo with rockcod over rice": specially "bahnnahn" means the "belly" of the rockcod. The fish belly is typically a little bit fatty, it is slightly battered and deep-fried first. Then a sauce (garlic, cooking wine, broth, oyster sauce, salt, MSG, and corn starch, etc.) is cooked and the fried fish belly is thrown in at the end.

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that sounds interesting. rockcod, i never used that before. how do i say rockcod in

cantonese? and how would i prepare the rockcod fillets? what should i marinate it and batter it in? how would i make that batter mixture? what's the ideal batter mixture that would leave the coating kind of soft texture after being fried? after frying it? , do i boil the fillets a little?

so the sauce would have garlic some ginger probably, shaoxing wine, broth, oyster sauce, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon msg and some corn starch correct? anything i leave out? like white pepper or star anise? or sugar?

and the tofu that restaurant uses is very soft texture? soft tofu fried. do you think use a batter to cover the tofu or straight fry it? if so, what's the batter mixture for the tofu?

[Shalmanese]

I've always been taught to score the flesh of the fish so

a) seasoning penetrates deeper into the meat.

b) the fish cools faster and more evenly.

[Habeas Brulee]

That looks really gorgeous! What do tofu sticks taste like? Actually, more to the point, what's their texture like?

[Dejah]

That looks really gorgeous! What do tofu sticks taste like? Actually, more to the point, what's their texture like?

←

The tofu sticks, like tofu, does not have strong taste. It takes in the flavour of more dominant ingredients like Chinese mushrooms, sauces. The texture is a soft chew, if that makes sense.