Tag: seafood
Hong Kong Curry Fish Balls
Hong Kong Curry Fish Balls
Curried fish balls are an institution of Hong Kong street food. You will see the fried fish balls being served on skewers with a thick curry gravy everywhere. Fortunately, you don’t have to be in Hong Kong to authentically make them at home. They take very little effort to make for something so flavorful. All you really have to prepare is the sauce, which is only a couple ingredients, and let the fish balls simmer in it. They make great appetizers and can double as a main course, served over plain rice over noodles. You won’t want to waste the curry gravy, so I suggest to choose your carb of choice to accompany the fish balls.
Servings: 4
Equipment
- wooden skewers
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 5 shallots thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp yellow curry paste
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1/3 cup coconut milk
- 2 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 pinch black pepper
- 1 pinch white pepper
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 2 packs fish balls
Instructions
- Heat up cooking oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté the shallots for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the flour. Cook for 1 minute.
- Add in the curry paste. Cook for 1 minute.
- Pour in the chicken stock. Break up the roux. Bring to a boil.
- Pour in the coconut milk and soy sauce. Season with the peppers and sugar.
- Add in the fish balls. Simmer for 10 minutes until the sauce thickens and the fish balls are heated through.
Belecan Stir Fried Noodles
Belecan Stir Fried Noodles
There’s a little bit of everything in these Indonesian stir fried noodles. Jumbo shrimp, fish balls, pork liver, water spinach, eggs, and tomatoes are stir fried with Chinese egg noodles in a sweet/spicy/umami flavored sauce made from belecan shrimp paste, chili paste, kecap manis, and soy sauce. You can simply just use shrimp with the noodles if you aren’t “adventurous” enough to add fish balls and pork liver. But I think they’re an important part of the flavor.
Servings: 2
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tbsp belecan shrimp paste
- 3 tbsp chili paste
- 6 jumbo shrimp peeled and deveined
- 1/4 lb pork liver cubed
- 5 fill balls sliced
- 1/2 lb water spinach or regular spinach
- 1 tomato sliced
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tbsp kecap manis
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1/4 cup hot water
- 12 oz Chinese egg noodles prepared according to package directions
- 1 cup bean sprouts
Instructions
- Heat up cooking oil in a large sauté pan or wok over medium high heat. Sauté the garlic for 30 seconds.
- Add in the chili paste and belecan. Cook for 3 minutes.
- Add in the shrimp, fish balls, and pork liver. Cook for 30 seconds.
- Add in the spinach and tomatoes. Cook for a couple of minutes until the spinach starts to wilt.
- Push everything to one side of the pan. Crack in the eggs and let set for 30 seconds. Fold the protein and vegetables over the eggs and break up.
- Stir in the soy sauce, kecap manis, and water. Toss in the noodles. Cook for 1 minute.
- Turn off the heat. Toss in the bean sprouts.
Chinese Gravy Noodles
Chinese Gravy Noodles
Da lu mian, also known as Chinese gravy noodles, is northern Chinese comfort food that is unfamiliar to most people outside of China. The gravy sauce is tomato based, using dried ingredients such as lily flowers, shiitake, and wood ear mushrooms to add an unami flavor. The original recipe had little pork and no shrimp, since the concept was to use the cheapest ingredients that you had in your pantry. This version is a little more suped-up and luxurious with the copious amounts of protein. You can also make this dish vegan by omitting the pork and shrimp. Lastly, the gravy is served over shanxi noodles, which is the Chinese equivalent of fettuccine.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs shanxi flat noodles prepared according to package directions
- 1 cup dried lily flower
- 1/2 cup dried wood ear mushrooms
- 10 dried shiitake mushrooms
- 1 lb shrimp peeled and deveined
- 1 lb pork sirloin thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp shaoxing cooking wine
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp salt
Gravy
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 28 oz canned diced tomatoes
- 4 green onions chopped
- 1 tbsp ginger minced
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
Instructions
- Rehydrate the mushrooms and lily flowers in hot water for 60 minutes. Save 2 cups of the water from the lily flowers. Drain the water from the mushrooms and slice.
- Marinate the shrimp and the sliced pork in the cooking wine, cornstarch, and salt for 30 minutes.
- Heat up the cooking oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté the mushrooms and lily flowers for 1 minute.
- Add in the ginger and green onions. Sauté for 1 minute.
- Add in the canned tomato. Sauté for 1 minute,
- Pour in the chicken stock, lily flower water, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Add the shrimp and pork. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Make a slurry with the cornstarch and water. Whisk the slurry into the gravy to thicken. Drizzle the sesame oil over the gravy.
