Fish with Spicy Black Bean Sauce 香辣豆豉魚片

Fish with Spicy Black Bean Sauce 香辣豆豉魚片

Ingredients:

2 lbs Basa fish fillets (4 fillets)– see note below
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp corn starch

Sauce:
3 cloves garlic– chopped
5 red hot peppers– chopped
2 stalks green onions– chopped
2 tbsp cooking oil
2-3 tbsp fermented black beans 豆豉
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce

Method:

1. Defrost fish fillets, then cut each fillets into 4 pieces. Boil water (enough to cover the fish) in a pot.
2. Right before putting fish into boiling water, marinate fish with fresh lemon juice, fish sauce and corn starch. Mix to coat well.
3. Gently lay fish pieces into boiling water, piece by piece so it doesn’t break apart. Cook until the fillets float up. Gently remove fish with a strainer scoop and arrange on a plate.
4. To make the sauce, heat up a wok with 2 tbsp cooking oil, sauté garlic, peppers, black beans and green onions until aromatic, add in soy sauce and oyster sauce. Stir to blend well. Please note this is not a watery sauce and it’s kind of dry. Spoon the sauce over the fish.

Regina’s Note:

• Basa fish fillets: it is usually a product from Vietnam and comes in individually frozen fillets. You can find it in Asian grocery stores in frozen seafood section.
• Marinate fish right before cooking them, or else the acidity of lemon juice will ruin the texture of the fish.

• The black bean sauce can be made ahead of time.