Since I don't really know the "real" name to call this dish, I'll just named it as it. Yes, there's fish in it....:) I just added whatever I could remember of this dish when my grams used to cook it or when we had it at some hawker center. It's been a looonnnngggg time and there're so many versions of this soupy delight out there that I'm not even gonna to delve into it. I'll leave it as such
Being in Lawrence, fresh fish is hard to come by and when I get the opportunity, I'll take it with no questions asked... Sometimes what you don't know it's better for you. I added whatever I could scavenge from my fridge so to clear everything out before the next major shopping in town. Of course, that means it might not be as authentic as the "real" thing. Overall it turned out to be a pretty rich broth but light as well. All you need is simply fresh fish and the rest is, well, whatever you can find in the fridge..:)
Recipe
Ingredients
-Red Snapper, Whole fish preferred and then cut up to bite size pieces.
-Salted mustard, rinsed and cut up
-Tofu, medium firm to firm
-Tomatoes, quartered
-Ginger, sliced (amount depends on how much you like ginger)
-Dried Seaweed, the China type (which usually comes in a circular form)
-Shaoxing wine
-Evaporated milk, amount depends on how rich you want it to be, I used 1 cup
-Thick vermicelli noodles, soaked in cold water for about 1 hr to soften it and then cooked in rapid boiling water till done.
Method
-Clean, towel-dried and cut the fish, salt it slightly and then set aside for now
-Drain the preserved liquid from the salted mustard by rinsing it under cold tap water a few times, you don't to soak it too much or it would just be too bland for the soup but enough to rinse off excess salt.
-Cut the tofu into cubes, quartered about 3 tomatoes, sliced up the ginger, hyrate those seaweed and ready for the frying of the fish pieces
-Heat up a pot with some oil, then add in the ginger slices, fried till fragrant and add in water or stock, enough for the soup part, I used water here since I ran out of home-made stock
-I used a deep-fryer here but any wok or sauce pot will do the trick. Deep fried the fish pieces, remember not to put in too many pieces at one time or it wouldn't really fry up. You don't want to really cook the fish through, just a quick blanch in the very hot oil. Take them out and set them aside on a kitchen towel to drain some of the excess oil
-Then once the water/stock is boiling, add in the tomatoes and salted mustard. Boil till tomatoes are softened.
-Then start to add the fried fish in, simmer at this point and add in the evaporated milk and wine.
-Taste before adding salt since the mustard is not thoroughly rinsed through and also some sugar to enhance soup.
-Once everything's done, add in the tofu cubes and seaweed and switched off the stove!
-Put the cooked noodles into a bowl, add the soup with little of everything, topped it with some chopped spring onions and you're done. Enjoy!
