An old Teochew recipe with fish served chilled and scales on.
Ingredients
- 1 grey mullet, about 800 g, stomach cleaned but with the scales left on
TAU CHEO DIP
- 2 tbsps salted soya beans, whole beans and liquid
- Juice from 1 large green lime
- 2 red chilli padi, sliced
- 1 thumb-sized piece of old ginger, peeled and thinly shredded
- ½ tsp sugar or to taste, optiona
GREEN LIME, CHILLI & GARLIC DIP
- Juice from 1 large green lime
- I large green lime, thinly sliced
- 2 green chillis, sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced thinly
- 1 tbsp fish sauce or to taste
- 1 tsp sugar or to taste
Steps
Bring a wok – it should be large enough for the fish – half-filled with water to the boil.
When the water boils, put the fish on a plate and steam, covered, for 15 minutes. Remove and leave to cool in the fridge.
In the meantime, make the two dips. First, mix all the ingredients for the tau cheo dip together and taste to adjust the seasonings. Leave aside.
To make the other dip, add the fish sauce, lime juice and sugar to the garlic slices and mix well, adjusting for taste.
Add the lime slices and green chilli just before serving to preserve the bright green colour.
Serve the mullet chilled, with the two dips in bowls for diners to spoon out according to their preference.
Add some fresh salad to make this a well-balanced meal.
Recipe: Sylvia Tan/ Photo: Kua Chee Siong/The Straits Times