The man behind Yan Can Cook is back with new show Martin Yan’s Asian Favourites, which premieres on Jan 5 at 9pm on the Asian Food Channel (Starhub Ch 435). This tasty noodle soup dish, with succulent fish head, is sure to be a hit at Chinese New Year.
Ingredients
- 250 g dried rice noodles (banh pho)
- 1 fish head, 500 g
- 120g tapioca flour
- 120g rice flour
- 960ml chicken broth
- 3 cm-long piece of young ginger, sliced thinly
- ½ cup cooking cream or evaporated milk
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp Chinese rice wine
- ¼ cup pickled mustard greens, thinly sliced
- 2 pickled plums
- 6 baby bok choy leaves
- 2 tomatoes, quartered
- ¼ cup fried shallots, for garnish
- 1 tbsp salt
- Cooking oil, for deep-frying
Steps
Soak rice noodles in enough water to cover until softened, about 25 minutes. Drain when noodles are softened. In a large pot of boiling water, add rice noodles and cook until done, about 1 min. Drain well and set aside.
Clean fish head well, pat dry, cut into large pieces and season with salt. Set aside for 30 mins.
On a plate, combine tapioca and rice flours. Dredge fish head pieces in the flour mixture, coating well. In a pan, heat cooking oil to 180 C over medium-high heat. Fry fish head pieces until golden and crispy for about 15 mins. Remove from oil and drain well on paper towels. Set fried fish pieces aside.
In a pot, heat the chicken broth over medium heat. Add the ginger slices and cook until fragrant. Add cooking cream or evaporated milk, fish sauce, rice wine, pickled mustard greens, pickled plums and baby bok choy. Bring to a boil and add in tomatoes, noodles and ½ portion of fish head, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes.
Add a few pieces of fried fish head into broth, cook for 1-2 mins, then place in a bowl. When ready to serve, arrange tomatoes, pickled mustard greens, baby bok choy and fish head on top. Garnish with fried shallots.
MARTIN’S TIP: Add extra rice wine to your broth, for deeper flavour