Hot Bean Sauce Fish with Asparagus (辣豆辦醬蘆筍斑腩, Laat6 Dau6 Faan6 Zoeng3 Lou4 Seon2 Baan1 Naam5)

 

This recipe was updated on 12 Jul 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Fish fillets in hot bean sauce is a classic Chinese dish and using asparagus is a Western addition to the dish, with Shiitake mushrooms adding another flavor. I used coin mushrooms in this dish, which are small, coin-sized Shiitake mushrooms – the Cantonese translation is “Gold Coin Mushroom”. If coin mushrooms are not available at your local Asian market, just use regular Shiitake mushrooms cut into pieces.

The root end of the asparagus has a tough skin. The usual advice is to take the root end of the asparagus in one hand and the tip end with the other, snap the asparagus (it breaks at the natural tough-tender skin boundary), and discard the root end and use the tip end. However that results in a lot of waste (in my opinion) since the center of the root end is still tender and edible, it’s just the skin that’s tough. So I’ve found that if you use a vegetable peeler, you can remove the tough outer skin and use the entire asparagus stalk. It takes some practice to just remove the asparagus’ tough skin. My first efforts using a vegetable peeler resulted in breaking the stalks and/or peeling too much of the asparagus at the root end, so I had some odd looking asparagus pieces. I’ve tried using a knife to remove the skin, but I’ve found that with practice the vegetable peeler removes less of the asparagus stalk root end’s tender center.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

¾ lb.	350 g.	Fish fillets (斑腩, baan1 naam5), cut into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Corn starch (粟粉, suk1 fan2)
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Salt (鹽, jim4)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
½ Tbs.	7.5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)
¾ lb.	350 g.	Asparagus (蘆筍, lou4 seon2), cut on the diagonal into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces
10	10	Dried whole coin (金錢菇, gam1 cin4 gu1) or Shiitake mushrooms (冬菇, dung1 gu1) cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces, rehydrated
3 stalks	3 stalks	Green onions (葱, cung1), cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
		Oil for cooking

 

Sauce Ingredients

2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Lian How brand hot bean sauce (辣豆辦醬, laat6 dau6 faan6 zoeng3) or equivalent
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
½ Tbs.	7.5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)
		Mushroom rehydration liquid
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Corn starch (粟粉, suk1 fan2)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Water

 

Equipment

		Vegetable peeler
		Garlic press
14 in.	35.5 cm.	Wok or pan

 

Lian How Brand
Hot Bean Sauce
(辣豆辦醬,
laat6 dau6 faan6 zoeng3)

Preparation Instructions

1. Pour boiling water over the dried coin or Shiitake mushrooms in a heat proof bowl and rehydrate the mushrooms for at least one hour.
2. Prepare the fish fillets by removing any remaining skin or bones, and cut into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces. Marinate the fish for at least one hour with the ginger and garlic crushed in a garlic press, corn starch, salt, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil.
3. Remove the coin or Shiitake mushrooms from the rehydration liquid. Use the coin mushrooms whole or cut the Shiitake mushrooms into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces. Reserve the rehydration liquid for later use in the cooking process.
4. Wash the asparagus stalks and use a vegetable peeler to remove the tough outer skin at the root end. This is an easy method to use the entire stalk (or you can snap the stalk and discard the root end). Cut the asparagus into 2-inch (5 cm.) lengths on the diagonal.
5. Crush the ginger and garlic in a garlic press and put into a small bowl.
6. Wash and cut the green onions into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces.
7. Prepare and mix the sauce in a small bowl: add the Lian How brand hot bean sauce or equivalent, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil. In another small bowl, prepare the corn starch slurry by mixing the corn starch and water together.

Cooking Instructions

1. Heat a wok or pan over high heat before adding oil and then the fish. Stir fry the fish until brown by forming one layer of fish in the wok and leaving the fish alone for a while before flipping it over to brown the other side. You may have to stir fry the fish in batches, so be sure to reheat the wok over high heat before adding more oil. Transfer the browned fish to a bowl.
2. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the coin or Shiitake mushrooms. Stir fry the mushrooms and then transfer them to the bowl with the fish.
3. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the asparagus. Stir fry the asparagus to brown them. Add the bowl with the ginger and garlic mixture, and then some oil to the mixture. Quickly stir fry all the ingredients until the ginger and garlic mixture becomes fragrant. Add the green onions and the contents of the bowl with the fish back into the wok, and stir fry all the ingredients together.
4. Add the sauce ingredients and some of the Shiitake mushroom rehydration liquid to the wok. Mix the ingredients together before adding the corn starch slurry to thicken the sauce. Put the cooked ingredients into a serving dish and serve with steamed rice.