Recipe: Kam Ngan Moon Tei

Kam Ngan Moon Tei
(Gold And Silver All Around)

Ingredients
1 garoupa, approximately 1kg

Black Pepper Sauce Fish
(Use only half of the fish)

Seasoning (A)
1/4 tsp salt
Pinch of pepper
Pinch of sugar
1/2 a yellow onion, cut into wedges
30g fresh lily bulb, petals removed
2 water chestnuts, sliced thinly
1 stalk spring onion, cut into 3cm lengths
1 stalk coriander, cut into 3cm lengths
1 tbsp sliced young ginger
1/2 tsp chopped garlic
1/2 tsp chopped cili padi
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp sesame oil

Sauce ingredients (to be combined)
1 tbsp oyster sauce
3 tbsp Life black pepper sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp water

Ask the fishmonger to remove the fish meat or fish fillet neatly from both sides of the fish. Use only half of the fillet and keep the other half for the tempura fish. Slice fish fillet into 1.5cm thick slices. Marinate with (A) and set aside for 5 to 10 minutes.

Heat oil and sesame oil, and fry garlic, cili padi and ginger until aromatic. Add water chestnuts, marinated fish slices and onion. Stir-fry briskly. Add sauce ingredients and toss well. Lastly add in spring onion, coriander and fresh lily bulb to mix. Dish out.

Tempura Fish Slices
(for the other half of the fish)
2 dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked until soft and shredded
1 stalk spring onion, cut into 2cm lengths
15g carrot, shredded
2g fatt choy, soaked

Seasoning (B)
1/2 tsp ginger juice
1/2 tsp Shao Hsing Hua Tiau cooking wine
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Pinch of sugar

Tempura batter
1 egg
3 ice cubes
150ml ice-cold water
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
100g plain flour

To prepare tempura batter, break the egg into a bowl of ice-cold water together with the ice cubes. Beat until almost frothy. Add in bicarbonate of soda and sift in flour. Beat again until just mixed; avoid excessive beating. The batter should be lumpy; should it be too thick, add a little more ice water.

Cut fish fillet into 1cm thick slices. Marinate with (B) and set aside for 10 minutes. Take a slice of fish, add 2 slices of carrot, 2 slices of mushrooms and 1 piece of spring onion. Wind round with a little fatt choy to hold them together tightly. Set aside on a piece of absorbent kitchen paper.

Heat wok with enough oil for deep-frying. Hold the prepared fish slices tightly and dip into tempura batter. Put into the hot oil and deep-fry until golden brown. Dish out and drain from oil. Arrange tempura pieces on a serving plate. Add any chilli sauce as a dip for the tempura fish slices.

Chef's note: This dish has a dual flavour. For one side of the fish fillet, the fish meat is stir-fried with black pepper sauce to produce the "silver" portion. The tempura fish slices, meanwhile, represents the "gold" portion.