Lemon and Basil Griddled Sea Bream

Tonight my eldest asked me what was for dinner then sighed immediately, saying "let me guess.... rice, am I right?"

She would have been right, as I had been to the fishmonger in the morning and bought a sea bream, intending to steam it with dried lily flowers, cloud ear fungus and soy sauce, but following this little exchange, I decided to indulge her.

I remember many years ago going to a restaurant called Lemonia with my big sister, where we sat close to Bob Hoskins. We had a lovely dish of griddled sardines, fragrant with lemons and olive oil and I wanted to try and replicate this. In fact, I think there are few things in life nicer than tucking into a big plate of really fresh, griddled fish with a big wedge of lemon, some decent company and preferably a sea view.

We ended up sharing this dish of griddled sea bream, some slow-cooked chick peas with chorizo and tomato and garlic and rosemary roasted potatoes. The eldest made pizza using this Cook Italian pizza kit from Tesco, which was better than I had expected it to be!

Last year on our holiday to Tuscany, I visited a local producer (Novo Frantoio) and horrified my husband by returning with a 3 litre can of olive oil (I had packed light intentionally). Here it is:

Ridiculously tasty olive oil

Words cannot even begin to describe how delicious and beautiful this oil is! I am already starting to worry what I will do when it runs out!

Ingredients

• 1 sea bream, gutted and scaled
• 1/2 lemon, cut into slices
• Grated zest of 1/2 a lemon
• Salt
• Ground black pepper
• 3-4 sprigs of fresh basil
• Plenty of extra virgin olive oil

Serves 1, or can be shared as part of a bigger meal

Instructions

• Wash the bream and pat dry with kitchen towels. Using a sharp knife, slash each side three times, taking care not to cut through the bone
• Sprinkle salt and pepper inside the cavity of the fish, then stuff with 3-4 slices of lemon and 2-3 sprigs of fresh basil leaves
• Place the fish in a dish and pour over extra virgin olive oil to coat the fish. Sprinkle freshly ground black pepper on each side, then leave in the fridge for 20-30 minutes to marinate if you have time
• Heat a griddle or frying pan until very hot. Remove the fish from the fridge and sprinkle salt over both sides, before adding to the griddle. Using a spatula, press down on the fish periodically and griddle for 6-7 minutes on one side

• Carefully lift the fish with a spatula (I use two) and turn over. Griddle on a high heat for a further 6-7 minutes, or until the flesh turns opaque throughout
• Remove the fish from the heat and place on a warmed serving dish. Add the freshly grated lemon zest to the fish and pour the oil from the pan over the fish. Add a little fresh olive oil, then garnish with a few fresh basil leaves
• Serve immediately

Lemon and Basil Griddled Sea Bream

Tomato Fish Pie

My middle child has a real aversion to creamy, white sauces which unfortunately means that there are several dishes that I don't make at the moment. I can sympathise - he is a miniature version of me, and I would be sick as a child if anyone tried to make me eat anything which was too heavy on the dairy. How things have changed!

Normally I would make a fish pie with a white sauce, but tonight I decided to try using a tomato sauce. I used a sauce that was packed with vegetables, but had been liquidised till smooth. If you are short of time, just use a shop-bought sauce. I would have added chopped fresh parsley to the sauce as well, if I didn't suspect it would send him running for the hills!

We ate this with sprouts fried with bacon, but only because this was what was in the fridge. Spinach would be a lovely accompaniment, as would broccoli, runner beans or peas.

 

Ingredients

• Approx. 340g fish pie mix (salmon, smoked haddock and cod, dice into 2-3 cm cubes - you can add prawns or vary the fish)
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 stick celery, diced
• 2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed or finely chopped
• 1 tsp dried mixed herbs (oregano, thyme, rosemary)
• 1 red chilli
• Olive oil for frying
• 1/2 tsp red wine vinegar
• 3-4 large, floury potatoes such as maris piper
• A few tablespoons of sweetcorn kernels (tinned or fresh is fine)
• 30-40g butter
• A splash of milk
• Salt and pepper to season

Serves 4-5

 

Instructions

• Make the tomato sauce. Add the olive oil to a large, heavy-based saucepan and heat very gently
• Add the crushed garlic and let it bubble gently for a minute to infuse the oil. Do not  let the garlic catch and burn
• Add the diced onions and increase the heat to moderate. Stir the onions in the oil for a minute or two until glossy, then add the carrots and celery. Stir for a further minute or two, then add the tinned tomatoes, red wine vinegar, mixed herbs and 6-8 good turns of the pepper mill. Mix well and bring to a simmer
• Using a knife or skewer, poke a couple of holes into the chilli and place it in the tomato sauce. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes

• While the sauce is simmering, make the mashed potato. Peel the potatoes and cut into 3-4 cm dice. Place in a pan and cover with cold water
• Bring the water to the boil, then boil gently for 15-20 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft
• Drain the potatoes and return to the pan. Mash the potatoes roughly, then add the butter, milk and salt and pepper to taste. Continue to mash until smooth

• Remove the chilli from the sauce and liquidise until smooth
• Add the sweetcorn kernels and mix into the sauce

• Pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees fan. Place the fish pie mix into a baking dish, then pour over the tomato sauce (you will have made more than you need, aim for the sauce to only just reach the top of the fish). Mix the fish and sauce together, then arrange evenly in the base of the dish
• Using a tablespoon, place the mash on top of the fish. Start from the outside, working your way to the centre of the dish (this will stop the sauce from spilling over the sides of the dish) until the mash is heaped fairly evenly over the fish
• Using a fork, score and roughen up the surface of the mash to get a lovely crunchy topping
• (Optional) Add a couple of dots of butter or grated cheese over the top of the mash
• Place in the oven and cook for 40 minutes until the fish is cooked through
• Serve with green vegetables, simply cooked

Tomato Fish Pie

Tomato Fish Pie with Stir-Fried Sprouts and Bacon

Cod Wrapped in Bacon, with Samphire, Potatoes and Tomatoes

Most children who are brought up in a household with Chinese cooking will be acquainted with seaweed in some form or other, and I don't mean the crispy green stuff that you get in the chippy (which isn't seaweed). One of my favourites is 紫菜湯, a yummy soup with ginger, pork, dried shrimps and fronds of greenish-brownish seaweed, which are sold in dried pancakes, and soaked and rinsed of sand several times before being dropped into the soup at the last minute to create that wonderful salty, iodine-y taste of the sea.

I really like samphire, and wish that it was available more readily. I was excited to see it at the Hawarden Estate Farm Shop, and picked up a box without a clue how to cook it. It has that lovely seaweedy taste, and a freshness and bite that goes well with a crispy slab of white (I suspect pink also) fish. Stir-frying seemed to work well, the fishmonger also told me that it's normally just boiled for a few minutes.

Be gentle with the salt in this dish, as the bacon and the samphire will both add to the flavour of the finished plate.

 

Ingredients:

• 2 cod loins
• 6 slices streaky bacon
• Large handful of samphire
• 8-10 baby new potatoes, washed (I used British Gems from Sainsbury's)
• 6-8 cherry tomatoes
• Lots of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp. chopped fresh herbs, rosemary, parsley, thyme, oregano, marjoram
• Salt and pepper to season

Serves 2

 

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 190 degrees fan
• Prepare the potatoes by cutting in half and placing in a single layer in a roasting dish. Add the chopped herbs, 6-8 twists of the salt mill and 10-12 twists of ground black pepper (adjust seasoning according to taste). Pour over 3-4 generous lugs of olive oil, and stir to mix the seasoning and oil with the potatoes
• Place the potatoes in the oven for 35 minutes
• Pre-heat the roasting tin for the cod in the same oven
• Wash the cod loin and dry on kitchen towels
• Sprinkle the cod with a few twists of black pepper, the wrap the streaky bacon around each loin, folding the ends underneath snugly

Wrap the streaky bacon around the cod loins

Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil to a large, heavy-based pan and heat until very hot (oil is moving around the pan). Place the cod loins, "tidy" side down, to the pan. Brown for 3-4 minutes, taking care not to move the cod around the pan too much

Using a spatula, turn the loins over and brown the bacon for a further 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat, but reserve the frying oil

Place the loins on the pre-heated roasting tray and add the halved cherry tomatoes, cut side facing upwards. Sprinkle the tomatoes with a little salt, pepper and mixed herbs, and drizzle olive oil over

Place the roasting tray in the same oven as the potatoes, for 15 minutes

Place the browned cod loins in a dish with the tomatoes

• Wash the samphire and drain. Cut off any woody stems
• Reheat the pan containing the oil that was used to brown the cod. When the oil is hot, add the samphire and stir-fry for 5 minutes
• Add a few twists of black pepper to the samphire and stir well before removing from the heat. Place on a warmed plate, then add the cod, tomatoes and potatoes. Serve immediately

Cod Wrapped in Bacon, with Samphire, Potatoes and Tomatoes

Baked Cod with a Cheese and Mustard Crust

This recipe is so simple, and perfect for a quick dinner after school. It takes about 5 minutes to prepare and 12 minutes to cook. I made up the breadcrumb and cheese mixture at night and kept it covered in the fridge, only adding the oil when I was ready to cook. When just cooked through, the fish is moist and juicy, and its mild taste is nicely offset by the strength of the cheddar and mustard. The children had it with mash and peas (well, the middle ate two peas, which is two more than he ate last time they were served), but it would also go nicely with some simply cooked pasta, tossed in butter or olive oil, salt and pepper, and any manner of green vegetable... courgettes, asparagus and fine beans spring to mind.

 

Ingredients

• 2 thick fillets cod or similar firm white fish
• A large handful grated cheddar cheese - aim for similar volumes of cheese and breadcrumbs
• 1 slice of stale bread (I prefer seeded but any bread is fine, and the crusts are fine too)
• 1/2 tsp English mustard powder (has to be Colman's for me)
• 4-5 enormous shakes of olive oil - or 20-25g of butter, cut into small cubes
• 1 tbsp pine nuts
• 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
• Salt and pepper to season

Serves 2-3

 

Instructions

• Pre-heat oven to 195 degrees. Oil a baking tray and pre-heat in the oven
• Whizz the bread to breadcrumbs in a processor, or chop roughly
• Mix the breadcrumbs, grated cheese, mustard and dried mixed herbs with the pine nuts together in a bowl, and season well with salt and pepper. Add the olive oil (or butter) and mix well
• Press the breadcrumb mixture down onto the fish fillets and place on the baking tray

• Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the cod is cooked through and the crust is browned
• Serve immediately

Baked Cod with a Cheese and Mustard Crust

Served with mash and peas

Pan-Fried Rainbow Trout with Black Bean and Garlic Sauce (蒜蓉豉汁煎虹鱒魚)

Rainbow trout is a relatively cheap and abundant fish. It is an oily fish, and a source of omega-3 oil. We haven't had it for a long time - the bones can make it a bit tricky for young children, especially if you are my husband and can't remove meat from a fish without mushing all of the bones up with it. I used to roast it in a hot oven with a horseradish creme fraiche and sliced potatoes, a recipe which comes from Jamie Oliver's "Return of the Naked Chef". It suits strong flavours, and worked well tonight with ginger and black bean and garlic sauce.

I remember as a child, not being phased by meat and fish that looked like meat and fish, and I would like for my family not to be sensitised to such things. Growing up in a catering family, I was used to following my dad around during the school holidays, going to the wholesalers at Prescott Road in Liverpool at 5am to buy meat and vegetables for the restaurant. When I started my career as a summer student, I took a basic food hygiene course run by Essex council. The lady asked if anyone had been in an abattoir, and I put my hand up. Her immediate reaction was "oh really? And how was it? I hear the abattoirs in China are very different to how they are here!". I don't think she was expecting me to mention that the abattoir I'd visited had been in Birkenhead. Mind you, that wasn't quite as toe-curling as the ante-natal class in Surrey, when I was pregnant with the eldest. The physiotherapist had been discussing birthing positions, and noted that women in the 3rd world tended to give birth in the squatting position. She then turned to me in front of all of the expectant mums and asked "so, do you know how to squat??!!", much to the amusement of my husband. When we had all had our babies and become friends, we had a good laugh about it.

 

Ingredients

• 1 rainbow trout, scaled and gutted
• 3 slices of raw ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks
• 50-75ml water
• 1 heaped  tsp black bean and garlic sauce
• (Optional) 1/4 tsp cornflour mixed in a little water for thickening
• Sunflower oil for frying
• Handful of fresh coriander, chopped

Serves 1 (or more as part of a meal)

 

Instructions

• Wash the trout inside and out, and pat dry on kitchen towels
• Add two tbsp sunflower oil to a hot, heavy-based frying pan and heat until the oil is smoking
• Add the trout to the pan and leave it for 3-4 minutes whilst it sizzles on a high heat and crisps the skin. Reduce the heat slightly and leave for a further 1-2 minutes
• Turn the heat back up to high, then flip the trout to the other side and repeat
• After 10 minutes' frying, check that the fish is cooked right through by separating some of the flesh with a sharp knife and making sure the flesh is opaque to the bone
• Remove from the heat and place on a warmed plate
• Drain off any excess oil until there is approximately 1 tbsp left in the pan. Heat the oil until it is moving in the pan, and add the ginger. Stir-fry rapidly for 30 seconds - make sure it doesn't burn
• Add 50-75ml water and 1 heaped tsp black bean sauce to the pan. stir to combine and boil for 30 seconds
• (Optional) thicken the sauce with a little cornflour mixed in water, if required
• Pour the sauce over the trout
• Garnish with fresh coriander and serve immediately (we had it as part of a meal with rice, fried "purse" eggs (煎荷包蛋) and stir-fried lettuce)

Pan-Fried Rainbow Trout with Black Bean and Garlic Sauce (蒜蓉豉汁煎虹鱒魚)

Deep-Fried Sprats with Red Chinese Vinegar (油炸鯡魚點醋)

The reduced fresh produce appears on the shelves at around a quarter to 8 in the evening at our local Sainsbury's, and when it's a supermarket day, I can usually be found lurking around the aisles at this time. Last night I came home with a packet of sprats for 50p, a bream for £2.60 and a couple of papaya for 39p each. My mum and dad would be proud of me, but I'm not a patch on my best friend, Yin's mum, whom I think managed Christmas dinner for under a fiver last year!

Although I prefer to get my fish from the fishmonger, the choice at the supermarket, especially when it's reduced, is fine. The bream went straight into the freezer (along with last week's bargain dover sole, which doesn't actually freeze that well) for another day, and the papaya will be turned into soup with pork ribs. The sprats pretty much need to be eaten the next day, and although the fishmonger said I didn't need to gut them, I personally prefer to, I think it makes the taste much cleaner.

The eldest loves to dip her sprats into red Chinese vinegar, and was last seen rather worryingly drinking it straight from the bowl. The middle child preferred tomato ketchup, and the toddler still prefers to run around and create merry hell, rather than eat anything. The fish is fried until crisp and crunchy, so bones are not a problem.

Unfortunately, I think the oil for frying probably costs more than the fish!

 

Ingredients

• 400g sprats
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• A large pinch of salt
• A large pinch of ground white pepper
• Sunflower or vegetable oil for deep-frying

Suggested Dips: Chinese red vinegar, tomato ketchup, Lea and Perrins Worcester sauce, sweet chilli sauce

Serves 2-3

 

Instructions

• Using a sharp knife, cut the heads off the sprats and cut along the underside through the belly. Scrape/pull the guts out and discard. Give the sprats a quick rinse
• Place the sprats onto kitchen towels and dry thoroughly
• Place 1 tbsp cornflour, a large pinch of salt and a large pinch of ground white pepper into a plastic bag (I use a sandwich bag) and shake thoroughly to mix
• Add the sprats to the bag, close and shake around until they are coated in the cornflour mixture
• Remove the sprats from the bag and dust off any excess cornflour
• Place 3-4cm depth of sunflower oil into a small wok and heat until very hot. I test this by placing a wooden chopstick into the oil, and when it starts to bubble, you know the oil is hot enough
• Add the sprats, 4-5 at a time to the oil. Be careful not to overload the wok, or the sprats will turn soggy. If you want to fry more sprats at a time, then increase the depth of the oil, but it should never reach more than a third of the height of the wok or pan. The sprats should be able to move freely when you swirl the oil around the wok
• Keeping the heat high, deep fry for 2-3 minutes, swirling them around the wok periodically and turning them once
• Remove from the wok and place on a warmed plate on kitchen towels
• Repeat until all of the sprats are cooked
• Remove the kitchen towels and serve immediately with an assortment of dipping sauces

Deep-Fried Sprats with Red Chinese Vinegar (油炸鯡魚點醋)

Deep-Fried Sprats

Steamed Fluke with Tianjin Preserved Vegetables (天津冬菜蒸比目魚)

Last Saturday, I dropped the eldest off at her Chinese class, and headed into town for my usual trip to the fishmonger. My friend, Regina, realised that this was the last class of term and panic-bought enough fish to last until New Year, it seemed!

It still feels like a bit of a treat going to the fishmonger on a Saturday morning, followed by a trip to the greengrocer. The displays are always full of a decent variety of fresh, plump, glistening fish and shellfish, and the fishmonger is always happy to chat, recomending what is in season and what came in the morning's catch, and asking us how we would cook certain ingredients. By the time we have finished, there's usually a queue behind us, and one of us has probably nicked the last of the prawns/clams/scallops.....

Last week, the fishmonger recommended that I try the fluke, that had been landed that morning. Having never tried it (or even flounder) before, I was intrigued. Normally, I'll buy a dover sole or a lemon sole if I'm after a flat fish. It was an ugly looking thing, but big enough to feed us all, so I picked one up for about £4. On this occasion, I also picked up 4 fat slabs of salmon, which got vac-packed for the freezer, and a couple of herring, which I seasoned, floured and pan-fried. The herring roe was delicious given the same treatment, and dipped in Chinese red vinegar.

I thought about pan-frying the fluke, but it was so fresh, I decided to steam it instead. It was an absolute treat. The flesh was light, delicate, moist and flaky, and the children gobbled it up. One day, I'll make them brainy! I used Tianjin preserved vegetable, which can be bought in Chinese supermarkets. It's a preserved, salted cabbage, which needs to be soaked and rinsed a few times, and is one of my favourite accompaniments for steamed fish.

Tianjin Preserved Vegetable (天津冬菜)

 

Ingredients

• 1 fluke or flounder, scaled and gutted
• 3 tsp Tianjin preserved vegetable, soaked in warm water for 10 mins, then drained and rinsed a few times to remove grit
• 3 slices of raw ginger, peeled and sliced into fine matchsticks
• A very small pinch of ground white pepper
• 3-4 big sploshes of seasoned soy sauce for seafood (or use light soy sauce)
• A few drops of a flavourless oil, such as grapeseed or sunflower oil

Serves 2-3

 

Instructions

• Rinse the fish inside and out, and pat dry with kitchen towels. Lay dark-side up on a heatproof steaming dish (I use a metal dish, but anything will do, you might just need to steam for a few minutes longer)
• Scatter the sliced ginger over the top of the fish
• Squeeze any excess moisture from the Tianjin preserved vegetable, and scatter it over the fish and ginger. Sprinkle a very small pinch of ground white pepper over the top
• Splosh the seasoned soy sauce for seafood over the fish in abundance - the sauce is great for adding to rice, so I always make sure there's enough to go round
• Add a couple of drops of sunflower or grapeseed oil
• Place the dish on a rack over water in a large wok, cover, and steam for 8-10 minutes, until just cooked through
• Serve with boiled rice

 

Steamed Fluke with Tianjin Preserved Vegetables (天津冬菜蒸比目魚)

Cantonese Steamed Sea Bass with Ginger and Spring Onion (清蒸鱸魚)

Saturday is fish-buying day. The fishmonger in Chester market has a decent range of seafood for the UK, and is always cheerful and friendly - even today, when the 4 year old stated loudly and baldly "I don't want to buy your smelly fish!". He took my order, vac-packed my salmon as I requested, kept it refrigerated whilst I took the 4 year old for an ice-cream, and assembled a little ice pack to put in my bag, so the fish didn't go off on this glorious day. The clams on the stall brought about a craving for spaghetti alla vongole, but I procrastinated for so long that they had all gone by the time I decided to buy them. Oh well, maybe next week.

Ingredients

• 1 sea bass, scaled and gutted
• 2 slices of raw ginger, peeled and cut into fine matchsticks
• 2-3 spring onions, cut into 6cm lengths and sliced into fine slivers
• 1-2 tsp Shaoxing rice wine (or sherry as a subsitute)
• 3-4 shakes of seasoned soy sauce for sea food (use light soy as a substitute)
• A pinch of ground white pepper
• 2 tbsp sunflower or corn oil

Serves 2-4, depending on size

Instructions

• Rinse the sea bass inside and out and remove any remaining scales by running a knife in the opposite direction to the lie of the scales. Pat dry with kitchen paper, and place in a heat-proof steaming dish
• Add a pinch of white pepper to the fish, then scatter the ginger over the fish and pour over the Shaoxing rice wine and seasoned soy sauce

• Place the dish on a rack over water in a wok, cover, and steam for 10-12 minutes, depending on the size of the fish
• When the fish is cooked, remove it from the heat and scatter the spring onion slivers on top of the fish
• Heat 2 tbsp sunflower or corn oil in a pan until very hot (just at smoking point). Pour the oil over the spring onions
• Serve immediately with boiled rice

Cantonese Steamed Sea Bass with Ginger and Spring Onion (清蒸鱸魚)

Steamed Salmon with Lemon, Ginger and Soy (檸檬豉油蒸三文魚)

This one probably gets cooked at least once a fortnight, if not weekly. It's another "in the top of the rice cooker" dishes and the children love it mixed in with their rice, with plenty of sauce. Go easy on the lemon - 2-3 thin slices should be enough - anything more will overpower the dish. I think this dish needs the seasoned soy sauce for seafood, rather than normal light soy - use a Japanese soy sauce such as Kikkoman if you don't have the seafood soy sauce.

Ingredients

• 2 salmon fillets or salmon steaks
• 3-4 slices of peeled, raw ginger
• 2-3 thin slices of lemon
• Seasoned soy sauce for seafood

Instructions

• Wash the salmon fillets, pat dry and place in a steaming dish
• Place the ginger evenly on top of the salmon fillets, then place the lemon slices on top of the ginger
• Pour over the seasoned soy sauce for seafood - my children love this so I normally have up to 1cm depth in the dish
• Steam for 10 minues. If you are using a rice cooker, place in the steaming basket just before the button comes back up and allow to steam for 10-15 minutes
• Serve with rice and green vegetables such as broccoli, choi sum, courgettes etc.

Steamed Salmon with Lemon, Ginger and Soy

Fried Halibut with Ginger, Spring Onion and Soy Sauce

This recipe works for most types of firm fish - halibut, hake and monkfish fillets or steaks, whole fish such as bream and bass, and oily fish such as salmon. I haven't managed a great photo, and made a couple of errors tonight. One thing I discovered was the massive difference it makes if you're using standard light soy sauce - as a preference I would use a soy sauce labelled "for seafood" (e.g. Lee Kum Kee), which is sweeter, and milder. Failing that, perhaps a Japanese soy sauce such as Kikkoman. If you only have light soy sauce though, just taste it and make sure it's not too salty.

LKK Seasoned Soy Sauce for Seafood

Ingredients

• One or two firm white fish fillets or steaks (I used halibut)
• Spring onions, chopped finely (green and white parts)
• 4-6 slices of raw, peeled ginger, bashed with the flat of a cleaver
• Ground white pepper
• Seasoned soy sauce for seafood
• Sunflower or vegetable oil
• (Optional) Cornflour for dusting
• (Optional) Few drops of sesame oil

Instuctions

• Dry the halibut fillets on kitchen towels
• (Optional) Season some cornflour with ground white pepper on a dish, pat the fillets in to coat lightly, and pat off any excess cornflour. Set to one side
• Heat a couple of spoonfuls of sunflower oil in a large, non-stick frying pan. When the oil is hot, add the ginger and stir round to flavour the oil
• Add the halibut to the pan, and let cook for 3-4 minutes, depending on the thickness of the steak. Don't disturb the steak too much in the pan, to allow the surface to crisp up nicely. Remove the ginger if it starts to burn
• Flip the fillet over, lower the heat setting and cook for a further 3-4 minutes on the other side. When the fillet is cooked, remove from the pan and place on a warmed dish
• Discard any remaining ginger, give the pan a wipe and place back on the heat. You don't need a lot of oil at this stage, but add a few drops if you like
• Add the spring onions to the pan and stir round quickly to soften, taking care not to burn
• Add the soy sauce and a little water to the pan, and let boil. Add some ground white pepper and adjust water/pepper/soy levels to your taste
• (Optional). Remove from the heat and add a couple of drops of sesame oil
• Pour over the fish and serve

We had this with boiled rice, corn on the cob, stir-fried beansprouts and yesterday's leftover chicken. All three children love any fish and ask for ladle-fuls of sauce with their rice. The toddler had had a mammoth 3 hour nap, so ran around for most of dinner, but came to me periodically to have chopstick-fuls of fish, sauce and rice shovelled into his mouth :-).

Fried Halibut with Ginger, Spring Onion and Soy Sauce