Basa in Soy and Ginger

Here is a very quick post to a dish that I made almost on the spur of the moment. Sometime back, I had asked readers on my facebook page what recipe they would want to see next and a majority of them responded saying a Chinese recipe was long due.

Last week, I instinctively purchased some basa while shopping and since this was my first time, i was left wondering what to cook with it. One experiment with frying it didn't come off too well. But what I realised was that Basa has a nice and buttery flavour that I felt would go well with  Asian seasoning. This took me back a few months when i had been to an Asian restaurant for lunch and managed to catch up with the chef. While chatting with him, he told me about how soya and ginger form a complex but compatible marriage. I decided to give it a try.

I tweeted my anxiety about cooking Basa the first time and folks egged me on. One step followed the other with military precision and by the time I was about half way done, I knew that this was going to be something good. The splash of spring onions on top only jazzed up the entire plating effect. Cooking done, as I was plating I also noticed the sun, who was lazily hiding behind the clouds; coming out in all his splendour as if to demand his share. 

As I had dinner that night, I silently thanked the man who decided to get the Vietnamese Basa to India. 

Basa in Soy, Ginger

Ingredients

• 150 grams, Basa Fillets, cut into bite sized cubes
• 4 tablespoons soya sauce
• 2 tablespoons ginger, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon garlic, finely chopped
• 1 medium sprig, spring onions, finely chopped- retain some of the greens for garnishing.
• 2 green chillies, finely chopped (I used red chilli flakes)
• 1 teaspoon , brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon, white pepper powder
• 1 teaspoon cornflour, mixed with some water to form a slurry
• 2 tablespoons, oil
• Juice of half a lime
• Salt to taste

Procedure:

• Wash the fish fillets and marinate them with the lime juice and the pepper powder. Make sure the juice and pepper powder coats the fish pieces evenly.  Refrigerate this for about half an hour.
• Add the soya sauce and ginger in a bowl. Now, using the back of a spoon, gently crush the ginger pieces in the the bowl. This will allow the flavour of the ginger to gel with the soya sauce.
• Heat the oil in a frying pan or wok. Add the chopped onion, garlic and chillies and saute for a minute.
• Now, add the fish pieces and the sugar. Allow the fish to cook for a minute along with the sugar that will caramelise. This wont take longer than 2 minutes.
• Add, the ginger, soya mixture and stir for another minute. If you want some more gravy, add in some water or stock now.
• Now, add the cornflour slurry and give it one last mix.
• Garnish with spring onion greens and serve hot with fried rice