Rice Noodle Soup With Deep Fried Fish Fillets

Having just returned from my summer vacation, I did not want to indulge in anything too heavy for dinner as I was still recovering from jet lag. I just needed something soupy. So, I decided to cook this delicious and simple meal, Rice Noodle Soup with Deep Fried Fish Fillets. I used a fresh sea bass for this recipe’s deep fried fish fillets. As for the soup base, I just used the fish bones and lots of chicken bones to sweetened the soup. The clear aromatic soup was just what I needed, light and yet hearty, served with a handful of rice noodles or vermicelli, and topped off with a few slices of deep fried sea bass fillets. Simply divine!
Since we are on the topic about fish, if you are interested, you may want to check out an article I submitted about how intimidated I get when dealing with live fish. This was in response to CanadianLiving.com’s question to a few of their favorite food bloggers from around the world, “What ingredient are you most intimidated by?”. Do visit CanadianLiving.com, it’s one of the largest lifestyle website in Canada, and have a good laugh reading about my “live fish” experience. Here is the link for the article and I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Colleen Tully, their food editor, for including Seasaltwithfood as one of their favorite food blogs.

*This is an updated post with a video cooking guide. (Previously posted on 09/07/10)



Rice Noodle Soup With Deep Fried Fish Fillets

Ingredients

1 Whole (2.2 lbs/1 kg) Sea Bass or Barramundi Fish, fillets (sliced into smaller pieces) and reserved bones for the soup
1 tsp Finely Chopped Ginger
¼ tsp Sea Salt
½ Cup Corn Flour/Starch
3 Salted Plums
2 to 3 Tomatoes
1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
4 Tbsp of Shaoxing Wine
Sea Salt to taste
1 Piece (3 inches) Ginger, julienned
150 g Salted Mustard, sliced
300 to 400 grams Homemade Thick Rice Noodles (Lai Fun), or Rice Vermicelli or Rice Sticks (cooked as per manufacturer’s instructions)
Peanut Oil or Vegetable Oil for deep-frying
Ground White Peppercorn

Condiments
8 – 10 Thai Bird’s Eye Chilies, chopped
3 Tbsp Soy Sauce

Soup Base
8 to 10 Cups of Chicken Broth or Water (with 2 lbs Chicken Bones or 3 Chicken Cubes)
1 Yellow Onion, peeled and halved
½ tsp White Peppercorns
1" Ginger, smashed
Fish Bones from the Whole Barramundi or Sea Bass

Method

Make the soup base; combine the chicken broth (bones or cubes), onion, peppercorns, ginger, and fish bones in a large stick pot. Bring the stock to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for about 1 hour.

Strain the stock into another pot and mix in the salted plums, salted mustard and continue to simmer for another 30 minutes. Then add tomatoes and bring it to a boil again and let it simmer gently for another 5 to 8 minutes. Season the soup with sesame oil, soy sauce, wine, and sea salt.

Marinate the fish fillets with 1 tsp ginger and ¼ tsp of sea salt for about 20 minutes.

Heat just enough oil in a wok or pan over moderate to high temperature. Deep fry the fish in batches until golden in color and drain on paper towel.

To serve the, divide the cooked rice noodles among 4 to 6 bowls. Top each with the broth, deep fried fish, some ginger, salted, sesame oil and with a few dashes of ground white peppercorn. Serve hot with some fresh cut red chili with light soy sauce.