Fish fillets and togue (mung bean sprouts) stir fry

Last Thursday, Alex came home with two classmates. They were going to make polvoron to sell at the school fair the following day and the day after that. I thawed a kilo of fish fillets that I planned to cook into a sweet and sour dish. The problem was that the vegetables I had in the fridge did not go with sweet and sour fish. I had some togue (mung bean sprouts), spinach and carrots, and that was it. I knew that sweet and sour dishes are very popular with kids but would Alex’s classmates shy away from togue and spinach? I really didn’t have a choice anyway so I went ahead and cooked the fish fillets and the vegetables as a stir fry. I just hoped that Alex’s love for togue would rub off on them. Well, one out of two can’t be that bad. One of the classmates ate the veggies; the other didn’t.

When cooking fish fillets for a stir fried dish, or even as a stand-alone deep fried dish, make sure that the fillets have been sufficiently blotted with absorbent kitchen paper to remove as much of the water as possible. No matter how well-prepared the coating is, if the fillets are too wet, they will still turn soggy as they cool. Worse, the cooking oil will spatter all over the stove top and surrounding areas.

The following recipe serves 8.

Ingredients :

1 kilo of fish fillets (labahita, tilapia, maya-maya, lapu-lapu… your choice)
1/2 kilo of togue (mung bean sprouts)
a bunch of spinach (as much or as little as you prefer)
1 head of garlic
1 large or 2 medium-sized onions
1 carrot
1-1/2 c. of flour
salt
pepper
1/4 to 1/3 c. of oyster sauce
1 tsp. of sugar
1/2 tsp. of sesame seed oil
2-3 c. of vegetable cooking oil for deep-frying

Cooking procedure :

Dry the fish fillets by blotting them with absorbent kitchen paper. Cut into 2-inch pieces. Place in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly and let stand for a few minutes while you prepare the vegetables.

Wash the togue in a colander and allow the excess water to drip.

Peel, crush and finely mince the garlic.

Peel and finely slice the onion(s).

Peel and cut the carrot into small cubes or roughly chop it up.

Pick the spinach leaves (leave the tender portion of the stalks on); discard the tougher portions of the stalks. If you have rabbits or hamsters, they can feast on the stalks.

Heat the cooking oil in a frying pan or wok.

Place the flour in a shallow bowl.

Dredge each piece of fish fillet in the flour, shaking off the excess, and deep fry the fish fillets in batches until the coating is crisp and golden brown. It is important to do this in batches. If you overcrowd the pan, the cooking oil will never maintain the ideal temperature and the fish fillets will turn out soggy.

Drain the cooked fish fillets on several layers of absorbent kitchen paper.

Pour off the cooking oil until only about 2 tablespoonfuls remain in the pan. Reheat.

Add the carrots to the pan and stir fry for about 30 seconds. Add the garlic and onion(s) and cook for another 30 seconds. Add the togue and the spinach. Pour in the oyster sauce and add the sugar. Stir fry for about a minute then return the fish fillets into the pan. Cook just until the fish fillets are heated through and be careful not to overcook the togue.

Transfer the cooked fish and vegetables into a serving platter and drizzle with sesame seed oil.

Serve at once with hot rice.