Myanmar Food
Kneaded Fish Rice
Ingredients
- 3 ½ pounds fresh, whole fish ngayan,
catfish, or perch
- 2 teaspoons (or to taste) salt
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 ¼ cups oil
- 1 ½ cups onion, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon dried garlic chips
- 1 teaspoon or less chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ginger powder
- 1 ½ cups chopped tomatoes
- 2 large onions, for slicing
- 8 spring onions (scallions), bulb and stalk
- 2 teaspoons chili powder, coarse
- 8 cups so cooked rice
- Some potato crisps
How to cook
Clean fish. Chop in 2-inch chunks keeping head
whole if there is one. Rub with 1 teaspoon salt and
half the turmeric. Heat 1/3 cup oil. Fry in it the
chopped onion, garlic, chili, and ginger till
aromatic.
Add tomatoes, and cook 5 minutes. Add fish. Stir
carefully while adding 3 cups water, cover, and cook
25 minutes. Slice 2 onions finely and evenly. Chop
spring onion stalks (or greens) into small pieces.
Remove fish chunks from broth, heave head in broth
and boil 15 minutes more.
From chunks take flesh, pressing to detect bones,
and remove. Heat rest of oil. Fry sliced onions
light brown, drain, and set aside. Reheat oil, put
in coarse-pounded chili, take pan off fire and let
chili cook and color oil red while still in pan.
Drain off chili and set aside. Add rest of turmeric
and shredded fish to oil, cook a few minutes while
stirring. Put soft rice in basin.
Add to it 2/3 of the fish with oil, rest of salt,
1/2 of fried onion, and fish broth, making sure it
is free of bones. Mix well, pressing hard. On a long
platter, arrange 2/3 of rice in 6 oblong portions.
Sprinkle each with shredded fish and chopped spring
onion greens. Cover with rest of rice, pressing each
portion into good shape. Dress tops with remaining
fried onion and sides with fried chili crisp, and
spring onions. Serve with hot teach and some extra
crisps.
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