Claypot Fish head

Whoa! This has been a hectic week, with almost everyone in the house under the weather.  Haven't been quite in the mood to whip up nice dishes until my extended family popped over for dinner. Decided that we shall have 2 versions of the fish head, a Claypot one and a steamed one. 

Here's the Claypot recipe. 

Ingredients:

- fish head (I used Threadfin 午鱼)

- ginger 

- garlic 

- leeks

- beancurds

- Shaoxing wine

- spring onions

- corn flour

- ikan bilis stock

- oyster sauce

As I did not have time to grab other food from the supermarket, the above was all I used. You can add in fried yam, long white cabbage, baby corns, mushrooms and meat if you want to make this dish a sumptuous one. 😃

Steps:

1. Marinate the fish head with salt, and Shaoxing wine. To avoid that fishy smell, take care to use a clean towel or kitchen napkin to wipe the internal of the fish head. Leave to marinate for 15 mins. 

2. Remove fish head from the plate, pat dry with a paper towel. Coat the fish head with corn flour. 

3. Heat oil in a saucepan for deep frying of the fish head. Add in the fishhead when oil is hot. Fry the first side for about 8 mins and flip over to continue frying for another 5 mins. 

4. While the fish is being deep fried, you can choose to do up the condiments. Alternatively, you can also prepare them in advance before commencing on the cooking. Chopped a sprig of spring onions, 4-5 slices of ginger, some garlic and blend them. Set aside for later use. 

5. Remove the fish and drain off the oil. Add in beancurds to fry. Remove when beancurds turned golden brown. Keep the excess oil aside for later use. 

6. Switch to a Claypot. Oil the Claypot base. Add the blended condiments into fry till aromatic. Add in leeks and continue frying. Add in 2 tbsp of stock and continue frying. When leeks soften, add in beancurds and some oyster sauce. 

7. Add in 1 cup of stock into the Claypot and boil. Add in cornstarch to thicken the gravy. Create a well in the Claypot, shifting the beancurds to the wall. Slowly lower the fried fish head into the Claypot. 

8. Add garnishing and you are ready to serve. :)

Have a good day!

Happy mum