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Preparation
20 minutes
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Cooking
20 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
It’s hard to erase from memory the delicious taste of slow-cooked dishes on the dining table. For that reason, today TasteVN would like to introduce to everyone this “crowd-pleasing” dish of snakehead fish (barramundi) braised with pickled mustard greens! Let’s get started in the kitchen!
Ingredients for Braised Snakehead Fish (Barramundi) with Pickled Mustard Greens Serves 3 people
Snakehead fish 600 gr (2 fish) Pickled mustard greens 700 gr Tomatoes 2 pieces Green onions 3 stalks Dill 3 stalks Ginger 50 gr (1/2 piece) Pickled mustard greens soaking liquid 500 ml Chicken broth 500 ml Minced shallots 3 teaspoons Minced garlic 2 teaspoons Bird’s eye chili 1 piece Fish sauce 3 tablespoons Tom Yum seasoning powder 1 teaspoon Chicken seasoning powder 1 tablespoon Garlic salt 1 teaspoon Cooking oil 130 ml Common spices a little (Salt/ Sugar/ Ground pepper)
How to choose fresh ingredients
How to choose fresh striped bass
- Live striped bass will provide the best flavor for the dish. Therefore, choose those that are still swimming well, and observe that the eyes are clear with visible pupils.
- Additionally, when pressing on the flesh, it should feel firm, not mushy, and have good elasticity like rubber.
- Fresh striped bass has a cherry color; conversely, if it has a dark brown color or is dull, it means the fish has gone bad and cannot be used anymore.
- Avoid buying fish with bloated bodies, weak swimming, pale colors, and a strong fishy smell, as these indicate the fish has been kept for too long.
How to choose fresh tomatoes
- Good tomatoes are those that are red, round, looking plump and juicy, with a thin, shiny skin.
- Additionally, observe the stem; if the tomato still has a green stem firmly attached, that is a sign that the tomato has just been harvested and will taste fresher.
- Avoid buying overly ripe, bruised, or unevenly colored tomatoes; when touched, they feel mushy and lack elasticity, which are usually those that are not fully ripe or have wilted due to being kept for too long.
How to choose delicious pickled mustard greens
- First, you should buy pickled vegetables from reputable places to ensure that the pickles are made from fresh, unblemished mustard greens and do not contain preservatives.
- If you buy pre-packaged types, you should check the expiration date, whether the packaging is intact, and most importantly, whether the pickles have any mold or bubbles.
- Delicious pickles that are sour enough will have a yellow or earthy yellow color; conversely, if the pickles are still green, it means they have not been fermented long enough, and they will still have a sharp taste, which is not delicious and will affect the flavor of the dish.
- In addition, you can also make pickled mustard greens at home with the extremely simple recipe below from TasteVN to protect your health and make the dish even more flavorful!
How to cook striped bass (sea bass) with pickled mustard greens
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Prepare the ingredients
First, rinse the pickled vegetables you bought with water and let them drain, then cut them into bite-sized pieces.
For the tomatoes, remove the stems and rinse them briefly to clean the skin. Next, cut one tomato into wedges, and slice the remaining one thinly.
For the green onions and dill, remove the roots, wash them clean, and cut them into pieces. The chili should be rinsed briefly and sliced diagonally thin. Finally, for the ginger, peel it, rinse briefly, and cut it into fine strips.
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Prepare the striped bass
When buying striped bass, cut off the gills, scrape off the scales, and then use a knife to make a slit along the belly of the fish, then proceed to clean out any remaining blood and intestines inside.
Next, take a little salt and rub it on the surface of the fish for 3 – 5 minutes, then rinse it under clean water a few times, and let it drain.
Tips to eliminate fishy smell
- Use lemon juice mixed with warm water to soak the striped bass for 5 – 7 minutes, and the fishy smell will disappear immediately.
- Soak the striped bass in diluted salt water for 5 – 10 minutes, or rub salt directly onto the fish; this not only eliminates the smell but also effectively removes slime.
- Additionally, don’t overlook the method of soaking the fish in rice water for 15 – 20 minutes.
- Furthermore, smashing ginger and soaking it in water with the fish for 5 – 7 minutes will yield immediate results.
- It would be a mistake to skip the method of using diluted alcohol or white vinegar to soak the fish for 5 minutes!
- Many people also prefer using fresh milk to eliminate odors, which can be quite surprising.
See details: Tips to eliminate fishy smell
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Sauté tomatoes with sour pickles
Take another pan and place it on the stove with 2 tablespoons (30ml) of cooking oil, 3 teaspoons of shallots, and 2 teaspoons of minced garlic, sautéing until fragrant over medium heat.
Then, add 1 sliced tomato, 1 teaspoon of garlic salt, and 1/2 ginger root sliced into strips, and stir-fry for 3 – 5 minutes until the tomatoes are soft.
Next, add 700g of cut sour pickles, 3 tablespoons of fish sauce, 2 teaspoons of sugar, 1 tablespoon of chicken seasoning, 1 teaspoon of Tom Yum seasoning powder, and 1 teaspoon of ground pepper, continuing to stir-fry everything together for about 5 – 7 minutes, until the sour pickles are soft.
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Braised fish with pickled vegetables
Next, in the same pan, add 500ml of chicken broth and 500ml of pickled vegetable soaking water, cook for about 7 – 10 minutes until the broth comes to a boil, then add 2 fried barramundi into the pot, and braise for 7 – 10 minutes.
After that, add 1 tomato cut into wedges and 1 thinly sliced chili pepper, continue braising for another 3 – 5 minutes, then season to taste according to your preference!
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Completion
When everything has absorbed the seasoning evenly, in that same pan, add the remaining 3 green onions and 3 sprigs of dill cut into pieces over medium heat, stir well one more time, then turn off the heat, and let’s serve it on a plate!
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Final Product
Barramundi (striped bass) with pickled vegetables will be an interesting highlight for your family’s dinner tonight!
Along with the fresh, firm-fleshed barramundi is a rich broth with a delightful sweet and sour flavor that’s hard to resist. Moreover, the pickled vegetables are also very crunchy and incredibly tempting!
The dish of barramundi with pickled vegetables will be even more wonderful when enjoyed with a steaming hot bowl of rice. Give it a try right away!
Finally, the above article has provided a way to make barramundi (striped bass) stewed with sour melon that is super appealing but can be done in a flash. Hope you will be successful with the above recipe!
