Monkfish Pho
A light, Asian inspired fish dish..
Here’s a dish I have just put on one of our restaurant’s menus;soy and sesame glazed monkfish with Vietnamese broth. I wanted to come up with something light and healthy that would suit those tropical English Summer evening’s 
Asian soups, broths, call them what you will are truly brilliant. Nothing beats slurping on a bowl of noodles swimming in a bowl of chilli infused stock in the knowledge that you must surely be on your way to that dream six pack stomach if you carry on eating like this. Okay, so I tend to wash it down with a cold beer but it’s a start!
The key to this dish is the stock, get the basics right and you’re on to a winner. I never use a standard recipe and neither should you. Go by taste and preference on the day. Sometimes I make a clear chicken, vegetable or fish stock so the resulting soup is very light, like an old fashioned chicken broth whilst another time I will flavour it with chilli paste or soy sauce fo aricher, more robust finish.
Take chicken for example, you can use a left over cooked carcasse or some chicken legs or wings, it doesn’t matter. For a clear broth simply wash the chicken and place in a pan covered with cold water and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and start adding your ingredients: a bashed stick of lemongrass, a couple of cloves of garlic, a roughly sliced red onion, a chilli or two, two or three slices of root ginger, some roughly torn coriander stems. Lime leaves are good if you can get them, next a star anise, a few peppercorns and coriander seeds and a slug of fish sauce to season. Leave to cook for twenty minutes or so, ensuring any raw chicken used is thoroughly cooked.
Whilst that’s simmering cook some noodles and shred up some pak choi, spring onions and soaked Chinese mushroms. Warm these in a little of the broth. Now take a soup bowl and place plenty of fresh herbs in the bottom; mint, coriander, Asian basil, chives and dill. A lime leave wouldn’t hurt either. Now put your noodle and vegetable mix on top, check the broth for flavour and pass it through a fine sieve into another pan. Ladle into your soup bowl until you get the right consistency. You can add pieces of coked chicken or prawns if you wish, I’ve added crisp chunks of monkfish but that’s an expensive optional extra…
Sesame and Soy Crusted Monkfish with Vietnamese Pho
That looks very nice indeed - looks feasable to do at home as well !
Best
Rod
July 17, 2010 @ 3:51 pm
Rod,
Cheers, simplicity itself! Have a go…sans poisson
Miles
July 17, 2010 @ 10:28 pm
Miles,
I’d like the expensive optional extras…. they look especially good.
Cid
July 17, 2010 @ 11:29 pm
Cid,
Thought you might
Miles
July 18, 2010 @ 10:08 pm
I recently discovered Pho and absolutely love it.
It has all the right elements for me, a complex flavour, surprisingly substantial and pretty healthy (even with the beer ;o))!
I’ve made a few basic versions in the past, but I went all out for a dinner party a while back. I know you said not to use a recipe, but this came from a little Vietnamese book I acquired so I thought I would make it and then use that to vary in future versions.
The recipe made a massive amount of stock (which is great as the rest sits in the freezer and I can make Pho in about 15 mins after work!). I think it used a whole chicken, some beef ribs, ox tails and a large lump of (think it was) knuckle.
It also used a MASSIVE amount of dried (unground) ginger with other spices. The cooking process was over about 24 hours in different stages and the end result was just exceptional. A serious amount of work but after one taste, justified!
The thing I love about it, is that with a big bowl full of corriander, mint, vietnamese basil, chillies, chilli paste, soy sauce, fish sauce and limes on the table, everyone adjusts it to their taste.
One of the best bits was actually the knuckle. You take it out after the first stage and leave it to cool in some of the liquid. It then gets re-introduced in slices at the end. But… after tasting it, it tasted like a spiced version of salt beef. Absolutely delicious and we had it in sandwiches for days!
August 11, 2010 @ 8:28 am
Sam,
What a great comment, thank you. You’re dead right about the freezing, a big batch is easier to make than a small one and the knuckle will give that wonderful natural gelatine richness to the broth.
It’s one of those dishes that makes you feel as though you’re eating a bowl of goodness.
Miles
August 11, 2010 @ 10:24 pm
Quite right there Miles!
I love it. So simple yet amazing.
August 12, 2010 @ 6:26 am