Preparation time
less than 30 mins
Cooking time
10 to 30 mins
Serves
Serves 2
By Matt TebbuttFrom Saturday Kitchen
Ingredients
For the chilli sauce
- 5 red chillies, chopped
- 1 nob of ginger, finely chopped or grated
- 5 garlic cloves, chopped
- 150g/5½oz palm sugar
- 150ml/5fl oz rice wine vinegar
- 2 lime leaves
- 2 limes, juice only
For the tempura
- 4 small or medium squid with tentacles, cut into 3cm/1in pieces and lightly scored
- 6 oysters, shucked
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp shaoxing rice wine
- 50g/1¾oz plain flour
- 25g/1oz semolina flour
- 1 tbsp white pepper
- 1 tbsp Sichuan pepper
- pinch sea salt
- 1 free-range egg, white only
- 6 large basil leaves
- 6 fresh anchovies or anchovy fillets
For the greens
- 4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- 2 bok or pak choi
- oil, such as vegetable or sunflower, for frying
To serve
- 1 red chilli, finely sliced
- 1 green chilli, finely sliced
- 2 tbsp coriander cress
- 2 tbsp basil cress
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
Method
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To make the chilli sauce, blitz the chilli, ginger and garlic to a paste in a food processor. Boil the sugar, vinegar and lime leaves together and then add the blitzed purée. Stir and simmer until thickened. Allow to cool off the heat and then add the lime juice.
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To make the tempura, preheat a deep fat fryer to 180C/375F. (CAUTION: hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended.) Place the squid and oysters into a bowl and add the sesame oil and shaoxing wine.
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In a separate large bowl, whisk together the flours, white pepper and Sichuan pepper with a pinch of salt. Coat the squid and oysters in the seasoned flour and deep-fry until golden-brown. Set aside to drain on kitchen paper. Whisk the egg white in a shallow bowl. Wrap a basil leaf around each anchovy fillet. Dip the anchovies into the egg white then into the seasoned flour. Deep fry until golden-brown, then set aside to drain on kitchen paper.
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To make the greens, place a frying pan over a medium heat and fry the garlic in a little oil until light golden-brown. Set aside until ready to serve. Cook the bok choi in the frying pan with a little oil until wilted. Place onto a serving plate and top with the fish, sauce, garlic and garnish with all the serving ingredients on top.
