I know. The name sounds like an oxymoron: XO brandy with milk?! Believe me, it’s a great combination. This is a Singaporean dish that appeared about 25 years ago. When it first appeared, they added XO in the soup to give it a slightly alcoholic flavour and it took over the population by storm. You need good fresh white fish for this recipe.
Ingredients
- Thick rice noodles (if dried, soak in warm water for 30 minutes)
- 200ml XO brandy or Shaoxing wine
- 3cm fresh ginger
- 3 leaves of Chinese cabbage
- 400g fish filet (deboned and skinless)
- 3 tbs plain flour
- 300ml milk
- 600ml water (or fish stock)
- 1 tsp dried chicken stock powder
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbs fish sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
- Garnish: chopped spring onions
Steps:
- First, debone and cut up your fish filet. Marinate in light soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine (or XO brandy if you prefer), salt and pepper. Let it sit for 15 minutes.
- Sprinkle plain flour over your fish, stir well, then fry them until golden brown.
- Prepare your wok, heat and add some oil. Crush a branch of ginger and stir fry until you smell it. Add your soup base: 4 parts water, 2 parts milk. Bring it to boil. You may use 4 parts fish stock if you have it, otherwise, I used water and added a teaspoonful of chicken stock. Add sugar, fish sauce and some Chinese cabbage.
- Add your pre-cooked thick rice noodles. Bring to boil, make sure you don’t overcook your noodles that it goes soggy. Add in your fried fish. Season with salt and pepper as necessary.
- Serve piping hot.
