XO Milk Noodles with Fried Fish 炸鱼香奶米粉汤

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:

  1. 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.
  2. Sprinkle plain flour over your fish, stir well, then fry them until golden brown.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. Serve piping hot.