Clear Fish Noodle Soup

With celery & fried ginger

SINGAPORE

This is one of my favourite noodle soups. The broth is fragrant with garlic and fried ginger, but otherwise, the flavours are very mild and clean. The Western palate is used to very gutsy strong flavours, and most of my friends in London wouldn’t really choose this if given a choice. One slurp of the light broth, however, is usually followed by a surprised ‘ooh’ and a satisfied ‘aah’. Traditionally, thinly sliced bitter gourd would be the classic combination with fish, but bitter greens or crisp aromatic vegetables like celery work just as well.

Serves 2

• 1 stalk of celery
• 200g fresh white fish*
• a pinch of sea salt
• ½ teaspoon tapioca starch/cornflour
• 100g dried bee hoon (thin rice vermicelli) 

For the stock

• 300g chicken bones, any skin removed
• 300g fish bones
• 1 bulb of garlic, left whole
• 1 large handful of dried anchovies (ikan bilis)
• sea salt, to taste
• a big dash of white pepper

To serve

• fried ginger and ginger oil (see here)
• chopped fresh coriander
• light soy sauce and chopped chillies, to dip

1. First prepare the stock. Parboil the chicken and fish bones and discard the scummy water. This gets rid of any blood and impurities, which would make your stock cloudy. Put the bones, garlic and dried anchovies into a pan with enough water to cover, bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and let it barely simmer for 1 hour. Drain the stock through a sieve and chuck the bones and bits. Season to taste. (This could be prepped in advance; you can double the stock recipe and freeze portions. Once you have the stock, it takes 15 minutes to serve.)
2. Slice the celery very thinly. Remove any skin and bones from the fish, then slice into little 0.5cm thick fillets. Lightly marinate with a pinch of salt and the tapioca/cornflour.
3. Pour boiling water over the rice vermicelli, cover, and let stand for 15–20 minutes until soft. Drain, then divide between bowls.
4. Bring the stock back to a simmer and stir in the sliced celery and fish. Return to a simmer, then switch off the heat and let the fish continue cooking in the residual heat of the broth. Be careful not to overcook; the fish is ready once it turns opaque, which is usually within seconds.
5. To serve, pour the hot broth over the rice vermicelli, along with the celery and fish, and drizzle with the fragrant fried ginger oil. Finish with fried shredded ginger and chopped coriander, and serve with the soy sauce and chilli dip on the side.

Note: It might seem odd to use chicken bones for a fish soup, but it’s my mum’s trick for making a stock that’s not overly ‘fishy’. Chicken stock is neutral enough for it not to taste ‘meaty’ either, and you only use a little anyway. I love chicken fat, but it will work against the lightness of this broth, so I remove the skins from the bones.