SPICY STIR-FRIED BLUE-EYE TREVALLA WITH CASHEWS

SERVES 2, OR 4 AS PART OF A SHARED ASIAN BANQUET

What I like most about this dish, besides my love of cashew nuts in Chinese cooking, is the fact that it is essentially a dry stir-fry. It’s a nice change not to be too saucy. You can substitute the trevalla for other seafood, or for chicken.

350 g (12 oz) blue-eye trevalla, cut into 3 cm (1¼ inch) dice

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

4 cm (1½ inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

4 celery stalks, diagonally sliced

4 spring onions (scallions), cut into 4 cm (1½ inch) batons

2 fresh long red chillies, cut into 1 cm (½ inch) rounds

40 g (1½ oz/¼ cup) cashew nuts, roasted

3 tablespoons chicken stock

steamed rice, to serve

MARINADE

1½ teaspoons Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1½ teaspoons light soy sauce

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh ginger

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon sugar

For the marinade, mix together the Shaoxing, oil, soy sauce, ginger, sea salt and sugar.

Add the blue-eye trevalla and leave to marinate for 20 minutes.

Heat a wok over high heat until just smoking. Add the oil and, when hot, add the ginger and stir-fry for 10 seconds or until fragrant. Add the fish with its marinade, spreading it evenly around the wok. Cook undisturbed for 1 minute, allowing the fish to start to brown, then stir-fry until the fish is lightly browned all over.

Add the celery, spring onion, chilli and cashews and stir-fry for 1 minute. Swirl in the stock and continue to stir-fry until the fish is just cooked through and the sauce is slightly thickened. Transfer to a plate and serve with steamed rice.

NOTE: I like it hot so I don’t seed the chillies, but if you want colour without too much heat then seeding them is the way to go. Replace the cashew nuts with peanuts if that takes your fancy.