Yau Pao Yiu Gor Yue Kow

From time to time I wind up with more of a particular ingredient than I know what to do with. Just now, it is raw cashews: when I needed half a cup around Thanksgiving the clerk at Deep's Indian Grocery found only a one pound bag. Way too much - not expensive, just inconvenient. My cupboard and freezer have all kinds of half-used stuff. Sometimes it's great to keep around, and sometimes not (I believe I can still put my hand on a half bag of star anise I bought at the beginning of Reagan's first term).

The cashews are great, though. An entire new (to me) class of vinaigrette salad dressing uses ground raw cashews (watch this space - it is still in an experimental stage as far as I'm concerned). And .. well, I believe in a well-stocked larder and like having the ability to pull out odd condiments at will.

Late Friday, considering dinner, I called Nancy from My Local Grocer. "Fish," she said. I splurged, and bought a half pound of sea bass at a truly unfortunate price (though any other white fish would have done as well).

Once home, I riffled through one of my all-time favorite cooking references, The Complete Asian Cookbook.* I prefer this to the Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook - the presentation is better, the selection broader, and it has luscious color photographs. On page 378 I discovered Yau Pao Yiu Gor Yue Kow (quick boiled fish with fried cashews). This recipe is modified only slightly to fit what I had at hand.

All the remaining ingredients came from MLG as well; no trip to the Cincinnati Asian Market needed. Preparation and cooking made for a very busy 20 minutes, starting with putting the rice in the rice cooker. The prep happened on the fly, chopping and smashing vegetables as the stock came to a boil and tossing them in. It's easier than it sounds...

INGREDIENTS:

White rice:
1C raw rice (I used Jasmine)
2C water

For the fish:
4C chicken stock**
1 large onion, sliced
4 ribs bok choy, sliced in 1/2" lengths
1  large carrot, sliced in rounds
1 knob fresh ginger, sliced and smashed
8 whole peppercorns
1/2C rice wine
1/2 lb boneless white fish

for the garnish:
1/4C raw cashew nuts
2 oz char siu pork, diced small***
2 scallions, minced
1T soy sauce
2t sesame oil
oil for frying

METHOD:
steam the rice
heat the stock to boiling in a wok
simmer the next six ingredients in the stock for 5 minutes
bring to a fast boil, add the fish and cook for 10 minutes
remove the fish to a plate
strain the stock (reserving liquid and solids separately)
rinse the wok and return it to the heat
when dry, add cashews and oil to barely cover
fry until the cashews begin to change color
remove the cooking oil to a small bowl and reserve
drain the cashews on a paper towel and pat dry
add the char siu to the remaining oil in the wok and fry until crisp
discard the dripping from the pork
drain the pork on a paper towel and pat dry
return 2T of the oil the cashews were fried in to the wok to heat

ASSEMBLY AND PRESENTATION:
put the rice in a serving dish
divide the fish in bite-size portions and place on the rice
spoon the soy sauce and sesame oil over the fish
spoon the hot oil from the wok over the fish
sprinkle the cashews, the crisp pork and the minced scallions over all


Not being one to toss out perfectly good cooked vegetables, I took Ms. Solomon's advice and made a quick soup from the remaining fish stock and vegetables, instead of a salad:

discard the peppercorns from the reserved vegetables
return the ginger slices to the liquid
bring to a boil, together with the scallion ends, for 5 minutes
strain, discard the ginger and scallion bits, and return the liquid to the wok
return the reserved vegetables
add water to make a souplike consistency
drizzle a beaten egg into the hot broth.

Marvelous.

for the entire dinner:
two servings, each
750 calories
107 grams of carbohydrate

* Solomon, Charmaine. The Complete Asian Cookbook. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1985.
   ISBN 0-07-059636-0
   (aka "800 Authentic Asian Recipes Made Simple" but I warn you .. the term simple is relative)
** This time I used water and chicken gravy base instead of making fresh stock.
      Canned stock or chicken bouillion would suffice.
*** The original recipe calls for 'barbecued pork' - which I frequently find as a code word for char siu. I
        used salt pork flavored with 5-Spices Powder because that's what I had in the fridge.