BUTTERFISH & SEAWEED PORRIDGE

Serves 2

300g butterfish, marinated in soy sauce and white pepper to taste

3/4 cup Calrose or Arborio rice

1 1/2 litres water

1/2 dried squid

3 tbsp dried anchovies, washed and soaked

4 red dates

5 to 6 tbsp Shaoxing wine

3 tbsp of dashi soy sauce a few dashes of white pepper

1/2 cup dried seaweed, soaked and cut to bite-sized chunks

2 large white fungus, soaked and cut to bite-sized chunks

1 cup dried wood ear fungus, soaked and cut into bite-sized chunks

To cook

Marinate fish with soy sauce and white pepper and set aside.

Wash rice until the water becomes clear, then add water into the pot. Add squid, anchovies and red dates and cook on high heat for a while. Switch to low heat when the water boils to avoid the rice burning.

Cook for 90 minutes on low heat, checking water level often. Keep adding water to liquefy porridge until you get a creamy consistency. Add Shaoxing wine, dashi soy sauce and white pepper. When the porridge is bubbling, add seaweed and fungi. Leave to bubble for another 5 minutes.

Turn off fire and add butterfish. Keep stirring the fish into the hot porridge, letting the residual heat cook the fish. Remove from the heat once done and eat hot.