Tau-Cu Fish - Mummy's Style.

Hi there,

Today, mummy taught me how to cook tau-cu fish. I have taken a few photos of the ingredients and I hope that I'll be able to transfer them to my blog by myself. Keeping my fingers crossed!
As shown in the picture below, the main ingredients are:
(1) Two slices of fish (Grouper)
(2) Taucu (whole beans, not smashed), one tablespoon or slightly more. Taucu is very salty by itself. No need to add salt.
(3) Green chilli, one or two. Red chilli is NOT the same. Use green chilli.
(4) Some shallots. Cut into slices.
(5) Three cloves of garlic. Cut into slices.
(6) Old ginger, julienne it. Use a big piece.

Picture 1.  These are the ingredients that you need to cook "Taucu Fish".

Prepare all the ingredients and put them aside. Then you must dry the fish with a paper towel, before coating it with corn flour. Make sure the fish is dry before you coat it with corn flour. This will prevent the fish from sticking on the wok. Then your fish will be a mess and the dish will not look nice. If the fish is dry (with a paper towel), then the corn flour will be dry and the fish will be easy to fry and easy to flip over. Make sure the fish is fried properly. It must be crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. When the fish is done, put it aside and clean the wok.

We want to continue with a clean wok to fry the shallots and garlic, follow by ginger and then green chilli. Now would be the best time to control the flame so as not to burn the shallots and the garlic. Fry the whole thing for a few minutes until you get the aromatic smell. Then add in the taucu, not too much, as the taucu is very salty. Fry until you get the smell. Then pour in a cup or two of water. Now increase the flame. Stir the whole thing and let it boil for a few minutes.

Finally put in the fish, and let it boil for a few minutes and let the sauce permeate into the fish. Then you can scoop up the fish and the soup into a bowl and serve.

Picture 2. The shallots and garlic are sliced, the ginger is julienne and the green chilli is cut roughly into rings. Notice the ceramic knife which I bought for RM99, promotional price, otherwise it would cost RM139. Our friend bought one from Japan for RM200. It is always very sharp. No need to sharpen it. It is used for cutting only, fruits and meat, but NOT bones.

Picture 3. Fry all the ingredients, starting with the ginger until aromatic, follow by the shallots then the garlic. After that the green chilli and finally one tablespoonful or slightly more of the taucu, depending on the amount of fish.  Be careful not to put too much taucu, as it is very salty. Fry until aromatic. Then add water.

Picture 4.  Fry the ingredients until aromatic, then add one or two cups of water and let it boils for sometime.

Picture 5.  Finally,  the fish is added when the water has boiled for some time.

Picture 6. Scoop up the fish and the sauce into a big bowl and garnish with some Chinese celery (daun soup).  Serve.

I love this dish and it goes very well with white rice. This dish alone is sufficient for my meal. The best fish to cook with this dish is "Ma Yeow Yee" (in Cantonese). "Goh Hee" in Hokkien.

Pa.