Cheater’s Sliced Fish Noodle Soup
This sliced fish bee hoon soup (鱼片米粉汤) uses a packet of instant bee hoon (rice vermicelli) as a short-cut. And it tasted really GOOD! If you are cooking this for the first time, discreetly discard the evidence (the instant noodles packaging and seasonings sachets) and test if your family can tell that you are cheating ;) The cooking time of the dish is fast, only 5 minutes – just like cooking any instant noodles on the stove.
See Also:
So, even though this is instant noodles, it is still a healthy one-dish noodles with fresh batang (Spanish mackerel/马鲛鱼) fish and heaps of veggies (bittergourd, greens and tomato). This short-cut recipe is ideal when cooking for one or two, or during busy time. If you want to make the fish soup broth from scratch, look out for my upcoming batang fish soup recipe.
This is the packet of instant noodles I used for this recipe. Each packet serves one, and contains a bundle of dried bee hoon (rice vermicelli) and 2 sachets of seasonings which I used as the soup base. You can use any favourite brand of instant bee hoon.
This is my marinated batang fish slices. Compared to other fish, batang fish needs a bit more prep to make it smooth, soft and less fishy after cooking. Check out this step-by-step tutorial for marinating batang fish. You can also use other fish such as toman or red grouper which (to me) doesn’t need marinating.
The rest of the ingredients (such as ginger, bittergourd, tomato & greens in the form of Chinese baby spinach) are the usual suspects in a bowl of local sliced fish noodles soup.
To serve, add seaweed, crispy garlic oil, white pepper and a saucer of cut chilli on the side. To me, this looks and tastes just as good as the fish bee hoon soup sold outside :) with minimal effort.
Cheater's Sliced Fish Noodle Soup Recipe
This recipe uses packet instant bee hoon (vermicelli) as a short cut.
Omit the evaporated milk if you prefer a clear soup base.
Ingredients:
- 150g batang fish slices (Spanish mackerel/马鲛鱼)
- 1 level tsp fine sea salt for marinating fish
- 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
- 3/4 tbsp Chinese wine (Hua Tiao/Shaoxing)
- 1000 ml water
- 2 packets instant bee hoon (chicken flavour)
- 6 ginger slices
- a small section of bittergourd spongy bits removed, sliced thinly
- 1 small tomato cut to 6 wedges
- a handful of quick-cooking greens such as chye sim (菜心) or Chinese spinach leaves (sharp/round or baby spinach)
- 40 ml evaporated milk optional
Suggested Garnishes (A)
- 1 tbsp crispy garlic oil optional
- chopped spring onions and/or coriander
- white pepper powder to taste
- a saucer of cut chilli padi in soy sauce (at the side)
Directions:
- Prep & marinade the fish. Add fish slices in a small bowl with enough water to cover the fish. Add salt and massage onto the flesh for one minute. Add cornstarch (stir to dissolve) and soak the fish for 4 minutes. Rinse the fish to wash off the salt and cornstarch, then drain. Marinade fish with sesame oil, soy sauce and Chinese wine for at least 15 minutes in the fridge. Check out the step-by-step photos in this tutorial.
- Cook the fish noodles. Bring water to a boil. From the instant bee hoon packets, add the dried noodles (bee hoon) bundles. When the noodles are cooked, take them out and transfer to two serving bowls. Add instant noodles seasonings, ginger, bittergourd and tomato to the pot. Cook for 1 minute. Add marinated fish, green veg and evaporated milk. When the fish is cooked (turns opaque; less than a minute), turn off the heat. Ladle the hot soup over the bee hoon. Garnish with (A) and serve immediately.