Halibut with celery

Posted by Jeno on October 7, 2010October 7, 2010

For a woman who HATED celery when she was a young girl, this recipe turned out amazing! I felt like there was a fifth flavor (Umami) to the dish and hubby must have felt the same, definitely a keeper!

2 white fish fillets, cut into medium bite-sized pieces
10 stalks of celery hearts cut into small pieces
3-4 chopped garlic cloves
1 teaspoon of chicken broth mix powder
1 teaspoon of cooking wine (rice wine)
1 teaspoon of corn starch
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
1 tablespoon of fish sauce
2 teaspoon of sugar
1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
3 tablespoons of water
a pinch of salt

Marinate the fish pieces with the chicken broth mix, cooking wine, 1 teaspoon of the corn starch, sesame oil, and black pepper.

In a preheated wok or pan, heat the cooking oil, then add half of the chopped garlic. Once the garlic starts to turn a little brown, saute the fish pieces. Once the fish is cooked (which may take up to 5 minutes), remove from the wok (or pan) and set aside.

Using the same wok (or pan), re-heat and add the remaining garlic, and saute the celery. Mix in the water, salt, fish sauce, and sugar.

Allow the sauce to come to a boil while the vegetables are cooked to your liking.

Place the fish back into the wok (or pan), and stir-fry for another 30 seconds.

Original recipe courtesy of my food blogger buddy Rice Palette, Thanks for tonight’s delicious dinner!

7 Comments Add yours

Annavy says:

October 7, 2010 at 6:22 am

Sugar? reallly? Can you even taste the sugar? How did trini like it?

Reply
1. Jeno says:
  
  October 7, 2010 at 3:04 pm
  
  You’d be surprised how many dishes require sugar, I don’t think we actually taste it in the dish but it added another dimension to the taste. Trini loves the fish but I don’t think she gave the celery a chance…
  
  Reply
Rice Palette says:

October 7, 2010 at 9:22 pm

Cool! Looks awesome! Made my day! Noticed you used halibut, but I don’t get a chance to eat it too often (kind of pricey here). But it’s soooooo delicious lol. Anyway, keep up the great cooking! 🙂

Reply
Jeno says:

October 7, 2010 at 10:19 pm

Hey Rice Palette! I am actually not sure what type of fish I used, it was from the frozen section in a Chinese market, fairly cheap and do NOT have the fishy taste. The recipe is a keeper, we all loved it!

Reply
Rice Palette says:

October 9, 2010 at 3:16 am

That’s awesome, really glad to hear it!!

Yeah, getting groceries at Chinese supermarkets can be a challenge for us food bloggers, since the names of ingredients aren’t always present! 🙂

Reply
Sissi says:

November 3, 2012 at 7:21 pm

It does sound amazing, Jeno. Thank you so much for the link! I will certainly cook it. Moreover, I never stir-fry fish, so it would be a nice change from the chicken I am addicted to (I practically have it every day… luckily I buy free range which is free or antibiotics).
I am convinced even more because you used to hate celery and even though I don’t hate it, I find it difficult to get used to its taste while raw or half-raw (like in stir-fried dishes). When simmered for hours in a sauce or stock, it becomes less strong in aroma.

Reply
1. Jeno says:
  
  November 6, 2012 at 5:14 am
  
  You are so welcome Sissi! Yeah I don’t normally stirfry fish either, though this is one of those tried and true tasty dishes, if you do try it, please let me know whether you like it.
  
  Reply