Empire of the Sun

Thursday, April 14, 2011 Barb and I watched Empire of the Sun (1987) and made Steamed Scallion Ginger Fish Fillets with Bok Choy. We had a lot of fun exploring some cooking techniques we have never used on movie night-or any other night for that matter. We steamed the fish on a dinner plate in a covered pan (who knew fish could be cooked this way?) and we used spring rolls for our dessert (super fun to roll up, although odd in texture...). This dinner was one of those that we just didn't want to stop eating.

Although it was not my intention to watch two prison camp movies in a row, as my first movie choice for this week (Giant starring the late Liz Taylor) was in too great of demand on Netflix, I thought watching a film starring Japan might be appropriate. The young Christian Bale really was the star of this film. The story completely revolves around this young boy's journey as a prisoner of war during the Japanese occupation of China. Heart-wrenching at times, I personally found the drama to become a little overly theatrical and dubious. Let's put it this way, I am often a cryer and this time my eyes were dry. Needless to say, I am glad I saw it and was impressed by the pre-Newsies Christian Bale.

Lets get back to the fish which was the highlight of my night. Here is how we made the Steamed Fish:

First, as per weekly ritual, we cracked open a couple of beers and snacked on some deliciously soft and salty pretzel buns from Whole Foods - a movie night snack favorite.

Then we gathered the INGREDIENTS for the fish:
1/2 cup light soy sauce
2 T sugar
1/2 cup rice wine (we substituted with Sherry, you could also use dry white wine)
1/2 tsp. five-spice powder (a new spice for my spice rack-delicious!)
2 lbs. sole fillet (we used 1 lb. of flounder, any flaky white fish will do)
1 (1-inch) piece of fresh ginger, finely julienned
6 T vegetable oil
8 scallions (white and green parts), cut crosswise in 2-in. lengths, then thinly julienned (we used half as much and would recommend dicing, not julienning)

and INGREDIENTS for the bok choy stir-fry:
1 1/2 lbs baby bok choy
2 T peanut oil
1 (1/4 inch) piece of fresh ginger, minced
2 scallions, thinly sliced
4 cloves of garlic
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp ground white pepper

Fish DIRECTIONS:
In a medium bowl, whisk together soy sauce, sugar, rice wine, and five-spice powder.
Transfer fish to 2 rimmed plates (we only needed one). Drizzle each piece with 1 T soy sauce mixture and scatter with julienned ginger. (set aside remaining sauce for finishing dish.) Cover and refridgerate 15 minutes.
Fit a large saucepan with a steamer basket, fill with 1-inch water, bring to a boil over high heat. WE used a large saucepan, filled it with the 1-inch of water and places a ramekin in the middle to prop up the plate. Reduce the heat to low and transfer one plate to the steamer. Cover and steam 4 minutes. Without lifting the lid, turn off flame and allow residual heat to finish cooking until fish is cooked through, about 1 minute more. Carefully remove plate. Return steamer to boil and steam second plate of fish in the same manner.

While fish is steaming, prepare the bok choy:
Trim 1/4-inch from the bottom of each head of bok choy. Slice bok choy crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Wash bok-choy in several changes of cold water and dry in colander until dry to touch.
In wok or large sauté pan over moderately-high heat, heat oil until hot, but not smoking. Add ginger, scallions, and garlic and stir-fry 1 minute. Add 1 tablespoon water, cover, and cook until wilted, about 30 seconds. Uncover, stir-fry 5 seconds, then cover again and turn off flame, let steam in residual heat until just tender, about 30 seconds more. Serve bok choy and fish.

YUM!

We also made these crazy little Banana and Mango Spring Rolls with Coconut-Chocolate Ganache:

Look at these baby bananas we used! Awe, so cute.

INGREDIENTS
Ganache:
1 (14-oz can unsweetened coconut milk
1/3 c. palm sugar or 1/3 cup, packed, light brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
8 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped (we used chips)

Spring rolls:
8, 8-inch, square frozen spring roll pastry wrappers, thawed (we used round, not frozen ones)
4 small ripe Chinese bananas, peeled, halved lengthwise, or 2 regular bananas, peeled, halved lengthwise, then halved lengthwise
2 champagne mangoes or 1 regular mango, peeled, pitted, cut lengthwise into 3-inch-long, 1/2 inch-wide strips
1 egg, beaten to blend
vegetable oil (preferrably grapeseed for frying)

DIRECTIONS:
For ganache:
Combine coconut milk, palm sugar, and ginger in heavy medium saucepan. Bring mixture to simmer over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Add chocolate and whisk until mixture is melted and smooth.

For Spring Rolls:
Line baking sheet with parchment paper (we used good ol' Silpat). Place 1 spring roll wrapper on work surface. (We followed the dry package instructions and wet the wrappers in warm water to soften)

Place 1 banana piece across center of wrapper, then 2 mango strips. Fold bottom up, then sides in over fruit. Brush unfolded top with beaten egg. Roll up wrapper, enclosing fruit completely. Place on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining wrapper, fruit, and egg. (Can be made 4 hours ahead, covered in plastic and refrigerated)

Pour enough vegetable oil into a heavy deep skillet and heat oil to between 360 degrees and 375. Working in batches, add spring rolls to hot oil and cook until golden crisp, turning often, about 3 minutes per batch. Using a slotted spoon, transfer spring rolls to paper towels to drain.

Place spring roll (or 2!) on each plate, garnish with mint and drizzle with chocolate-coconut ganache.

Voila! I am not sure how i felt about the mango-chocolate combo. I might just leave out the mango next time...