CHILLI BARBECUED FIVE-SPICED DOVER SOLE

2 min read

I first tried this on a street corner in Qingdao in Shandong Province，which the head chef of the Millennium Copthorne Hotel，Mr Lim，took me around.I still remember the day vividly as there were two things that we ate that i thought were absolutely amazing，the first being this grilled fish dish，served with butter andchilli，the second a barbecued pork tendon dish that，to this day，I have not been able to replicate.When you hear the word Tsingtao，it is usually the brand of Chinese beer that automatically springs to mind.However，’Qingdao，as it should actually be written，is one of the most beautiful cities in China.On the east coast of China.it has fabulous beaches and，thanks to its german colonial rule，a bizarremix of Chinese and Bavarian architecture.My time in the city was mainly spent in a tiny hotel kitchen washing suckling pigs with washing-up liquid before preparing them for roasting.But my fondest food memory of the area was the midnight street stalls where you could pick out all sorts of live ingredients，ranging from seahorses to starfish，before handing them over to be cooked on an outside barbecue Cooking fish in this spontaneous way really highlights the philosophy that’simple is best

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

1 Dover sole，about 900g

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

plain flour，for coating

100g unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon Five-spice Salt

pinch of chilliflakes

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1.Ask your fishmonger to remove the skin from both sides of the fish

2.Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat

3.Lightly dust the fish with flour and fry for 6 minutes on each side or until the internal temperature reaches 55C.Alternatively test for doneness by using a knife to try and pull a piece of the flesh off the bone-if you succeed，the fish is ready.

4.Remove the fish from the pan and place on a warmed serving plate

5.Melt the butter in a pan over a low heat until it turns nut brown in colour then season with the Five-spice Salt and chilliflakes

6.Pour the seasoned butter over the fish and squeeze over the lemon juice before serving

CHEFS TIP

You can use the fish skin to create a bar snack by placing it between 2 sheets of baking paper and drying it out in an oven preheated to 120 C，Gas Mark 12，for about 30 minutes until crisp