Mohinga Noodle And Fish Soup - cooking recipe

Ingredients

2 tbsp tamarind pulp
1/2 tsp shrimp paste
3 lbs red snapper, cleaned, scaled and halved
1 inch piece of ginger, coarsely chopped
8 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
2 tsp fish sauce, or to taste
1/3 cup chickpea flour
1/2 cup garlic oil, plus extra for seasoning
5 g turmeric, finely grated
14 oz dried rice vermicelli
None None coarsely chopped cilantro, to serve
None None lime wedges, to serve
-1 None Chili oil
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp chili flakes

Preparation

Combine tamarind pulp with 1/2 cup of hot water in a small bowl and let stand for 5 minutes. Strain by pressing on the solids. Reserve the tamarind liquid.
Preheat oven to 350\u00b0F. Wrap shrimp paste in foil and roast until fragrant, about 5-10 minutes. Combine shrimp paste, snapper, ginger, garlic and 10 cups of water in a large saucepan and bring to a boil, skimming scum that forms on the surface. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until fish is cooked through, about 5-10 minutes. Remove fish from stock and set aside until cool enough to handle, then coarsely shred flesh and discard skin and reserve the bones. Refrigerate until required.
Return fish bones to stock and simmer over low heat until reduced to 4 cups, this will take about 3 hours. Strain stock into a clean saucepan (discard bones) and season to taste with fish sauce and tamarind liquid. Set aside.
Meanwhile, to make the chili oil, stir oil and chili flakes in a small saucepan over medium heat until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Set aside.
Stir chickpea flour in a large pan over medium heat until fragrant and lightly toasted, about 1 minute. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.
Heat garlic oil in a non-stick pan over high heat, add turmeric and reserved fish and stir occasionally until golden and crisp, about 10-15 minutes. Set aside and keep warm.
Season warm serving bowls with a little extra garlic oil to taste. Cook noodles in boiling water until just tender, about 3-4 minutes, drain well and divide among bowls. Top noodles with fish, sprinkle with toasted chickpea flour, scatter with cilantro and pour hot stock over. Serve hot with lime wedges and chili oil.