Salmon & Pumpkin Stir-fry Asian Style

We love salmon, we love Asian cuisine, it is pumpkin season and this recipe is the result of all these three combined. This recipe has a variety of ingredients that give this stir-fry different textures, saltiness and sweetness. As I said earlier it is indeed pumpkin season and we try to include it in our cooking as much as we can during this season. It is so delicious, we love it. WE also used salmon fillets in this recipe but you can use any fish fillets you like, you can also try steak fish like Amberjack (Aċċiola in Maltese), Grouper (Ċerna), Swordfish (Pixxispad) or Wreckfish (Dott). Fish is quite versatile so feel free to use whatever you find fresh at the market.  We served this stir-fry on top of some delicious thick rice noodles but again you can use regular egg or wheat noodles. So if you feel in cooking your fish in a different way than usual, give this a go, all the ingredients can be found on the international food aisle at your supermarket. For 2 people you will need…

• 2 Salmon fillets of about 150g each, skinned, boned and sliced
• 250g cooked pumpkin
• 50g bean sprouts
• 50g bamboo shoots, thinly sliced
• 50g water chestnuts
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• ½ teaspoon minced fresh ginger or galangal
• Juice of half a lime
• 2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
• 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon shrimp paste (optional)
• 1 teaspoon palm sugar (or brown sugar)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, for frying
• 1 package rice noodles
• Sesame oil

1. Preheat the oven to 240°C.
2. Start by cooking the pumpkin. Chop about 400g of uncooked pumpkin in large pieces (do not peel at this stage). Put them skin facing up into an oven tray, add half a cup of water and bake into the preheated oven for about half an hour. When cooked, carefully peel the skin off, it should peel off easily. Slice the pumpkin flesh into slices and set aside.
3. In a wok or large pan, heat the oil and throw in the garlic, ginger and shrimp paste (if using). Stir-fry for about a minute until fragrant.
4. Add the fish, rice wine or sherry, soy sauce, sugar and cook, always stir-frying continuously, until fish is cooked, about 5-8 minutes.
5. In the meantime, start cooking the noodles as according to the package, drain and set aside.
6. Add the bean sprouts, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots and pumpkin and cook until they are warm. Stir fry to mix all up. Add the lime juice and stir again. Serve into a deep medium sized serving dish.
7. In the same wok/pan, add the noodle and dress with sesame oil. Stir fry for a minute and serve.
8. Plate the noodles and top with the fish stir-fry.

Enjoy!!

R&A