A new restaurant from Samyukta Nair, the restaurateur behind Mayfair’s Jamavar and Bombay Bustle, MiMi Mei Fair occupies a Georgian townhouse, which has been transformed into the secret London residence of Empress MiMi, striving to transport guests to old world China. In the kitchen, Chinese-Singaporean Executive Chef Peter Ho’s menu uses traditional techniques to create contemporary Chinese dishes, including this steamed Dover sole with pickled chillies and a sauce comprising fish sauce, Maggi, light and dark soy, rock sugar, chicken powder, and coriander.
On this steamed Dover sole recipe, MiMi Mei Fair Executive Chef Peter Ho said: “Fish signifies abundance and an increase in wealth and prosperity in the coming year, so it is a must-do dish during Chinese New Year feasting. Steamed fish is one of the most famous dishes to create, so if you only make one, it should be this.
“For this recipe, you start with making the pickled chilli, which can be made in advance. The fish is then marinated in the pickled chilli during the steaming process. Pickled chill is something I always batch cook and have as a staple in my fridge, as it’s a key ingredient to many of my dishes. Below I share my pickled chilli recipe with you, followed by my steamed dover sole recipe – something I cook for my family year on year for our Chinese New Year dinner.”
To make the pickled red chillies, slice the chillies in half, remove the seeds and discard them.
Put the chilli halves into an airtight container, mixed with the sea salt. Leave at room temperature where it will begin to release a liquid.
Mix up the ingredients in the container every day for 21+ days, until the pickles are fully submerged. This leaves you with around 150g of pickled chillies.
When you would like to prepare the chutney, finely chop the pickled chillies and add all of the remaining ingredients. Once mixed, keep refrigerated and use it within 30 days.
To prepare the fish, mix all of the sauce ingredients together with 480ml water and steam the mixture for 30 minutes.
Sprinkle cornflour over the whole fish, ensuring that it is evenly coated.
Place the fish onto a plate and spread the pickled chili over it.
Steam the fish for 8 minutes. Once steamed, pour away the liquid
Heat the vegetable oil in a pan.
While the oil is heating up, place the fish on your serving dish and pour the steamed sauce over the top, then sprinkle with your spring onion.
Pour a little of the hot oil on the spring onion and then add the coriander and serve.
Jonathan is Food Editor for The London Economic. Jonathan has run and contributed towards a number of blogs, and has written features for publications such as Eater London, The Guardian, i News, The Independent, GQ, Time Out London and more.
