Southern Thai Crispy Sea Bass with Chinese Celery, Ginger, and Crab Paste

Got sea bass? Turn it into this Southern Thai stir-fry with Chinese celery. Crispy fried fish and roe are smothered in a savory sauce of fresh ginger and fragrant crab paste. It is the kind of dish you will want to cook tonight.

After making celery stir-fried with shrimp and then with pork, there was still a bunch of Chinese celery left over, so why not try a third version? Stir-fried sea bass with celery is a hugely popular Thai dish. This recipe comes from a home cook in a small fishing community in Southern Thailand, and it includes the fish roe, dusted in flour and fried until crisp. The stars are the celery and ginger, rounded out by the rich aroma of crab paste. Expect the plate to be wiped clean, sauce and all.

A Note on the Fish

In this village, life follows the sea. During the fasting month the boats stay moored, and when a big wild sea bass comes in (this one weighed 8.5 kg, nearly 19 lb) it is portioned and sold by the kilo, with the head and belly kept aside for the local restaurants. Wild sea bass has none of the muddy or slimy taste of farmed fish, and the leftover cuts with roe, which are hard to sell, are exactly what went into this stir-fry. Any fresh sea bass, barramundi, or firm white fish will work at home.

Ingredients

• Sea bass, cut into chunks
• Sea bass roe (optional)
• Tapioca starch, for dusting
• Garlic, minced
• Fresh ginger, julienned
• Crab paste (Thai nam poo, or substitute shrimp paste)
• Thai seasoning sauce (such as Golden Mountain or Maggi)
• Salt
• Granulated sugar
• Oyster sauce
• Chinese celery, cut into short lengths

Instructions

1. Toss the fish chunks and roe with tapioca starch, shaking off the excess through a sieve. Fry in hot oil over high heat, then gradually lower to medium-low, until the fish is cooked through, the coating is crisp, and the skin is golden. Remove to a plate.
2. In a clean wok, fry the garlic until golden and fragrant. Add the ginger and stir until aromatic. Season with the crab paste, seasoning sauce, salt, sugar, and oyster sauce, add the celery, and turn off the heat right away so the celery stays crisp and green.
3. Pour the celery-ginger sauce over the fried fish and pile the vegetables on top. The sauce should taste sweet and salty, and it is wonderful spooned over rice. The fish stays crisp on top while the underside soaks up the sauce. If the ginger is too sharp for you, add a splash of soy sauce.

Have your rice cooked before you start, because this dish is best eaten the moment it is done. If you are not a fan of fish roe, simply leave it out. You can also skip the starch coating and fry the fish plain until golden, or even poach it instead.