20 Nebraskaland • June 2020
Servings: about 20 poppers
Ingredients:
•
1 pound of boneless and skinless
white-fleshed fish fillets
•
2 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
•
Half a large shallot, coarsely
chopped
•
Freshly cracked pepper, to taste
•
½ teaspoon of kosher salt
•
½ teaspoon of sugar
•
1½ tablespoons of fish sauce
•
1 tablespoon of cornstarch, plus
extra
•
2 heaping teaspoons of freshly
chopped dill
•
10 medium to large jalapeños
•
Oil for shallow frying
•
Mae Ploy sweet chili sauce, for
dipping
Special equipment: meat grinder and
food processor
1. Partially thaw or partially freeze
fish, and cut into 1-inch cubes. With
the fine die plate attached on your
grinder, grind the fish with garlic and
shallot twice.
Then in a food processor, blend
the ground fish mixture with cracked
pepper, salt, sugar, fish sauce and
cornstarch until you get a smooth, fine
paste. Don't be afraid to let the food
processor run for a few minutes. (The
texture should be close to that of thick
toothpaste – not the most appetizing
analogy, but there you have it.)
Transfer fish paste to a bowl and
fold in the chopped dill. Cover and
refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up
to 24 hours. Paste must be cold when
you cook it.
2. To prepare the jalapeños, cut them
in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds
and ribs and lightly coat the insides
with cornstarch; this step helps the
fish mixture stick to the jalapeño.
Then, with a spoon, fill the jalapeño
halves with the cold fish paste. Keep
or remove seeds and ribs in jalapeños
to suit your taste.
3. Coat the bottom of a nonstick
skillet with oil and heat over medium.
When the oil is hot, lay the poppers
into the oil fish side down. Cook until
golden brown, and when the fish easily
releases from the pan – do not mess
with them too much while they are
cooking – flip to brown the jalapeño
side. Take off heat when fish paste has
cooked through; internal temperature
should read at least 145 degrees.
If you're not a fan of peppers or
don't like spicy food in general, you
can form the fish paste into patties
– with slightly greased hands to
prevent sticking – and shallow fry in
oil without the jalapeño.
4. Serve fish poppers with sweet
chili sauce on the side for dipping.
By Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley
VIETNAMESE-STYLE JALAPEÑO FISH "POPPERS"
PHOTO
BY
JENNY
NGUYEN-WHEATLEY
IN THE FIELD
