Recipe: This Asian-style Mahi Mahi in Shaoxing Wine is packed with flavour

Chef Biju Philiph has catered to the likes of the Ambanis, Enrique Iglesias and Wiz Khalifa. Although to be fair, his passion for the culinary arts dates much further back than VIP guests and stints at luxury hotels. “My first dish, or in this case a beverage, was preparing Roohafza when I was a kid. I was barely six or seven, but I remember reaching for the freezer on my toes to get the ice. Our guests were generous enough to laud my efforts,” he shares with a laugh. We took the recent unveiling of the executive sous chef’s new menu at the Madras Kitchen Company (MKC) at The Westin Chennai Velachery to ask him to share a recipe from the line-up. Apart from the Steamed Mahi-Mahi below, look out for crowd pullers like Mongolian Chicken Satay, Tofu Ramen and even a Murgh Makhani Maggi!

Steamed Mahi-mahi fish, Shaoxing wine sauce

Ingredients

Mahi-mahi 150 gms | Lemon grass10 gms | Thai ginger (galangal) 10 gms | Coriander leaves 5 gms | Lime leaves 5 gms | Fresh red chilli 5 gms | Spring onion 5 gms | White pepper powder 5 gms | Shaoxing wine 30 ml | Salt 10 gms

Method

■ Marinate mahi-mahi slices with chopped lemongrass, galangal, coriander stems, lime leaves, fresh red chili, white pepper powder and salt.
■ Refrigerate for two hours and then steam for seven minutes.
■ Make a broth with soy sauce, fresh red chili, scallions and Shaoxing wine. The Shaoxing wine/Chinese cooking wine can be replaced with either cooking Sake (Japanese rice wine) or Mirin (Japanese sweet cooking wine).
■ Transfer the fish into a bowl and pour the hot broth on top. Garnish with a sprig of coriander and some slit red chilies to add extra heat to the dish.

What is in store for the new menu?
I methodically update the menu every three months so our patrons are excited and they can have something to look forward to. This time I have added some crowd pullers like Mongolian chicken with pickled chili cucumber, Chicken Ramen, Tofu Ramen, braised silver pomfret with Sticky rice, steamed mahi-mahi fish in Shaoxing wine sauce, MKC style paneer makhani and murgh makhani Maggi, among others. Some refreshing beverages are added as the temperature rise welcoming summer in to Chennai. Jal jeera – our answer to the American lemonade, with hand-pounded roasted cumin, black salt and boondi. Nannari sherbet, an ancient local favorite, which cools the body during hot summers and aids in digestion as well.