Stir-fried fish with celery and water chestnuts
Crunchy celery and water chestnuts with tender fish slices, stir-fried with little oil in ten minutes — fresh, light and never greasy.
- 25 min
- Serves 3
- Stir-fry
- Easy
Why it suits you: Damp-Heat shows up as a bitter taste in the mouth and spots, and winter hotpots and claypot rice make it worse. Celery and water chestnuts clear heat and drain dampness, fish is light and not heating, and a quick low-oil stir-fry won't weigh you down.
Method
Prep 15 min · Cook 10 min- 1Thaw the fish, pat dry with kitchen paper, cut into thick slices on the diagonal and toss with a pinch of salt and 1 tsp cornflour.
- 2De-string the celery and cut into diagonal pieces; slice the water chestnuts and carrot. Blanch them together in boiling water for 1 minute and drain.
- 3Heat the oil in a wok, fry the ginger and sliced garlic until fragrant, then add the fish and cook until both sides turn white. Lift out.
- 4Stir-fry the vegetables in the same wok for 1 minute, return the fish, pour in 1 tsp cornflour mixed with 3 tbsp water and toss gently. Serve at once.
Chef's tips
- Lift the fish out as soon as both sides turn white and only toss it back at the end, so it stays tender and whole.
- Ready-peeled water chestnuts from the wet market save time; just rinse them well before use.
The TCM view
Celery is sweet and cool, clears heat, calms the liver and drains water; water chestnuts are sweet and cold, clear heat and phlegm and generate fluids; white fish is sweet and neutral, nourishing without adding heat; a little ginger and garlic protect digestion. Cool and fresh overall, it clears damp-heat without harming yang, even in winter.
