I was looking for the regular stringray at the supermarket as I wanted to make BBQ Sambal Stingray but I ended up with a meaty slab of shovelnose ray instead, lol. What a find, as I don’t normally see it that often. It resembled shark meat which I had tried cooking with before so I decided to do up a fermented black bean sauce dish with it as I wanted the overall flavour to be more robust and savoury. Just as I expected, the texture of the shovelnose ray was similar to that of the shark. It was like biting into chicken breast but with a taste of the ocean and I thought it tasted much better than shark because it was sweeter. Anyway, if you can’t find shovelnose ray, feel free to substitute it with shark, stringray or any other thick, meaty, non-fatty type of white fish.
Shovelnose Ray in Black Bean Sauce Recipe
Ingredients (serves 3-4)
350g shovelnose ray fillet, cut into bite sized chunks
3 slices ginger, cut into thin strips
1/2 tbsp dried fermented black beans, wash & bruise
1 cup water
vegetable oil
3 stalks spring onion, cut into 1″ sections
1 red chilli, deseed & slice
Seasonings:
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp chicken seasoning powder
dash of white pepper
dash of chinese cooking wine
Instructions
1. Heat a little oil in pan and saute ginger & fermented black beans till fragrant.
2. Add the shovelnose ray, water, seasonings and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer till the sauce reduces slightly.
3. Stir in spring onions and chilli. Mix well and serve.
This dish is perfect for a meal like this as you can douse the savoury sauce over the porridge, complete with a stir fried spinach and szechuan vegetable with pork tenderloin. Bon appetit!
That sounds so interesting. I wish I could buy any kind of ray fillet and give it a try 🙁
You can substitute the ray fillet with shark meat too if that’s available 🙂