Snacking State-by-State: Mashup 13 - Whiting and Hazelnut Stir-Fry in Pale Ale and Fermented Black Bean Sauce

For my thirteenth and final mashup post of this series (no there will be no more), I try to hobble together the disparate ingredients from the Northwest, Midwest, Appalachia and the Rockies into a stir fry with somewhat mixed results.

Mashup Recipe: Whiting and Hazelnut Stir-Fry in Fermented Black Bean and Pale Ale Sauce

Ingredients (state flag indicates State-by-State post where ingredient was featured. Ingredients with no flag were not specifically used for any one post.)

Makes four servings

For the stir fry:

3/4 lb whiting fillets, cut into chunks


1/2 cup baby carrots, sliced

1/2 cup baby lima beans, soaked overnight if dried

1/4 cup hazelnuts


1 Gala apple, diced

1 - 2 pickled spring onions, sliced (or without that, use fresh)

1 - 2 pickled garlic cloves, chopped (or without that, use fresh)



1 handful fresh parsley


a few sprigs tarragon, fresh


For the sauce:


1 tablespoon fermented black bean paste


2 tablespoons chili garlic sauce


1/4 cup sake


1/2 cup pale ale


1 tablespoon garlic powder

Start by throwing your chopped garlic into hot oil in a wok or skillet and let cook for about 10 seconds over high heat.

Next, throw your whiting into the oil, and stir fry until mostly but not completely cooked through.

Remove the whiting and garlic, and set aside.

To the remaining oil, add sake and pale ale and let cook for two to three minutes until partially reduced.

Add fermented black bean paste and chili garlic sauce (Note that my ingredients list reverses the quantities of black bean paste and chili garlic sauce.  That's because in retrospect I think I would have gotten a better tasting and looking sauce had I gone heavier on the chili and lighter on the black bean).

Add the lima beans and cook for two to three minutes.

Add the remaining stir fry ingredients, including the whiting, and stir fry for another two to three minutes, or until the whiting is cooked through.

This dish doesn't look that great.  It tasted okay.  It was one of those dishes, however, that tastes much better just out of the skillet than after sitting a day or two.  It didn't age terribly well.  Again, had I upped the chili garlic sauce and scaled back on the fermented black bean paste it might have turned out a bit better than this.