Ladna Goong Pla Tod

My beautiful Bride made me this wonderful dish the other day, it is one that she enjoys and has wanted to make for a while and finally decided to make. You can use any firm-fleshed sea fish for this recipe. I especially like the combination of flavours, the fish sauce, the soy sauces and the yellow preserved bean sauce. This recipe normally does not call for red bell pepper, she added it because she had some left over. Don't worry about the number of ingredients, it looks more complicated than it really is.

Ladna Goong Pla Tod
1 medium fish (seabream or red snapper), sliced into fillets, then cut into chunks
7 Tbsp oil, divided
salt
a little paprika
all-purpose flour
300 g fresh flat rice noodle
1 tsp dark soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
15 shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
3-4 coriander roots, mashed and minced
400 mL water
1 Tbsp fish sauce
2 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 Tbsp yellow preserved soybean sauce
1 tsp mushroom stock
1/2 tsp cane sugar
2 Tbsp corn starch, mixed with 3 Tbsp water
200 g Chinese broccoli, cleaned and cut into 1-inch pieces
half a red bell pepper, sliced thinly
1 egg, scrambled
Accompaniments:
ground white pepper
vinegar with chopped medium-sized chilies
flaked chili powder

Salt the fillet pieces, then dust with a little paprika. Coat with a little flour. Pan-fry the fish in a hot pan with 4 tablespoons of oil until done, about 8-10 minutes; set aside on plate with paper towel to absorb excess oil.

Separate the rice noodles if sticking.

Heat the pan on high heat; put 2 tablespoons of the oil in the pan when hot. Place the noodles in the pan with the dark soy sauce and stir-fry until noodles start to turn golden brown; set aside on plate.

Mix shrimp with oyster sauce; set aside.

Heat the pan on medium heat, putting the rest of the oil in the pan. When pan is hot, place garlic and cook until fragrant. Put shrimp and stir-fry until the shrimp turns red, about 3-4 minutes. Add the coriander roots and stir-fry for an additional minute. Add water and increase the heat to medium-high until it reaches a boil; add mushroom stock, fish sauce, light soy sauce, yellow preserved soybean sauce and sugar. Add cornstarch mixture and stir to thicken; this is the ladna gravy. Add Chinese broccoli and red bell pepper slices to the gravy; cook until softened, 2-3 minutes. Add scrambled egg, mix well with hot gravy (cooked egg will become thread-like). Remove from heat.

Serve by pouring the gravy over the noodles, placing the fried fish on top of the ladna gravy, or place in separate bowls and allow guests to take fish, noodles and gravy as desired.

Serve with accompaniments, if desired.