Deluxe Seafood Crispy Birds Nest.
Back in Toronto in the 80’s Kwong Chows near Kensington Market was where I was taught this dish by chef Kingsley Chung. I tried to master this dish over my career and I must say do a fine job. The all-important gravy that comes from perfect timing using a super-hot wok is the key. All the seafood and ingredients I use are premium quality. Fresh peeled shrimp, nice plump scallops, some ultra-tenderized squid, and perfect slices of ling cod. The done to order crispy basket is made fresh by using packaged rice noodles forced into hot oil with a wok ladle is used as a nice edible crispy basket platform.
The black bean sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, dark soya sauce, rice vinegar, minced garlic ginger green onion and vinegar are blended in the wok. The vegetables used are snow peas, bok choy, bell pepper, celery, baby corn, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, mushrooms both common button and Asian varieties are all stir fried in the sauce and the seafood is added to the tender veggies and wok fried. A small portion of tapioca starch is mixed with some stock. This will make a delicious sauce gravy once added to the wok and then ladled over the crispy birds nest. Remember to use the best and freshest ingredients and find that meals at home can be mighty tasty!