Description
A seafood dish where the pure white, elastic flesh of 'Mola Mola (Manbo Yu)'—a specialty of Hualien, eastern Taiwan—is rapid-fried on high with celery and ginger in a salt base.
Restaurants serving Stir-fried Mola Mola (Sunfish)
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On this site you can check dictionary details and, later, places to buy or eat related items.
The Recipe section below is a general reference, not a recipe from the listed shops.
Recipe
Ingredients
- Mola Mola meat(Manbo Yu)
- Celery
- Ginger
- Carrot
- Rice wine
- Salt
Instructions
- [Authentic Recipe]
- [Sunfish Prep] Prepare fresh 'Manbo Yu (Mola Mola)' white meat landed in Hualien ports (Mola Mola is highly watery and shrinks heavily when cooked). Cut into bite-sized dice.
- Blanch the meat in boiling water for just 'a few seconds' to tighten it (overcooking melts it).
- Julienne celery, carrots, ginger, and red chilies.
- Heat oil in a wok, fragrantly sauté ginger, scallions, and chilies.
- Add celery and carrots, then vigorously toss in the blanched sunfish.
- Splash a little salt, white pepper, and rice wine around the wok edge, tossing violently on high for 'just dozens of seconds'.
- Remove quickly while the sunfish meat is white and plump like squid.
Learn more Spice, substitutes, tips
Key spices
Ginger aroma and White pepper
Substitutes at Japanese supermarkets
Thick kisslip cuttlefish or scallop adductor muscle
Pairing
Cold Taiwan Beer or Seafood Fried Rice
Trivia
[For Everyone] Japan has cultures eating Mola Mola intestines, but in Taiwan (especially Hualien), 'Manbo Yu' is a super specialty. Zero fishy odor; looks like translucent white meat but has shocking elasticity when bitten. The king of seafood you must eat when visiting Hualien.
Eating tips & etiquette
[Unique Eating] Chew the unique 'bouncy! plump!' elasticity of Mola Mola—like a 50/50 mix of squid and white fish—along with the crisp celery!
Allergen
Seafood