A stirring rendition of a Fat’s favorite

Dear SOS: Can you obtain the recipe for the seafood stir-fry at California Fat’s Restaurant in Sacramento?

N. Nguyen

Orange

Dear N.: This can be eaten over rice or just as it is. Our test kitchen scaled down the recipe so it can be made by the home cook.

California Fat’s seafood stir-fry

Total time: 30 minutes, plus 8 hours marinating

Servings: 3 to 4

Note: To make ginger juice, press slices of fresh ginger through a garlic press. Bottled kung pao sauce and Asian chile paste are available in well-stocked supermarkets.

Stir-fry

1 egg white

1 1/2 tablespoons ginger juice

1 teaspoon minced garlic

Salt

White pepper to taste

1 (4-ounce) fish filet, cut into 1-inch pieces, such as whitefish, salmon or mahi-mahi

2 ounces bay shrimp

2 ounces bay scallops

1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons oil

1/4 cup diced onion

1/2 cup green beans, cut in 1/2-inch pieces

1/2 cup diced green and red bell peppers

Hunan sauce

1/4 cup sliced water chestnuts

1/2 cup sliced bamboo shoots, rinsed

1/4 cup sliced green onion

1/2 teaspoon cornstarch blended with 1/2 teaspoon water

1. Combine the egg white, ginger juice, garlic, and salt and white pepper to taste in a glass bowl. Add the fish, shrimp and scallops, and stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

2. Drain the seafood. Heat 1/4 cup of the oil in a wok over medium heat until hot. Add the seafood and onion and cook just until the seafood turns white and the onion is tender, 2 minutes. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and set aside. Clean out the wok.

3. Blanch the green beans in boiling water about 4 minutes. Drain and plunge into cold water. Blanch the diced red and green peppers in boiling water about 1 minute. Drain and plunge into cold water.

4. Heat the remaining oil in the wok over medium-high heat. Add the Hunan sauce. Heat to simmering. Add the drained green beans, drained green and red peppers, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots and green onion and cook, stirring, until the liquid comes to a boil. Stir in the cornstarch slurry. Heat to a simmer and cook 1 minute until the sauce is clear and slightly thickened. Stir in seafood and return to a boil, then serve.

Hunan sauce

3/4 cup kung pao sauce

2 2/3 tablespoons ketchup

5 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon Asian chile paste

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1. Combine the sauce, ketchup, sugar, chile paste and garlic and set aside.

Each of 4 servings: 322 calories; 1,128 mg. sodium; 43 mg. cholesterol; 15 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 34 grams carbohydrates; 14 grams protein; 3 grams fiber.