Deep Fried Fish Heads & Bones with Gnocchi

*in collaboration with Casa Rinaldi for gnocchi

I wonder if anybody's like my husband and me? We simply adore fish heads and bones and would not let them go to waste into the thrash bins. They are treasures and not wastes to us! The fish monger gave me a bag of threadfin bones and heads for free when I made other purchases. I was thrilled. Under normal circumstances, I would make use of them for fish bone stock. As I had to create another dish with Casa Rinaldi's gnocchi, I thought my family would enjoy this Deep Fried Fish Heads & Bones with Gnocchi 炸鱼头鱼骨配马铃薯丸子 better.

Gnocchi is a type of traditional Italian pasta. They're actually small dumplings that's primarily made up of potatoes and flour. It's a tradition for many European families to hand make their own gnocchi at home. Casa Rinaldi, however, has made it so easy and convenient now by introducing the packet ones to us in Singapore. All we have to do is to boil them for short few minutes and the gnocchi could be served with any sauce and cooked ingredients. To achieve a more chewy texture and also to make the gnocchi more flavourful, I coated them with seasoning mixture and deep frying seemed the way to go this time. No worries. This Deep Fried Fish Heads & Bones with Gnocchi 炸鱼头鱼骨配马铃薯丸子 was well balanced by other ingredients such as mushrooms, pineapples, tomatoes, tau pok and mixed greens. We love the cohesive tastes and textures in our mouths!

Casa Rinaldi Gnocchi is available exclusively at NTUC finest under the pasta section. (Retail price at $9.50 per pack). Don't miss out Casa Rinaldi giveaway at http://bit.ly/2f9PfwJ

Ingredients (enough for 2 pax) :

• 250 gm Casa Rinaldi Gnocchi (available at NTUC Finest)
• 400 gm (threadfin fish bones or heads that still c/w substantial meats)(available from wet markets)(pre-marinade with 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp sugar, 2 tbsp cooking wine, a dash of grounded black pepper for at least 2 hours)
• 6 pcs shiitake mushrooms (sliced)
• 1 slice pineapple (cut to chunks)
• 12 pcs cherry tomatoes (sliced)
• 4 pcs tau pok (fried beancurd puffs)(diced)
• a handful of salad mixed greens (optional)
• chopped English parsley (for garnishing)
• cooking oil (for deep frying)

Coating for Fish and Gnocchi (A) :

• 5 tbsp tapioca flour
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

Sauce (B) : 

• 2 tbsp Hoisin Sauce
• 1 tbsp garlic chilli sauce
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 1 tsp sugar
• grounded black pepper (to taste)
• 50 ml water

(tsp = teaspoon; tbsp = tablespoon) 

Method :

1. Pre-marinade fish head and bones with salt, sugar, grounded black pepper and cooking wine for at least 2 hours.
2. Pre-heat oven to 180C.
3. When ready to cook, arrange pineapple chunks, tomatoes, shiitake mushrooms, tao pok in a baking tray and send to bake at 180C for 20 minutes. 
4. Mix all sauce ingredients (B) in a bowl. Set aside.
5. Combine all coating seasoning powder (A) and mix well.
6. Heat enough cooking oil (to fully submerge fish bones and heads when frying) in saucepan at medium heat.
7. When cooking oil is sufficiently hot, pat dry fish bones and heads, coat each piece evenly with coating seasoning powder (A) and deep fry in saucepan till golden brown on all sides.
8. Double deep fry all the fish heads & bones and from saucepan, drain oil and set aside to cool.
9. Toss all gnocchi into coating seasoning powder (A) to ensure all sides are evenly coated.
10. Deep fry coated gnocchi in saucepan for about 1 minute till light golden brown. Remove from saucepan, drain oil and set aside. 
11. Heat sauce mixture (B) till boiling point.
12. Assemble gnocchi and all cooked ingredients in a serving pot or tray. 
13. Drizzle with sauce.
14. Garnish with chopped English parsley and salad mixed greens before serve.
15. Serve whilst hot.

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