Picture the scene. Saturday evening and the Wife is getting a bit fidgety, sticking her head around the kitchen door and asking when we will be eating. I am with her long enough that I should know the signs. I have bought a couple of nice pieces of plaice and plan to do something. Something that I should photograph as I do it. My mind is on the cooking and not where it should be. On her plaintive questions…..
(We are married for over 20 years so please note that bracketed bits occur only inside my head.)
Wife to me: “Should I have a snack now while I wait?”
Me to Wife: “No need dear, I have a dish planned that I want to do for you. It will only be a few minutes.”
Wife to me: “I might have some crisps or something?”.
Me to Wife: “No need, I’m nearly there.”
(Me to me: “Skin the fish, chop the chilis, peel and chop the garlic and the ginger, wash the mange tout, boil the noodles, fry the noodles, bread the fish, warm the plates, fry the fish, chop the lime, pour the beer, set the table…”).
Wife to me: “How long…?”
Me to Wife: “Have some crisps.”
Wife to me: “No, I’ll hold out.”
Me to Wife: “It’ll only be a few minutes. Why not go and sit down?”
(Me to me:” Oh, Crap!”)

Cutting the skin off the fish. My mum recently reminded me of an old Dublin saying “She’s so common, she’d ate the skin off of a fish.” She told me this once, twinkle in her eye, while eating the skin of a fish.
Like I say, I know the signs. So I got busy, very busy. I skinned and boned the fish, cut it into goujon size pieces.
I did this while the water was boiling for the noodles. While the noodles were cooking, I washed the mange tout, chopped the garlic, ginger, chilis and mangetout. I poured out some Panko breadcrumbs from my large sack of same (another story altogether), beat an egg. Then it was time to drain and fry the noodles. First thing was to fry the ginger, garlic and chili to flavour the oil.
Then added the mange tout then the noodles.
A good dash of soy completed the dish.
Meanwhile, with my other hand, I egged, breaded and fried the fish, cut the lime and poured the beer. The table set itself, as it usually does in our house. I warmed a couple of plates in the microwave and called the Wife in for her meal just as she was opening the door to see when it would be ready. Victory by a hair’s breadth!
Wife to me: (Through mouthfuls of noodle) “This is delicious. I’m so hungry. Sit down and eat yours.”
Me to Wife: “I hoped you’d like it. I did it for you.”
It is also hard to shoot the plated dish under the steely gaze of the hungry Wife. This is the best I could do. Be grateful. I did it for you.
cookinginsens | 9th August 2012
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Well worth the wait 🙂
Conor Bofin | 9th August 2012
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Thanks, the panko breadcrumbs add a lovely crunch and look good too.
StefanGourmet | 9th August 2012
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Great post and great dish! Lucky wife! 😊
Conor Bofin | 9th August 2012
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I’ve been telling her that for years.
StefanGourmet | 9th August 2012
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LOL!
Sanjiv Khamgaonkar | 9th August 2012
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Nice. Must say you cope well under pressure 🙂
Conor Bofin | 9th August 2012
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No choice…
Keep Calm and Eat On | 9th August 2012
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Lucky wife!
annashortcakes | 10th August 2012
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That looks wonderful! I like this dish. Your wife is a lucky woman!
girlinafoodfrenzy | 10th August 2012
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Gorgeous goujons, lovely photos and tasty looking noodles. I’d say this was definitely a win!
Conor Bofin | 10th August 2012
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By a very, very slim margin, yes.
Stacy | 10th August 2012
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I overheard my husband telling someone this summer that he was really proud of me and my blog, but “We never get to eat until she takes some pictures.” Thank goodness for long-suffering spouses. Your Plaice goujons look delicious but I am most taken with the gorgeously colorful noodles!
Conor Bofin | 10th August 2012
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Thanks Stacy, the splash of soy makes them very tasty and a nice counterbalance for the delicate fish.
Karen | 10th August 2012
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What a fantastic looking dish and a wonderful story. My husband is always calling to me asking “do you need any help yet” when he starts to worry that dinner is taking a long time. That means he is starving and I’m looking at many more steps before I finish our meal.
Conor Bofin | 10th August 2012
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I know it so well Karen.
babso2you | 11th August 2012
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What is the flavor on this fish? I have not heard of it before. The entire dish looks lovely and I love the humor in this post! Hugs! B
Conor Bofin | 11th August 2012
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Thanks Barb. Plaice is a very delicate flavoured coastal fish. As a young fella, I used to catch them from the beach with a bamboo spear. Sadly, the poor fishery management here means that they are a lot rarer than back in the day.
babso2you | 11th August 2012
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Would like to try this sometime. I love fish as long as it is not fishy. Catfish – do not care for it. I caught a 27″ catfish that a friend cooked up for us, and did not care for the fishy quality of the fish…
Conor Bofin | 11th August 2012
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Fish tends to get ‘fishy’ when it is not very fresh. It has to be fresh. Though I never had catfish. Not yet anyway.
Best,
C
atasteofmadess | 13th August 2012
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Haha, the picture is gorgeous. I’m not sure if I could have waited that long, if I was there, the picture would have been of my face directly in the food, this is making me so hungry
Conor Bofin | 13th August 2012
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It takes willpower to stay on the back of the camera sometimes. Thanks for visiting.
grainnep | 13th August 2012
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that does look lovely, and you did a lovely job skinning the fish under such pressure!
Conor Bofin | 13th August 2012
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Thanks Grainne, I am blessed with a good fish knife (not Fishwife) with a flexible blade that makes it pretty easy.
Best,
Conor
trixfred30 | 18th August 2012
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Same problem – when the crisps/nuts come out so does the wine – so I have to make sure I get things moving in the kitchen quick otherwise it turns into a bit of a party and whatever I intended to create stays in the fridge
Conor Bofin | 18th August 2012
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I am sitting on the couch now. Thinking I should get cooking the evening meal. She has already stuck her head in the door once….