Asam Pedas Bawal Hitam ( Hot/Spicy and Sour Black Pomfret )

Asam Pedas is a well known dish both in Malacca and Johore.

Different culture has got a different interpretation of this particular dish. As for the one i've prepared over here, i'm not too sure bout its origin because i was told that there's the Malay-style and the Nyonya style of Asam Pedas. But one thing i know and very sure of is that i'm loving this dish!

This dish alone , got my bro goin for 3 servings of rice and for my mom, 2 servings! So i'd take this as a compliment from my bro since he's pretty fusy with fish. He loves his fish to be fried. Typical of him.

INGREDIENTS

* 800gm black pomfret

* 12 okras

* 2 tomatoes ( cut into wedges )

* 1 tbsp fish curry powder

* 5 springs daun kesum (Vietnamese coriander )

* 1 bunga kantan ( torch ginger)

* Oil

* Salt and sugar to taste

* 2 medium shallots (pound)

* 4-5 cups tamarind juice

Spice Paste (pound)

* 2 cloves garlic

* 2 stalks lemon grass (white part only)

* 15 shallots (small)

* 20 dried chillies (soaked )

* 2 tsp shrimp paste powder

* 4cm fresh ginger

* 3cm fresh turmeric

Method:

1) Stir fry the pounded shallots until fragrant and add in the spice paste and stir further until aromatic.

2) Pour in the tamarind juice and let it simmer.

3) Add in daun kesum and simmer a while and add in bunga kantan and okras.

4) Put in the pieces of fish and let it simmer further. Add in the tomato wedges.

5) Season with salt and sugar to taste.

Note:

You can replace the dried chillies with chilli paste to speed up the cooking process.

Its best to use fresh ginger and turmeric instead of the powdered form.

Halved or quartered the bunga kantan. If you like, you can slice it finely.

Add in more tamarind juice for those who wants more gravy to this dish. To make the tamarind juice : 1 1/4 cups water with tamarind pulp the size of small ping pong ball. To make this dish more savoury, always add in tamarind juice, be it thick or thin but never add in water.

Usually stingray will be used to prepare this dish but since my granny dont take stingray , therefore i've replaced it with a black pomfret. You can basically replace it with any type of fish you fancy.

In order to have a less oily asam pedas, be sure to cut down the oil use to fry the pounded shallots and spice paste. Start off with a lil and add more oil if you need to. I used a deep non stick to cook this dish therefore i only needed very little oil.

If you do not like your okras and tomatoes to be to cooked, add the okra at the same time you add your fish pieces and let it simmer and add in the tomato wedges. I added the okra first so that it will be soft enough for my granny.

Baked Spicy Tuna Stuffed Portobello

I have 2 more huge portobello mushrooms left in my fridge and i didn't want those meaty mushrooms to be beggin me to cook them! i was in some kinda desperation state when i saw the two round looking yummylicious thing lookin back at me. So i thought, it sure sounds like the right time to transform them into somethin pretty lookin edible grub on my plate! i didnt wanna make the usual easy Sauteed Portobello with short pasta. I remember i came across a recipe on tuna and portobello so i thought why not give it a try.

INGREDIENTS
* tuna in brine
* sour cream
* olive oil
* thyme leaves
* salt
* lemon juice
* garlic powder
* cayenne pepper powder
* finely chopped tomatoes
* finely chopped onions
* coarse black pepper

Method:
1) Preheat oven to 200 degrees C
2) Season portobello with salt and pepper and bake it in the preheated oven for bout 10mins. Grease the bakeware with a lil bit of butter and drizzle some olive oil over the mushrooms.
3) Combine the tuna, onions, black pepper, cayenne pepper powder, garlic powder and a little bit of thicken light sour cream and a squeeze of lemon juice from a wedge.
4) Spread the tuna mixture over the portobello and topped it up with finely chopped tomatoes and some coarse black pepper and bake it for another 5-10 mins.

After i took it out from the oven, i added some freshly chopped thyme and cheese powder on it. I had it with some Romaine lettuce and some cherry tomatoes. I'm gonna minus the light sour cream i added to the tuna mix the next time i try this experimental creation again. The sour cream somewhat made it too creamy.

I'm not so much of a cream kinda person so it was a lil too much for the i'm-not-into-creamy-stuff taste buds, perhaps butter might be a better substitute . It was definitely peppery n spicy enough for my liking. Bro isnt a big tuna fan, so he had a miserable 1/4 of one of the portobello.

Reunion Dinner Feast

Usually for the Chinese, reunion dinner means steamboat but as for my family, steamboat isnt really our thing or rather we dont own a steamboat pot so havin a steamboat's rather impossible. Back then when my grandpa and grandma ( my dad's side) was still alive, we'd travel bout 100km+/- for reunion dinner and since they are no longer with us, we dont have steamboat anymore.

Since a few years back, i've been the in-house chef to prepare food for the family prior the reunion dinner. I would say this year's dinner was the most grand i've prepared.

A week before the dinner, i actually asked my family members for opinions, ideas, suggestions on what to prepare or what they would like to have for reunion.

Bro being his sarcastic self answered duck and crab. Its not impossible to prepare those but the bro actually requested Peking Duck and since i've no experience with using duck to prepare a meal, i googled for recipes and so on and i saw a youtube like clip that showed the whole process of preparing Peking Duck and it takes bout 8 hours before you can start  feedin on it! Upon knowin that, bro decided it was too much hassle and requested that to check if we can get supply of crabs at our local seafood supplier. Dont know wht made him changed his mind, he decided that he didnt want anymore crabs.

At the end of the day, i'm still left with no suggestions. Then i thought i should do somethin really different this time. Somethin ive not done. Then I've no idea what came over me when i was plannin on the menu for the reunion, i came up with 6 dishes!

The 1st dish: Braised Sea-Cucumber & Mushrooms.

Ingredients:

Sea- cucumber
* young ginger
* spring onion
* Shao Hsing Hua Tiau 
* cut into big slanting pieces

Note: stir fry all ingredients to prepare the sea-cucumber

Mushrooms
* medium-sized dried mushrooms,washed
* water
* oyster sauce
* light soy sauce
* sugar
* sesame oil

Note: simmer until mushrooms are soft and keep the remaining stock for later use

Ingredients for stir-frying & gravy :
* oil
* garlic
* young ginger
* Shao Hsing Hua Tiau
* oyster sauce
* light soy sauce
* thick soy sauce
* sugar
* salt
* chicken stock granules
* pepper
* sesame oil
* mushroom stock ( from simmering of the mushrooms)

The 2nd dish: Deep-Fried Crispy Seafood Tofu

Ingredients:

* japanese egg tofu
* soft beancurd
* salted egg yolks
* fish paste
* prawn paste
* spring onion
* chopped red chilli
* cornflour
* plain flour
* salt
* chicken stock granules
* pepper

Note: combine all ingredients and steam it in a tray until cook, remove, cut into strips or cubes then dust the steamed tofu with the combination of tapioca flour + rice flour and deep fry.

The 3rd dish: Sichuan Chili Prawns

Ingredients:

Marinade
* Shao Hsing Hua Tiau
* sesame oil
* finely minced garlic
* sugar

Note: marinade the prawns (deveined & shelled) for a few hours

Sauce
* sesame oil 
* salt
* sugar
* chili sauce
* tomato sauce
* corn flourNote: stir-fry the prawns and add in the sauce

The 4th dish : Sweet Pork

Ingredients:

* pork ribs
* brown sugar
* red shallots
* fish sauce
* sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
* white pepper
* coriander leaves
* warm water

Note : dissolve brown sugar and water in a non-stick, add ribs and shallots, followed by fish sauce, sweet soy sauce, pepper and water and simmer it.

 The 5th dish : Stuffed Calamari

Ingredients:

Dipping Sauce
* lime juice
* fish sauce
* brown sugar
* chopped red chili

Stuffing
* fish paste (used dory fillet)
* prawn paste 
* finely chopped garlic
* fish sauce
* chopped coriander
* lime juice
* brown sugar

Note : prepare the stuffin and fill up the calamari about 3/4 full and secure with a toothpick. Rice flour to coat before pan-fryin.

The 6th dish : Steamed Seabass with Garlic & Lime

Ingredients:

* seabass
* chicken broth
* bird's eye chillies (finely sliced)
* lime juice
* fish sauce
* sugar

Note: You can prepare the gravy and the fish separately or you can steam everythin together.

Separately: Steam the fish with a few tablespoons on the chicken broth and simmer the remaining of chicken broth with the rest of the ingredients and when the fish is done, just pour the gravy over the fish.

Everythin together: Simmer the chicken broth and the rest of the ingredients together and when its done, pour it over the fish and steam the fish until its soft and tender.

So there you have it, my rather elaborated reunion dinner with the family. I gotta say i enjoyed every single bit the work involved in preparin it for my family! Wht's more satisfactory was that all the dishes was wiped out! The faces of my family members piggin out on the food was priceless.

Stir-fry Dory Fillet

There were 4 big dory fillets in the fridge when i was treasure hunting wht to cook. I wasn't too keen on turnin those fillets into fish and chips so i thought why not experiment on it.

I didnt know exactly wht to prepare with it. So i was like just goin with my intuition. So i took a large piece of fillet out, cut it into bite size. 

Next i seasoned it with, salt, pepper, fish sauce and paprika. Let it marinade for 30mins or so, dependin on how much time you have before you need to start cookin. 

I glazed it non-stick with some marjerin and pan fried the bite -sized fillet. At first i wanted to dish out on the paper towl but then decided since its pretty wet n it somehow turned into a gravy like thing with the marjerin, so i left it in there n add some sliced red onions and continue stir-fryin.

Since it was definitely too dry, i started to add in plum sauce, tomato sauce, chilli sauce, sugar & salt to taste and before dishin it out i drizzled it with rice wine.

I can taste the paprika when i bite into it, and the fillet was soft and tender but lack the sweetness from the flesh of the fish, i wonder why. With a question in mind, this geek cook will wiki or google to find out the answer!

Thai Affair

I personally love thai food but the person who sparked my interest to try my hands on thai cuisine is my dad. He's a big fan of thai cuisine so i learnt up a few dishes but now im gonna blog bout a whole different range of what i used to prepare for my dad.

The 3-flavoured seabass was inspired by my bestie's mom. In general i love this as well! i've tasted the authentic thai version as well as the Malay version of this dish but i never got around tryin it out at home until my bestie's mom asked if i know how to prepare this dish. If i've the recipe to it, it'll definitely gimme a better idea on the combination of ingredients but what surprised me was my bestie's mom  actually kept a newpaper cutting with this particular recipe on! which is so cool cuz not only can i learn but also fine tune a lil on the taste as well. I actually tried it out at home before preparing it for my bestie's family and the outcome i got made my day. From then on, i just love preparin this dish. Its so easy and so yummy at the same time. Of course for those who love a more spicy note to this dish , cili padi's ( bird's eye chili pepper) the answer to it.

Mango kerabu is also another of my favourite thai dish. This one is solely on experimental basis. I've no idea on what they (thai restaurants) use as their dressing. So i did some readin and research on thai cuisine and majority of the dishes have nampla (fish sauce) as one of the ingredients in the list besides lime, cilantro and bird's eye chili. That gave me an idea on how i should do my dressing. For the dressing, i used nampla, brown sugar and lime juice. The amount of both the nampla and lime juice are the key to fine tune the taste of the dressing. Sugar would act like a neutraliser when the taste gets too overwhelming. For this dish, i stir-fried (on the non-stick pan) the pounded dried shrimps and a lil shredded cuttle-fish to be sprinkled on the dish when its done  together with some bird's eye chili pepper and sliced fresh shallots.

The dish would be superb if the mango its on the sour note and do avoid from gettin the powderish texture of mangoes, that will so destroy the whole combination. And when u're done arranging the shredded mangoes on the plate and sprinkled it wth the stir-fried pounded dried shrimps & cuttle fish, bird's eye chili and fresh shallots then you can pour the dressing over it n voila! Of course its good to mix it up before u actually eat it to get a more balanced combination of all the ingredients.

I call this dish the Thai Spicy Minced Pork. For those who ran outta ideas on what else they can do with minced pork, they can try this out. This dish isnt as spicy as the others. It might be on a mild note for those who are not a big fan of spicy food. I myself, at times i wonder if my taste buds are all dead! Sometimes my taste buds get too extreme with me. The ingredients you need for this dish are  :-

1) onion, garlic, red fresh chillies, tomato, shrimp paste (place it in the food processor & process until roughly chopped.

2) sesame oil to stir-fry the blended ingredients

3) minced lean pork and seasoning [fish sauce, lime juice & sugar ( i used brown sugar)]

4) add coriander and fresh shallots before serving