Salmon Kabob

I made this wonderful delicious tasting kabob with salmon.. This is my very first time using a fish to make kabobs.

My marinade does not have the measurement as I dont measure when I am cooking.

Ingredients

Salmon - cut into chunks
Zuchini - cut in nice thick circles or chunk
Mango or pineapple - cut into chunk
Onion - cut fairly thick
Fresh cilantro - chopped

Marinade

Soy sauce ( I use very little sodium)
Oyster sauce (optional)
Grated ginger
Balsamic vinegar or rice vinegar
Honey
Garlic, minced
Sesame oil
Siracha


Thread the fish and vege.  Brush the marinade and let soak for at least 15 min.  Grill. 

Char Kway Teow

My family will always request me to cook this noodle. Below is the most easiest way to whip up this meal for your next dinner.

Ingredients

200gm flat rice noodles
1 cup bean sprouts
1 handful of chinese chives, cut into inch long segments
1 egg
few prawns
few slices of sausages (optional)
2 Tbsp of cockle flesh (optional)
1 tsp finely chopped garlic
2 Tbsp (30ml) light soy sauce, about 1and 2/3 chinese soup spoon
Some pepper and cooking oil

Method

• Do it plate by plate. Never fry in large amounts. Prepare everything in the portion you need before you start cooking.
• Loosen rice noodles, make sure they don't clump together.
• Heat wok until very hot. Put in little bit of oil, say about 1 tsp and fry prawns until fragrant. Dish up and set aside.
• Put in more oil, say about 2 Tbsp and put in garlic. When garlic is fragrant, put in rice noodles.
• Fry noodles until they look partially 'blistered' by the hot oil. It will be slightly sticky and won't take long if your wok is hot enough.
• Put in little bit of beansprouts and chives. (The small amount of these 2 are cooked to release fragrance by the hot oil) Put in light soy sauce and pepper and continue to fry until the sauce dries up.  Push the noodles to the side once a while so that it gets heat and it quickens the drying process. Push it back in to the center and push it out again.
• Push noodles to the side and put egg in the center. (add sausages at this point if wanted)Scramble it a bit and push noodles back onto egg. Toss everything.
• When eggs are fragrant and noodles looks dry (it will have that 'blistered' look again), put in bean sprouts and chinese chives (add cockles if wanted). Toss and fry for a short while and dish up.

Serve with chilli sambal.

Baja Fish Taco

The first time I had fish taco's was at Colorado last summer. It was soooo good and since then I used to make the fish by using the frozen breaded fish for the taco but not till I stumbled upon this wonderful blog that I was motivated to make my own beer battered fish.  Whoa...what am I saying "beer", yes, I used beer and tempura flour for the batter.  My family loved it.  You could never tell that liquor was used as there was no after taste.  

Pairing this taco is a white sauce, avocado salsa and some shredded lettuce.  Thats all you need for a wonderful dinner that is packed with spice, crunch and creaminess. Dont be dreaded when you see the long list of items...the result is worthwhile.

Source: Average Betty

Ingredients

1 pound whitefish cut into 2 inch pieces ( I used Cod)

Avocado Relish

1/2 cup diced tomato

1/4 cup diced jalapeno

1 tbsp chopped cilantro

1/4 cup diced onion

1/2 cup diced avocado

fresh lime

salt, pepper

White Sauce

1 1/2 tbsp plain yogurt

1 1/2 tbsp mayonnaise

fresh lime

dash hot sauce

Beer Batter

3/4 cup beer 

3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

( Instead of regular flour, if you have tempura flour, use that)

Garnish

1 cup finely shredded lettuce ( I got the prepacked lettuce)

8 corn tortillas ( I used flour tortilla)

your favorite hot sauce

fresh lime wedges

Make the Avocado Relish:

In a bowl combine tomato, jalapeno, cilantro, onion, avocado, fresh lime, black pepper and salt. Stir together. Set aside.

Make the White Sauce:

In another bowl combine yogurt, mayonnaise, a dash of hot sauce and a squeeze of lime. Stir together until smooth. Set aside.

In a third bowl combine flour, salt and your favorite beer (or sparkling water if you don’t care to use beer). Stir together until smooth. Batter will have the consistency of thickish pancake batter. Add fish pieces to flour mixture. Coat thoroughly. Heat canola oil in a tall-sided heavy pot/pan over medium-high heat. Slowly add battered fish to oil and fry 3-6 minutes total. Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel. Sprinkle with sea salt.

On a warmed tortilla, spread the yogurt mixture. Add a few pieces of fish. Top with a sprinkling of lettuce. Serve with lime and avocado relish. Squeeze lime over cabbage and top with avocado relish.

Salmon with Nigerian Peanut Sauce

Who needs to be in Nigeria to enjoy this scrumptious Salmon.  If you love peanut butter, then you would definetly enjoy this dish. Even my picky eaters who dislike peanuts, ate this.  The fish is just cooked till it flakes but still slightly pink. This dish is served with rice.

Ingredients

4 skinless salmon fillets

1/2 tsp garlic and herb seasoning

1/2 tsp thyme

1 red pepper

Ground Nut Sauce

1 tsp canola oil

1/2 red onion

1/2 tsp curry powder

black pepper

2 tsp fresh garlic, minced

2 tbsp peanut butter

1 1/2 cup vegetable broth

2 firm roma tomatoes

Method

Heat oil in a stove top pot at medium.  Finely chop onions, adding to the pot as you cut.  Saute until translucent and just slightly brown.  Add pepper, curry powder, garlic, peanut butter and broth.  Chop tomatoes and add to the pot.

Meanwhile spray a nonstick fry pan with cooking spray and heat at medium heat.  Season salmon on both sides and saute about 3 minutes per side. Remove from heat, cover and let rest.

Sliver red pepper, adding to ground nut sauce as you cut.  Taste seasonings.  Drizzle the ground nut sauce on the fish.

Serve with rice and salad.

Prawn Fritter

Ingredients

200 g ( 1 1/2 cups) Plain Flour, sifted

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Ground Turmeric

1 tsp salt

250 ml (1 cup) Water

100 g (1/2 cup) chives, trimmed 

100 g (2 cups) Bean Sprouts, rinsed

20 Medium Prawns, peeled, with tails intact

Oil for frying

Method

• Combine the flour, baking powder, turmeric and salt into a mixing bowl. Add water and mix it with a spoon to make a fairly thick batter. Then stir in the chives and bean sprouts.
• Heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Place a small ladle in the oil to and heat it for 4 to 5 minutes. Then lift the ladle out from the oil and allowing excess oil to drip off.
• Spoon enough batter to fill the ladle almost to the top and press a prawn into the top of the batter and gently lower the ladle into the oil. After 2 to 3 minutes, when the base of the fritter has formed a crust, gently push it out of the ladle with the tip of a spatula or small knife and allow it to continue frying in the oil until golden brown. Refill the ladle with more batter and continue until all the batter is used up.
• Drain fritters on paper towel. Cool for 5 to 10 minutes before cutting fritters into cubes or slices.

Mini Tuna Pastry

Simple yet tasty snack made with canned tuna, can also be replaced with canned chicken meat topped with flaky shortcrust pastry or if you would just prefer using the store bought pastry crust, works fine too.

Ingredients for Pastry

2 cup flour

10 tbsp cold butter, cut into pieces

1 tsp salt

6 tbsp ice water

Filling

6oz can tuna

1 shallot, chopped

1 red chili, minced

2 spring onion

2 tbsp mayonaise

1 tsp mustard

1 tsp ketchup

Salt and pepper

Method

• In a food processor, pulse the flour, salt and butter several times till it looks like fine breadcrumbs. Slowly add ice water. 
• Turn the pastry onto a clean work surface and bring the dough together but do not knead.
• Shape into a flatten ball, wrap in a cling film and refrigerate for about 20 minutes. At this point the dough can be kept for 2-3 days if not using immediately.
• Remove the pastry from the fridge, roll it out with a floured rolling pin and using a round cutter cut circles.
• Put filling in the middle and top with another pastry circle on top. Seal the edges with a fork. Brush on top with egg wash and bake 375 degrees for about 25-30 minutes till slightly brown.

Sweet Sour Fish

I am sure most of you would have been bored simply by having the same ol sweet sour pork or chicken.  This one is made which fish fillets. Dredged with flour and fried, mixed with sauce and vegetables, this fish dish is a nice change to the regular sweet sour meat.

Ingredients

2 lbs tilapia, cod, halibut or any other whitefish (cut into 1” chunks)
1 large green pepper (cut into 1” chunks)
1 large tomato (cut into 1” chunks)
1 large onion (cut into 1” chunks)
1 can pineapple chunks (with juice)
Oil (for deep frying)

Breading
¼ cup cornstarch
2 cups flour
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon  salt
2 cups water

Sweet and Sour Sauce
1/4  cup vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup orange juice (optional)
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons cornstarch 

Method

• Toss fish with cornstarch in a bowl and coat well. In another bowl whisk together flour, 6 tablespoons of oil, baking powder, seasoning salt, and cayenne pepper. A little at a time, add 2 cups of water whisking until the batter has become smooth. Pour batter over the coated fish pieces and stir to coat.  
• In a deep frying fry fish pieces in batches for 4 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and keep warm in the oven.
• In a wok heat a tiny bit of oil. Stir fry green pepper and onions for 3 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.
• To make sweet and sour sauce – In the wok mix vinegar, sugar, salt, orange juice, pineapple juice and ketchup. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Mix 2 tablespoons of cornstarch in 1/8 cup of juice, pour into the sauce and stir until sauce has thickened.  Add tomatoes and pineapple chunks to the sauce and heat.
• In a large serving dish mix fish pieces, sauce and green pepper and onions. Serve with white rice.

Sardine in Croissant

We had a lunch party for the Chinese new year celebration and was looking for something easy so I decided to make a finger food with croissant and sardine.

Ingredients

2 cans of sardine (drain out the liquid)
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 big onion
1/2 tsp lemon juice

In a wok with little oil, saute onion and ginger garlic paste. Put in the sardine and chili powder. Cook till dry and fragrant. Season to taste and before taking it out add the lemon juice.

Bought a readymade croissant

We even had the awesome Lion Dance

Dried Squid Sambal

Got this wonderful dried squid from my friend's dad who came from Malaysia. I have been wanting to do for a long time and finally got the chance to cook this. The squid itself is dried and tough.  It has to be either boiled or soaked in water for couple of hours. We love to eat this with white rice and cucumber.

Ingredients

2 medium dried squid
2 onion-sliced thinly
1 clove garlic-minced
Tamarind juice
1-2 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp shrimp paste (belacan)
1 1/2 tbsp chili powder (depends on how much spice you want, add more if necessary)

• Boil the squid until it is tender. Drain and cut into small cube or whichever size needed.
• In a wok, add little oil and saute the onion and garlic. Add the belacan. Fry in low heat till it is aromatic.
• Add the chili powder, little tamarind juice, brown sugar and salt. Taste for flavor.
• Put in the cubed squid and add little water. Cook till it is dry and test the squid for taste. Dish out...

My version of cooking this squid is different and I am sure there are many ways to do this.  I also like using chili powder rather then grinding dried chili. 

Yong Tau Foo

'Yong Tau Foo' literally means stuffed tofu. Its a dish stuffed with fish paste. Mushroom, eggplant, okra, bitter gourd and chili are stuffed and seved either in clear broth or simmered in bean paste sauce. I made mine with bean paste sauce.

Takes a lot of time but the effort was worthwhile

Steaming the vegetables for 7 minutes

Yummy !!!

Ingredients

1 lb Fish Paste ( sold at the asian grocery)

1/2 lb of ground chicken/pork (optional)

White pepper

Salt

Spring onion - chopped finely

Vegetables for Stuffing

Red Chili

Okra

Eggplant

Firm Tofu

Bitter Gourd

Fried Tofu puffs

Mushroom

Sweet Pepper

Sauce

2 tbsp fermented bean paste

2 tbsp oyster sauce

3 cloves garlic - minced

2 1/2 - 3 cup of water or chicken stock

1 tsp cornstarch + 3 tbsp water

sugar to taste

• Prepare the filling by putting all the ingredient and mix well. Set aside.
• Wash the vegetables. Slit okra in the middle, cut eggplant and bitter gourd in rings, remove seeds. Red chili remove the seeds as much as possible. Stuff the vegetables with the fish paste filling. 
• Steam the vegetables for about 7 minutes.
• Heat oil in a pan, sear and pan fry all the steamed vegetables until lightly browned. Remove and set it aside. ( at this stage, you can freeze some of it for further use)
• In same pan remove most of the oil, leaving about 2 tbsp. Fry the chopped garlic until fragrant and lightly browned, add the bean paste, oyster sauce and chicken stock/water. Let it come to a boil, add all the seared vegetables. Adjust seasoning with some sugar and see if you may need some salt.
• Add the cornstarch and let sauce thicken. Sprinkle with sesame seed.

Anchovies in Chili

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup anchovies
1 red chili
1 medium onion- thinly sliced
1 clove garlic-minced
1/2 tomato-cubed
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp oyster sauce (optional)
2 tbsp tamarind juice (optional)

Note : If preferred, you can also add some thinly sliced and fried potato.

• Fry the anchovies in oil till lightly browned. Set aside.
• In the same wok, reduce the oil and saute onion, garlic, red chili. Cook till onion is translucent and add in the tomato and chili powder.
• Lastly add the fried anchovies, if preferred add the oyster sauce and tamarind juice. Adjust the spiciness accordingly.

Fish Sambal

Ingredients

5 pcs of King fish/mackerel
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp salt
enough oil to fry the fish

Sambal

2 medium onion - thinly sliced
1 garlic cloves - minced
1 tbsp of chili powder mix with 1/2 tsp sambal oelek ( depends on how spicy you want)
1 tsp of brown sugar
salt to taste
1/2 tsp belacan ( dried shrimp paste)
tamarind juice

• Season the fish with turmeric and salt and fry slightly. Take out and leave it on a paper towel.
• In the same wok, reduce the oil and saute onions, garlic and belacan till fragrant.
• Add in the chili mixture and a little bit of tamarind juice. Cook in a slow heat till the oil seperates. Season with salt and brown sugar. Adjust the taste accordingly. If you need it to be less spicy, reduce the amount of chili. Add more tamarind juice if you want it to be little tangy. More sugar if you want it to be sweeter.
• Lastly add the fish and coat well with sauce. Dish out and serve with hot white rice and some vegetables..

Note :  The above given measurements can be reduced for individuals taste bud.

Tilapia

Since my little one is just out of surgery, I have been really busy with him so tonight made a very simple dish with tilapia fillet.  Dry rub it with little paprika, salt, garlic powder, and pan fry with some butter on both sides. Serve with hot rice and some stir fry vegetable.

Prawn Fritter and Rainbow Jelly

It seems I am going on a food race, well that is not too bad since I just love baking and cooking.  I attempted to overcome my utmost fear in making jelly/agar agar.  I just cant seem to get the right measurement. It always turns out too soft or hard but thank to My Kitchen Snipets website, I managed to make a beautiful rainbow jelly.  Wow, am I so proud of myself.  Also made prawn fritter, which is actually made out of flour, spring onion, b.powder, tempura flour, water and topped with prawns with shell on. Another achievement today.  Eventhough I feel so tired but whenever I look at the food that I have made, its gives me a sense of pleasure and fullness.

Prawn Fritter

Rainbow Jelly