Thai Style Top Shell

Thai Style Top Shell. I like to order this when I patronize the Zhi Char stall at Sembawang. You can try this at home too. Good on it's own or with a mug of cold beer.

Ingredients:
1 can of top shell (sliced)
1 small red onion (sliced)
1 small Japanese cucumber(diced)

Sauce:
2 tbs of the sauce from the can of top shell. Discard the rest.
2~3 tbs of lemon lime
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp castor sugar
3 tbs Thai chilli sauce
2 chilli padi (chopped) ~ can be omitted if you don't fancy it too spicy.
(Combine all of the above and mix well)

Pour sauce onto the ingredients and mix well. Chill in fridge (Note: 1 to 2 hours is sufficient. The vegetables will produce moisture with prolong chilling). Serve when chilled.

Enjoy!

Egg White Steamed Prawns with Goji Berries

What do I do with the egg whites left from baking cookies which call for only the egg yolks? I cook them in soup, fry them and think of dishes that utilize only the egg whites. Here is one of the dishes. I love prawns and I love eggs. It's a perfect combo! Well, at least for me ;)

Ingredients:
~400g big prawns (12~13 pcs)
~3 tbs huadiao wine
~1 tsp light soy sauce
~1/2 tbs sesame oil
~ 2 tsp goji berries
~4 to 6 egg whites (I used 6)
~1 sprig of spring onion (half of it chopped and half of it cut into thin strips as topping)
~ pinch of salt

1) After cleaning prawns, pat dry and marinate for half an hour with salt, soy sauce, wine and sesame oil.

2) Arrange prawns on a plate.

3) Prior to steaming, pour egg whites over prawns and scatter goji berries and chopped spring onion.

4) Bring water in pan/wok to boil, lower plate of prawns and steam under high heat for about 5 mins or until prawns turn red and egg whites are set.

5) Top with balance spring onion.

Simple yet delicious.

Enjoy!

Clams In Clear Broth 清汤蛤蜊

LaLa (Clams) in clear broth, my favorite. Home-cooked at just a fraction of the price as compared to the zichar stalls. I like to cook it with lots of ginger, garlic and spring onion (scallion). Comfort food for the cold weather. It's gonna be Christmas soon...

Ingredients:
- 800g of clams ($2.80 from NTUC)
- 8 slices of ginger cut into strips
- 5 pieces of garlic minced
- 1 tbs of goji berries
- 2 chilli padi chopped
- 1 sprig of chinese coriander cut into 2-3cm strips
- 1 sprig of spring onion cut into 2-3cm strips
- 300ml of stock or water
- 2 tbs of huatiao wine
- Salt to taste

1) Soak clams in salt water for an hour to get rid of sand.

2) Heat up oil and fry ginger, garlic and chilli until fragrant. Add clams and fry for a while.

3) Add stock/water and goji berries, cover pan and bring to a boil.

4) Clams shell should be opened. Add wine and salt.

5) Lastly, add the greens. Give a few stir and off heat.

6) Serve immediately. 

Enjoy!

Thai-style Prawns

I love Thai food. I love prawns. Aromatic and irresistible Thai-style prawns that could wake up your palate and whet up one's appetite. It may not be very authentic. But I was happy with it when I miss the taste of Thailand.

Chop up some garlic, chilli, ginger, coriander, spring onion and shallot. Marinade prawns for an hour with pinch of salt n pepper n sesame oil. Heat oil in wok to stir fry all the chopped ingredients except coriander and spring onion until fragrant. Add prawns and stir fry til half cooked. Add sugar and fish sauce and cook further. Prior to off heat, add in the greens and stir swiftly. Off heat, squeeze in the juice of Kaffir lime (Makrut), mix well by giving a few stir and dish up. Alternatively, dish up and drizzle juice.

Enjoy!

Deep-Fried Breaded Prawns

My diet consist of mainly seafood, chicken, fruits and vegetables. Despite many has warned about the cholesterol level that one may have due to the over consumption of prawns, I like to believe that I take them in moderation and I can't give up my prawns as yet :P Most of the times, I have them steamed. Rarely I have them fried. Well... once a while ok la, right? :)

Serve 5 in 20 minutes.

20 big prawns marinated with pinch of salt and pepper. Coat with plain flour, dip into beaten eggs and coat with breadcrumbs or crushed soda crackers and fried for a minute or until done. Served with honey mustard sauce.

I thought I just saw them? And they were gone in a jiffy!

Steamed Fish with Shrimp Paste 虾酱蒸鱼

We have always heard of prawn paste chicken so how about steaming fish with prawn paste? Taste good too, I tell ya :)

Ingredients:...
- 1 medium whole fish
- 2 stalks spring onion (cut 1 stalk into 2" and shred the other stalk)
- 5 shallots (sliced)
- 6 slices ginger (cut 3 slices stripes)
- some black fungus (I use fresh one so no soaking required. Cut into stripes)
- some dried mushroom (soak mushroom in hot water till softened and cut into stripes)
- Coriander for garnishing

For marinating:
- 1 tsp fine shrimp paste

Sauce:
- 2 tsp fine shrimp paste
- 2 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp wine
- 110ml water
- pinch of pepper

1) Marinate fish with prawn paste and set aside for 10 minutes.
2) Combine sauce and set aside.
3) Place the sliced ginger, spring onion, mushrooms and black fungus on the fish and steam fish in steamer for 10 minutes over high heat.
4) Heat up sauce and pour over cooked fish. Place shredded spring onion over fish.
5) Heat up some oil and fried ginger and shallot till golden brown. Drizzle over fish.
6) Garnish and serve.

Enjoy!

Steamed Prawns with Minced Garlic 蒜泥蒸虾

Too many prawns for this lazy mommy to handle. For a better presentation,  I suggest that after you'd slit open the back of the prawn, spread open the slit and use the back of a knife to pound it lightly. This will prevent the prawns from curling when cooked.

Ingredients：

- 20 medium-sized prawns

- 10 to 12 clove garlic (minced)

- 2 sprig spring onion (chopped)

- 2 tbs huadiao wine

- 4 tbs light soy sauce

- 4 tbs water

- pinch of salt

1) Clean prawns, trim away feelers, de-vein and cut slit on the back. Arrange prawns on a plate.

2) Heat up some oil and fry garlic until fragrant. Take care not to over fry the garlic. Just make sure the garlic turned slightly browned.

3) Spread and sprinkle garlic evenly over prawns especially in the back opening of the prawns. Sprinkle some salt and drizzle over the wine.

4) Bring water in steamer to boil and steamer prawns over high heat for 5 minutes until the prawns turned completely red. Remove from steamer and scatter spring onion over prawns.

5) Combine the soy sauce and water. Heat up mixture in the wok or a small pot and drizzle mixture over prawns.

Enjoy!

Braised Batang In Dark Sauce

Fish are just fish to me. "Expensive" or not, they are equally tasty. Here is the so-called "cheap" fish, Batang. Braised Bantang in special dark sauce, topped with fried shallot. Ho ho ho... I mean ho chiak (delicious in dialect hokkien) LoL Seriously, a very merry and blessed Christmas to all my friends and readers! Ho Ho Ho! :)

 

Ingredients:

- 1 palm-size batang steak

- 4 shallot (sliced)

- 2 slice of ginger (minced)

- 4 tbs oil

- 1 tbs potato starch

 

Ingredients for Sauce:

- 120ml water

- 2 tbs dark soy sauce

- 1 tbs light soy sauce

- 1 tbs huadiao wine

- 2 tsp sugar

- 1 tsp sesame oil

 

1) Combined ingredients for the sauce in a bowl and set aside.

 

2) Heat up 3 tbs oil and fry shallot till brown. Dish out and set aside.

 

3) Heat up 1 tbs oil and fry the ginger for while. Coat fish with the starch and pan fry fish on both side till half done.

 

4) Pour sauce over fish, cover the wok/pan and continue to simmer the fish under low heat for 5 minutes until the sauce thickened and the fish is done.

 

5) Dish out and top with the fried shallot.

 

Enjoy!

Steamed Cod with Garlic

Another quick fix on busy days :) As compared to the Teriyaki Salmon, Teochew-Styled Steamed Pomfret and the Hong Kong-Styled Steamed Seabass, this steamed Cod Fish with garlic is by far the easiest to prepare.

Ingredients:-
- 1 palm-sized Cod Fish
- 1 heap tbs minced garlic
- 3 tbs vegetable oil
- 1-2 sprig spring onions (cut - for garnishing)

Ingredients for sauce:
- 1 tbs soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp huadiao wine
- pinch of pepper

1) Place cleaned fish on a plate of appropriate size.

2) Bring water in steamer to boil.

3) Combine ingredients for sauce and drizzle over fish and steamed fish over high heat for 8 minutes or until done.

4) Heat up oil in pan and fry garlic till lightly brown and fragrant. Drizzle garlic with the oil over the cooked fish. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Thai-Style Garlic Prawns

I can never have enough for prawns. By now, you should know my love for prawns is so strong, haha...High cholesterol? Eat first then say. My diet consists of mainly chicken, vegetables and seafood so... unless I turn vegetarian which is, honestly, I can't as yet. But I try to practise eating more vegetables than meat on every meal (2 vegetables + 1 meat when I have chup chye bng outside) or have a 'meatless' meal, that is, having bread only. That isn't difficult. Make yourself a Ovo-lacto vegetarian during breakfast. 2 slices of bread, 2 eggs and a glass of milk just sounds so healthy. Not tough right? :)

Meanwhile you might like to try out this fuss-free and easy-peasy Thai-style garlic prawns. Here goes:

Ingredients:

- 500g prawns (the weight after de-shelled but with the prawn head still on)

- 2 tsp sugar

- 1/2 tsp pepper

- 3 tsp fish sauce

- 1 tbs chopped coriander stem

- 5 cloves crushed garlic

- pinch of salt

1) Clean prawns, de-shelled and de-veined. Place cleaned prawns in a big bowl and add in the sugar, pepper, fish sauce, chopped coriander stem, crushed garlic and pinch of salt. Mix well and leave prawns to marinate for 20 minutes.

2) Heat up 2 tbs of oil in pan, add everything in (1) including the marinade and stir-fry prawns until done. The prawns are done when turned completely red.

Enjoy!

Teriyaki Salmon

 

Easy teriyaki salmon anyone? No pre-mix. MSG and preservatives free :) Note this recipe makes 2 adults serving. As seen above was just 1/2 the portion of an adult's serving because it was meant for my little gal who doesn't take a lot of fish.

 

Serves 2

 The ingredients:

- 250g of salmon (cut into 2 or 3 slab to your preference)...
- 2 tbs corn flour
- 2 tbs oil
- pinch of salt & pepper
- sesame seed to garnish (optional)

The teriyaki sauce:
- 4 tbs (60ml) of soy sauce (Not an Ad. My preference Kikkoman blue label)
- 4 tbs (60ml) mirin
- 1 tbs (15g) fine sugar

1) Cut salmon and seasoned with salt & pepper. Set aside for 15 minutes.

2) Combine ingredients for sauce. Mix well and set aside. *Note: no worries of sugar not dissolving well coz the sauce gonna be heated up later and the sugar will dissolve completely.

3) Heat up oil. Coat salmon thoroughly with corn flour, shake off excess flour prior to pan-frying. *Note if it's a thick cut, u might want to cook the side with skin first, otherwise, u can fry one side at a time.

4) Dish out salmon when done. Using the same pan, add the sauce and bring it to a boil and until sauce is slightly thicken.

5) Drizzle sauce over salmon and sprinkle some sesame seeds to garnish.

Enjoy!

Easy Ketchup Prawns 蒜茸茄汁虾

My favourite prawns in Ketchup! This is my own recipe. Sometimes I cook based on 'agak-ration' and intuition. I may be new to blogging but I have been cooking for years. To be exact since the year 2000 when my first-born started taking solids and after we got our own home. Like what Wokkingmum told me, we don't owe anyone any explanation and I don't think I need to explain how the recipe came about every time I blog. But still, once & for all, let me tell you that I learnt it from friends, from cookbooks, from recipe sharing websites, from other food bloggers or from my mom/mother-in-law. Sometimes I do tweak the recipe to suit my needs and liking. If I do credit back means I will.

In any way, if you dislike me, you are free to stay away from my blog and for god's sake please do not badmouth or malign me. It will do neither you nor me any good. See here if you do not know what's the meaning of malign.

To those who always stand by me, I'm full of gratitude towards you guys. Thank you!

Okay, cut the crap, here's MY recipe.

Serve 6

Ingredients A:

- 20 big prawns

- 2 tsp minced garlic

- 2 tbs oil

- 2 eggs (lightly whisked)

- 2 sprigs of scallion, cut (for garnishing)

Ingredients B:

- 10 tbs of ketchup

- 10 tbs water

- 1 tbs huadiao wine

- pinch of salt and pepper

1) In a bowl, combine ingredients B and mix well. Set aside.

2) Heat up the oil, add the garlic and fry till fragrant.

3) Add prawns and stir-fry until the prawns are half done. Stir in sauce from (1) and stir-fry prawns until completely cooked.

4) Stir in the eggs and stir-fry briskly for a while, about a minute. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Easy Prawn Fritters

Prawns, my favourite! :) Fried but no crispy and crunchy shell. The prawns were still succulent and full of flavour.

Ingredients

- 25 big prawns

- a lil salt and pepper (to season prawns)

Ingredients for batter:

- 3/4 cup (100g) self-raising flour

- 1 heap tbs (15g) corn flour

- 1 egg

- 1/2 cup (110g) water

- 1/2 tsp salt

1) De-shell prawns leaving just the tail area and season prawns with a lil salt and pepper. Set aside for 15 minutes.

2) Combined all the ingredients for the batter and whisk until smooth.

3) Heat up oil and holding prawn by the tail, dip it into the batter and coat well. Lower prawn gently into the hot oil. Fry a few prawns at a time. *Tips: Space prawns apart so that they wont stick together.

4) Deep-fry prawns until golden. Place fried prawns on a paper kitchen towel to drain excess oil before transferring to a serving plate. Serve alongside with your favourite sauce.

Enjoy!

Easy Croquette 简易可乐饼

 

What is a croquette? A croquette is a fried food, coated with breadcrumb, usually in the shape of a cylinder, disk or oval. The main ingredients consist of mashed potatoes and/or meat like chicken, veal or beef, vegetables like broccoli, carrot, corn etc, seafood like shellfish and fish. And sometimes with filling like cheese, mushroom or hard-boiled chicken/quail eggs.

I find this dish easy to do but the satisfying part was that it also received positive feedbacks from my family. Hope you and your family will like it too. A great and easy dish for busy moms. The patties can be prepared and chilled in the fridge the night before. Simply coat them with corn flour, egg and bread crumb when you are ready to pan-fry them the next evening. You might want to eat it with rice, as the patty in the burger or make them into bigger portion and serve it as the main alongside with healthy salad. Oh yes, or roll them into smaller balls (the size of fishballs) and eat them as a snack. Whichever way you like it :)

Gentle reminder: Divide mixture into 12 portion to serve 6 pax. There are 2 adults and 4 kids in my family. So note that my recipes are always cater to feed my big brood. Feel free to half the amount of ingredients to suit your needs.

Ingredients:

- 500g potato (cut into chunks)

- 200g salmon (steamed and flaked)

- 80g broccoli (cut into small florets)

- Juice of 1/2 a lemon

- 1 tsp salt and pepper to taste

- 1 egg (for coating)

- 50g corn flour (for coating)

- 50g bread crumb (for coating)

1) Bring a pot of salt water to boil. Add potato and cook for at least 10 minutes. Add broccoli and cook further until both potato and broccoli have soften. Drain away water and mash potato and broccoli.

2) Add salmon into the mashed potato and broccoli. Add lemon juice and seasoning. Mix well.

3) Whisk the egg.

4) Shape mixture into a ball and slightly flatten. Coat with corn flour, follow by the whisked egg and bread crumb.

5) Shallow fry the croquette 2-3 minutes on each side until golden. *All the ingredients are cooked so prolong frying is not necessary.

6) Drain on a paper kitchen towel to absorb oil before transferring onto a plate lined with lettuce.

Enjoy!

Click here for a step-by-step tutorial.

Teochew-Styled Steamed Pomfret 潮州式蒸白鲳

This teochew-styled steamed pomfret is one of the notable teochew cuisines. But of course, we don't have to be teochew to be able to relish this delicious and appetising dish ;) By the way, I'm half hakka half hokkien haha...

The main ingredients that make this dish distinctive is the used of salted vegetables, aka picked mustard or kiam chye, sour/salted plum and lard. However, lard is omitted here. And other than white pomfret, you may also like to use silver pomfret, grouper, red snapper, threadfin or seabass.

 

Main Ingredients:

- 1 small-sized pomfret (slightly bigger than palm size)

- 1 knob of ginger (half of it sliced and the other half julienned)

- 1 stalk scallion - usually 1 stalk has abt 3-5 sprigs  (top half cut for garnish purpose, bottom half to lay below fish)

- 1-2 salted plums (lightly crush and remove seed)

- 1 medium tomato (cut into wedges)

- 2 Chinese dried mushrooms (soak to soften and cut into strips)

- 1 small piece of pickled mustard - aka Kiam Chye (roughly 20g, wash away brine by washing under running tap and cube into small pieces)

- 1/2 box of tofu (cubed. Buy those ideal for steaming/soup)

- Pinch of salt (to rub on the fish)

- 1-2 sprigs of coriander (for garnishing - optional)

Marinade:

- 1 tsp soy sauce (only 1 tsp coz note the fish will be rubbed with salt prior to steaming and kiam chye and salted plum are already salty)

- 1 tsp rice wine

- 1/2 tsp sesame oil

- 4 tbs water

1) Prior to cooking, clean fish, make 1-2 cuts on the fish and rub a little salt all over. Set aside for 15-30 minutes.

2) Mix the marinade and set aside.

3) Line scallion (the bottom part) and some sliced ginger on a plate with depth. Place fish over the scallion and ginger. Insert some sliced ginger in the cavity of the fish around the bottom of the fish head.

4) Scatter julienned ginger, tomato wedges, cut mushrooms and cubed pickled mustard evenly over fish and the surrounding of the fish. Lined cubed tofu and crushed salted plum on both side of the fish.

5) Drizzle the marinade all over the fish.

6) Bring wok/steamer in water to boil. Lower fish, cover wok/steamer and steam on high heat for 8-10 minutes or until done. **One of the indicator that the fish is cooked is that the eyes of the fish will 'pop' out. Garnish with scallion and coriander. Serve hot.

Enjoy! Goes so well with a bowl of piping hot rice or porridge.



The ingredients

Scattering the ingredients evenly

Steaming in process

Goes well with a bowl of piping hot rice or porridge

Scalded Prawns with Special Sauce 白灼虾配特制酱

 

I love prawns cooked in whatever ways :) I simply scalded them in boiling water this time, retaining the original flavour. 原汁原味白灼虾。

Ingredient A

- 20 medium-sized prawns

Ingredients B

- 2 sprigs of scallion

- 1 knob of ginger with skin, crushed

- 2 tbs rice wine

Ingredients C (Dipping sauce)

- 2 cloves of garlic, chopped

- 1 sprig of scallion, chopped

- 2 tbs soy sauce

- 2 tbs drinking water

- 1 tsp sugar

- 2-3 drops sesame oil

1) To prepare the sauce (using all the ingredients in C), place garlic and scallion in a bowl. Heat up the oil and pour over the garlic and scallion. Add soy sauce, drinking water, sugar and sesame oil. Stir and mix well. Set aside.

2) Bring a big pot of water to boil, add in (B). Add (A) and scald until cooked (completely turned red).

3) Remove prawns from the pot of water.

4) Serve prawns along with the dipping sauce.

Enjoy!

Mozzarella Cheese Baked Prawns 芝士虾

 

My all-time favourite prawns, baked with mozzarella cheese :)

Ingredients:

- 20 large grey prawns

- 100g of shredded mozzarella cheese

- 30g of unsalted butter

- 2 to 3 tsp of minced garlic

- 3 sprigs of scallion (chopped)

- 3 sprigs of cilantro (chopped)

- pinch of salt and pepper

**Scallion and cilantro are optional.

1) Butterfly and de-vein the prawns. Lay them neatly on a baking dish/disposable tray. Sprinkle some salt and pepper over prawns. Set aside.

2) Melt butter in pan and fry garlic until fragrant. Pour butter and garlic mixture into a small bowl.

3) Spoon butter and garlic mixture onto prawns and spread the chopped scallion, cilantro and shredded mozzarella cheese evenly on the prawns. **Note: Scallion and cilantro are optional. You may want to sprinkle some dried parsley and paprika when the prawns are done instead.

4) Bake in pre-heated oven at 180c on top rack for 10 minutes or until prawns are completed red and cheese has melted.

Enjoy!

Click here for a step-by-step tutorial.

Ikan Bilis Stock 江鱼仔上汤

Other than the usual chicken stock, vegetable stock or the ABC soup stock which I like to prepare, I guess this ikan bilis stock is nothing new to any Chinese Asian's household. Both my mom and my mother-in-law love to prepare this ikan bilis a.k.a anchovies stock when they need to cook that pot of mee hoon kueh, rice vermicelli soup or as the base soup for steam-boat. I mean, of course, the list goes on. I'm just quoting a few examples.

Many friends have enquired about the stock that I prepared when I cook that macaroni or mee hoon soup. Most of the time, when I prepare the ABC soup (a soup cooked using pork ribs, carrots, potatoes, corns, tomatoes, onions and the optional red dates and wolfberries) for dinner, I will prepare a huge pot so that I will have enough to set aside some soup to cook the one-pot meal for the children's lunch before they go off to school.

To be honest, cooking the pot of ABC soup takes up quite a lot of time. Not that it requires complicated methods or procedures to get it done but simply 2-3 hours of simmering using low heat, which is crucial and necessary, to help bring out the flavour is needed. Hence you really gotta be real patience. Nah..no patience? Real busy? Or just feel plain lazy? Fret not! Ikan bilis stock to the rescue! Just 25 minutes of your time and you will get this flavourful and healthy home-made broth filled with goodness. Hopefully I will be able to share with you 3 recipes using the ikan bilis stock soon. Meatball spinach with wolfberries soup (肉丸苋菜枸杞汤）, healthy wheat vermicelli fried egg soup （健康麦面线汤）  and home-made mee hoon kueh (面粉粿）。Meanwhile, gotta learn how to prepare the broth first alright? Here's how:

This recipe yields roughly 700ml of stock

Ingredients:

- 1 packet (100g) of splitted ikan bilis

- 1 litre water

- 3 cloves garlic

1) Place a big knife or chopper on the garlic and using the lower part of your palm, give the surface of the knife/chopper a strong blow to squash the garlic. With a pull or squeeze, the skin will come off easily.

2) In a bowl, rinse ikan bilis under running water until water runs clear. Drain and set aside for use later.

3) Pour water in a pot and bring it to boil. Add both ikan bilis and the garlic.

4) Boil for 10 minutes without covering the pot.

5) Ladle out ikan bilis and garlic and strain broth though a sieve and it's ready for use. For storing, let cool further before keeping it in the fridge. Use within a few days. If you gonna freeze it, use within 3 months.

**Note: If you happened to drop by the dried food groceries store, asked for the pangkor which is less salty and fishy. Otherwise, you can use any type easily available at any supermarkets. You may dilute the stock when using to suit your needs and taste.

Hope you find this useful :)

Steamed Prawns in Wine 酒蒸虾

 

My all-time favourite prawns, cooked in wine.

Ingredients:

- 20 medium-sized prawns

- 4 tbs huadiao wine

- 1/2 tsp sesame oil

- 1 1/2 tsp wolfberries (washed, soaked for 10 minutes and drained)

- 1 stalk of scallion (lower part cut in 1-inch length, upper part cut in 1/2cm or julienned for garnishing purpose)

- some cilantro leaves (for garnishing purpose)

- pinch of salt

1) Arrange prawns neatly on a plate and drizzle the wine, sesame, pinch of salt evenly over the prawns. Spread wolfberries evenly over prawns as well. Top with the 1-inch cut scallion.

2) Let prawns soak in the marinade for half an hour.

3) Bring the water in the wok/pan to boil and lower the plate of prawns and steam in high heat for 3 minutes or until the prawns turned completely red which denotes fully-cooked prawns. Do not over-cook the prawns.

4) Garnish with cilantro leaves and scallion. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Hong Kong-style Steamed SeaBass 港蒸金目鲈

Restaurant-styled steamed fish with sweet and savory soy sauce. The sauce mixture can be prepared the day before and chill in fridge until ready to use.

Ingredients:

- medium/big-sized whole fish

- 2 tbs vegetable oil

- 1 knob of ginger peeled and julienned

- 3-4 sprigs cilantro cut into 1-inch length(aka coriander/Chinese parsley)

- 3-4 sprigs scallion sliced diagonally (aka spring onion)

* A sprig is a single stem snipped from the plant.

 

Ingredients for sauce:

- 4 tbs (80ml) light soy sauce

- 4 tbs water

- 1 tbs huadiao wine (Shaoxing or Meihua brand or any other brands that you prefer)

- 1 tbs sugar

- 1 tsp sesame oil

- pinch of pepper

1) Combine the ingredients for the sauce and set aside.

2) Place cleaned fish on a plate with the fish being propped up by 2 ceramic spoons. Spread julienned ginger on top of the fish.

3) Bring water in wok/steamer to boil. Lower the plate of fish, cover wok/steamer and steam on high heat for 10-12 minutes depending on the size of the fish.

4) Discard ginger and remaining liquid. Transfer fish to a clean plate. Top steamed fish with the cilantro, scallion and the balance ginger {ginger can be fried in the oil in (5) if desired}

5) Heat up 2 tbs of oil and drizzle onto the fish. Using the same pan/wok for heating the oil, heat up the sauce mixture, stir gently and bring to a boil. Pour sauce onto fish. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Click here for a step-by-step tutorial.