Oven baked cod with chopped parsley with white sauce

As summer at it's peak, decided to include this simple yet elegant dish as my main for Sunday luncheon over at mine. As my garden too is bursting with lots of flowers as well as herbs especially curl leaf parsley, which I'm using as a nice complement to this dish. The dish tasted light and yet tasty.

Oven baked cod with chopped parsley with white sauce
Ingredients ( for 4 persons)

• 4 cod fillets (around 120 gm each)
• Sea salt
• Black pepper
• 6 tbsp chopped curl leaf parsley
• dash of lemon juice
• 1.5 tbsp olive oil
• Basil leaf, thyme and roasted pecan nut for garnishing (optional)
  

White sauce
I added some chopped parsley to the sauce to give it some herby flavor.

1. Clean the cod fillet, pat dry. Place on work surface and sprinkle with dash of salt and freshly grind black pepper. Let it rest for 5 minutes.
   
2. In a bowl, place the chopped parsley and olive oil and mixed well.
   
3. Pre-heat the oven to 200C.
4. Line the baking tray with aluminium foil. Brush with some olive oil.
   
5. Rolled the fish fillet with ingredients (2). Then place the fish fillet on the lined tray. Repeat till done.
6. Bake at 200C for the first 5 minutes, then lower to 180C and continue baking for another 5-7 minutes. Removed from oven.
7. In a plate drizzle with white sauce. Place the cod fillet on it and garnish with basil leave and pecan nut. Drop a thyme leaf on the side to give a touch of elegance.

This dish goes well with nice Australian white wine.

Of course the blog will not be complete to show you some nice transformation in July :-)

Smoked Salmon Donburi

I bought a pack of Scottish smoked salmon to eat it with young salad leaves. I must say the smoked salmon here tasted fresh and really nice. Beside using it in salad, my friend advise me to make smoked salmon donburi. This is really simple and yet tasted so healthy and fulfilling.

Smoked Salmon Donburi
Ingredients (served 2)

• 60 gm smoked salmon slices- cut into bite size
  
• 2 large eggs
• 2 stalks of spring onion-finely chopped
• 1/2 of small carrot-finely chopped
• 1 tbsp of vegetable oil
• 2 bowl of cooked sushi rice
• 1 tbsp of shoyu(light soya sauce) - Kikkoman
• seaweed (optional)
• black sesame seed (optional)
  

1. Beat the egg in a bowl and add in the chopped spring onion
2. Heat a pan, pour in the cooking oil. Once hot, add the carrot and stir for a minute or so, then flattened it into a round circle.
3. Place the smoked salmon on top of the carrot. Pour in the beaten eggs from (1) onto the smoked salmon+carrot.
4. Swiveled the pan so that the eggs will coat well all the ingredients.
5. Let it cook for 2 minutes on medium heat. Before the egg is fully set, turn off the heat and cover the pan with lid to let it continue to cook. This step will ensure that the egg will not be overly charred and salmon is just nicely cooked.
6. Served it on top of rice. Drizzle with shoyu sauce, black sesame seed and seaweed.

Enjoy the healthy meal.

Here some picture I took this morning around 6am in my garden.

I love the little blue florets of forget me not mingling well with tulips

Spring Dutch Iris In full bloom

Fragant colorful wallflowers

I love the morning sun ray upon lupin flower spire. The lupin has just begin to flower

Look at the almost black color tulips-known as the Queen of The Night. My favorite tulips

Cod in Thai Sweet Chiili sauce with bed of rocket grapefruit salad

I'm keen on creating a fusion dish tonite. I always like fusion food where there are element of different taste blended nicely together, just like east meet west.So I'm bringing this superb, easy to make dish for you all to try out.

Cod in Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce with bed of rocket grapefruit salad
Ingredients (good for 2 pesons)

• 2 cod fillets ( about 180-200gm)
• some sea salt
  
• 3 tbsp of Thai sweet chilli sauce
• 2 tbsp water
  
• some olive oil to grease cast iron grill pan
  

Salad

• 2 bunchful of rocket leaves
• 1/4 grapefruit sacs
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• a pinch of sea salt

1. Rub sea salt on the fish fillet. Then marinate the fillet with thai sweet chilli sauce for alf an hour.
2. While the fish is left to marinate, prepare the salad. Add the grapefruit, olive oil and salt to rocket leaves, mixed well (I use my hand to mix them). Leave aside.
3. Grease the grill pan with some olive oil and heat till hot. Then brown the skin side of cod fish till brown and slightly cisp(takes about 4-mins), then turn over and drill the other side for another 4 minutes. Don't overcook as meat will flake off. Just cook it jus nicely and it will be so tender and lovely.
4. Do not throw away the marinating chilli sauce. Add in 2 tbsp of water to the sauce and cook it in another sauce pan. Simmer and remove, add in corriander if you like.
   
5. In a plate lay a handful of the salad, lay the cooked cod fillet on top of the salad and drizzle some sauce over the fish.
   

The peppery rocket salad goes really well with grapefruit, the tenderness of fish goes well with the marinating sauce, and the whole combination is pleasing to one tastebud. Enjoy this lovely, healthy meal.......I bet you'll love it.

Sweet & Sour Fish Fillet

Food for thoughts "There is only sweet & sour pork" in authentic Chinese cuisine. I think this is an understatement. My great grandparents hailed from southern province of China ( Foochow in the province of Fujian) and settled down in Malaysia in the early 20th century. Apparently most of our authentic cuisines are base on sweet and sour style. Be it pork, fish, fish maw, chicken, sea cucumber, crab were cooked in sweet and sour style.

Tonite I cook sweet and sour fish fillet. Very nice indeed.

Sweet and Sour Fish Fillet
Ingredients (good for 4 persons)

• 500 gm boneless white meat fish fillet(red snapper, grouper, cod)
• 4 tbsp corn flour for coating
• oil for frying

Sauce

• 4 tbsp tomato sauce+2 tbsp Thai sweet chilli sauce+1 tbsp lemon/lime juice+1 tsp oyster sauce+1 tsp light soya sauce+1/2 tsp sesame oil+1/2 tbsp castor sugar+ 4tbsp water
  
• 2 medium tomatoes quartered
• 1 big onion diced
• 1/2 red chilli sliced
• 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
  

1. Sliced the fish into 1 cm thick slices. Coat with corn flour.
2. Heat a wok/pan, pour in oil and deep fry the fish on high heat for about 2mins until slightly golden brown.Removed and drain with paper towel.
3. In a pan, heat 1/2 tbsp oil, stir fry the onion and chilli till fragant. Pour in the sauces and stir nicely. Once simmering, throw in the tomatoes and off the light. Add the fried fish fillet and coat with sauce.
4. Served hot with rice.

We grew up with sweet and sour dishes :-), so there it's lot more to only Sweet and Sour Pork.

Steam Sea Bass in Black Bean Sauce

As I'm typing this, there's heavy snow fall outside. It looks really pretty, even in the dark. I must say, the fresh snow falling upon the face it's such a nice feeling. I went out for a stroll just awhile ago, the crispiness of the air is so refreshing, the fresh powdery snow sent off flying as I kicked them....... snow , snow , snow.
For dinner I cooked steam sea bass with black bean sauce. It took me less than 20mins and my delicious and healthy dinner is ready. No hassle, just plain easy.

Steam Sea Bass in Black Bean Sauce
Ingredients ( good for 2)

• 1 medium sea bass (about 700 gm)
  
• 1 thumb size ginger, julliened
• 1 tbsp black bean sauce(I use Lee Kum Kee brand)
• 1/4 tsp chilli oil/paste (optional)
  
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp light soya sauce
• 1/2 tsp oyster sauce
• 1/2 tbsp of garlic oil
• a dash of white pepper
• spring onion/ corriander for garnishing

1. Clean the fish. Lay it on a dish and sprinkle the julienned ginger.
   
2. Mixed the black bean sauce, sugar, soya sauce, oyster sauce, garlic oil and pepper. Pour the sauce over the fish
   
3. Heat up the steamer/wok for steaming. Once water is boiling, place the fish in for steaming on high heat for about 10mins or so until cook.
   
4. Removed from steamer/wok, sprinkled with spring onion for garnishing, served hot with rice.
   

Let's do the Loh Hei ( Yu Sheng)

Gong Xi Fa Cai. Been a wonderful evening sharing Chinese New Year dinner over at my place. It has been interesting to explain and exchange a piece of our unique Chinese New Year culture to my British friends. Some have heard of yu sheng, some not heard of it & not tried before. Yu Sheng is actually raw fish salad and typically had it during the 7thday of CNY (better known as Ren Ri or human birthday). This dish signifies all good fortune , prosperity, abundance, upward growth in business and etc. The belief is the higher you toss the better your good fortune and wealth will be....let's with excitement with loud voice says "Loh Hei" (toss upward) as you toss. The only time of the year where you can mess up the table :-). This dish is very popular with Chinese businessmen in Singapore/Malaysia. Nowdays we can have it anytime during Chinese New Year, and yes being in far and away from Malaysia/Singapore, my craving gets better of me :-).
A month ago, I asked my sis to buy me a vegetable slicer(mandolin) from CK Tang in Singapore specifically for yu sheng. I even googled for specific things to say while serving Yu Sheng :-). Enjoy and drool.

Yu Sheng (Raw Fish Salad)
Ingredients (serves about 8 people)

• 200gm fresh salmon fillet or smoked salmon (thinly sliced)
• 100gm carrot (julienned)
• 200gm Chinese radish (julienned)
• 20gm pickled ginger (pink color)-julienned
• 20gm fresh ginger - julienned
• 5 small pickled shallots (thinly sliced)
• 1 bunch of corriander (shred with hand)
• 1 stalk of spring onion (take only the green part-julienned)
• 2 dry sweeten kum quat(lime)-julienned
• 1 lemongrass-chopped finely
  
• 1 small apricot julienned
• 1 small semi ripe mango julienned
• 20gm yam/taro - colored it green and deep fry
  
• 20gm yam/taro -colored it red and deep fry
  
• half pink grapefruit
  
• 1/2 lime
  
• 2 tbsp sesame seed
• 3 tbsp toasted peanut - grounded
• 2 tbsp toasted sesame seed
  
• 1 cup of crispy flakes (can use fried wanton skin)
• 1/2 cup of garlic oil + 1 tsp sesame oil
  

Sauce

• 3 tbsp plum sauce (I use Yeos brand)
• 1 dry sour plum grated and added to plum sauce.
  
• 1/2 tbsp hoisin sauce (I use Lee Kum Kee brand)
• 1/2 tsp five spice powder-place them in red packet(ang pow)
  
• 1 tsp white pepper-place them in red packet
  
• 1 tbsp apricot jam
• juice from 1/2 lime

1. Place all other ingredients in a plate except salmon(I use 15inches in diameter plate), arrange nicely.
2. Mix the sauces ingredient together in a small bowl.
3. Place salmon in a small plate, squeeze juice of 1/2 lime and 1 tsp garlic oil and let it coat well onto the salmon.
4. Add the salmon to (1). Drizzle sesame seed, roasted peanut, crsipy cracker, five spice, pepper and garlic oil onto (1)
   
5. Pour in the sauce and get ready your chopstick and Loh Hei :-)
   

May there be surpluses every year (Nian Nian Yu Yue)

As Chinese New Year is just round the corner, I went grocery shopping in my local Chinese supermarket. The lady boss convinced me to buy fresh whole sea bass for Chinese New Year as fish signifies abundance/surpluses. Well after all it's once a year kind of event and fish is a must..... :-)
My favorite style of cooking fish will be steaming it if it's real fresh. All needed is sauce to cook with. So I decided to do steam fish Teochew style. Been awhile since I had real good fish :-)

Steam Fish Teochew Style
Ingredients (serve two)

• 1 sea bass (about 500-700gm)
• ginger -size of thumb, peeled and julienned
• 2 tsp garlic in vinegar
  
• 2 tbsp of light soya sauce
• 1 dry sour plum
• corriander for garnishing
• spring onion for garnishing
• 1 bird eye chilli
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp pickled green mustard (I use cherry tomato)

1. Clean the fish and remove the scale.
2. In a dish, place the fish, top up with ginger, garlic, light soya sauce, chilli, sour plum, oil and tomato.
3. In a wok, boil some water. When water start to boil, place the dish in a rack in the wok and close the lid and let it steam for 10-12mins on high heat. Alternatively you can use steamer.
4. Once cooked, remove from wok and top up with corriander and spring onion.
5. Served immediately. Goes well with rice or rice congee.

I finished the whole fish :-), it's so simple, fresh and yet delicious.

Wishing all my family & friends who celebrated Chinese New Year, Nian Nian Yu Yue and Gong Xi Fa Chai.

Stay tune to my blog for more Chinese New Year dishes :-) .

A Fishy Affair

Some of you might have noticed that I have yet to post any fish recipes. Reason being I'm quite a picky person when fish is of concern. It got to be white fish, fresh and reasonably priced. I never really like red fish as I find it too fishy for my liking. Some of my friends even teased me of being "what's the point of eating fish if it's not fishy?"
But my affair with salmon has changed my mindset about this red fish particular for it's high Omega3 benefits and the tenderness of it's meat. And to top that, the Japanese way of preparing this fish in all it's freshness, be it in sashimi, sushi and salmon teriyaki had me hooked. And this teriyaki recipes is for keep, easy to prepare and you can wow your friend with a simple yet elegant Japanese fish dish. I definitely say Oishi-ne.

Salmon Teriyaki
Ingredients (serves 4)

• 4 salmon fillets (can be skinless or with skin)
• 100ml sake
• 100ml mirin
• 2 tbsp miso paste
  
• 100ml Kikkoman light soya sauce
• 100gm caster sugar
• 1 tbsp cooking oil
  
• some pickled ginger/spring onion/Japanese chilli flakes for garnishing

1. In a plastic container, add sake, mirin, miso, soya sauce, caster sugar and stir till dissolved
2. Place the salmon fillet into (1) and let it marinate for at least 6 hours. I left it overnight in the fridge.
3. In a grill pan, brush with oil, heat. Once heated, place the marinated salmon fillet and brown for 2 minutes each side. Dish out and transfer to baking tray, brush with remaining marinating juice.
   
4. In a pre-heated oven at 180C, grill the fish for about 6-8minutes till just cook.
5. Dish out into a plate and garnish with pickled ginger/spring onion/chilli flakes. Serve with Japanese rice.

Learn the skill of fishy affair and stood up to impress.