#ewew cooks Siakap a Few Ways

Since the pandemic started and with the numerous lockdowns and various MCOs that we've been subjected to, I've hardly had the opportunity to go to my usual wet market vendor to get fresh fish and prawns.  I'm not talking about the small wet market in my neighbourhood but a slightly bigger wet market in a neighbouring taman (housing area).

Instead, I've had to settle for frozen fish delivery from Vfresh....but the experience wasn't always positive.  I know I can't compare frozen with fresh but I'd still want it to be at least of acceptable freshness.  Nothing beats fresh fish from the wet markets which I much prefer but (from experience) I've come to realise that their farm-raised fish is a better bet than wild-caught fish (aka fish from the sea)....and I now only limit myself to buying salmon, tilapia or siakap from Vfresh.

And here are just some of the ways I would cook the frozen siakap (also called Asian Sea Bass or Barramundi) that I get, RM13/pc (about 500g, good enough for 2 portions).  These recipes were chosen to ensure the taste does not suffer too much in case the frozen fish is not always as sufficiently fresh as we'd like it to be.

#1 - Steamed Asian Sea Bass Thai-Style

One of the popular ways of cooking a fresh piece of whole siakap is to steam it Thai-style.  In Thai restaurants, you'd usually get a steamed whole fish and served fancily in an elevated fish-shaped pan over a small flame (to keep the fish hot while you eat just like Chinese-style steamed fish).

But here I'm doing it with (half a) frozen Asian see bass (about 300g)...and mine is not so fancy-lah....served on a plate only (haha!).  Although I was quite happy with the freshness of this piece of frozen sea bass, a recipe like this is able to mask any fishiness that the fish may have with a sauce/broth that has the sourness of lime juice, pungency of freshly chopped garlic and fieriness of red/green bird's eye chillies.

You can use plain water for the sauce but a chicken stock will certainly elevate the taste.  If you don't have a ready-made chicken stock in hand, fret not as you can just dissolve some chicken stock powder in water for a happy medium (and a much simpler preparation).

For the sauce, just boil 1/2 tsp chicken stock powder with 1 cup of water (about 250ml) and add some sugar (palm sugar if you have, I used 1 tsp regular sugar).  Once the sugar is dissolved, let it cool slightly before adding finely chopped garlic (3 cloves), bird's eye chillies (I used 1 red + 3 green) and chopped coriander along with the juice of 1 lime (about 3 tsp) and fish sauce (if you have, otherwise 2 tsp Chinese soy will do). The sauce ingredients is an estimate, find the right balance for your taste buds depending if you like it more sour, sweet, spicy or salty (which is the hallmark of any Thai dish).

Stir and do a test taste...it should be sour but balanced with a hint of sweetness.  Tweak the seasoning until you get the balance right and once you're happy with the outcome, pour it over your steaming hot fish (with a little bit more fresh coriander on top).  I was more than happy with the subtle sweetness, mild and delicate flavour of the sea bass coupled with the refreshing, uplifting sauce which is more like a soup really. My broth may look a little darker than the usual Thai-style steamed fish but that's because I didn't use Thai fish sauce which is lighter coloured than Chinese soy.  Half a siakap fillet is the perfect portion for one person with a bowl of rice...yum! ;)

#2 - Pan-Fried Spiced Barramundi with Potato Salad

If you get your hands on a fresh piece of barramundi fillet, you don't have to do much to it really.  Just pan-fry with salt and black pepper is good enough but since mine is frozen, I added more robust seasonings like garlic powder, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper and dried parsley.  This is like my take on a seriously muted Carribbean-style pan-fried fish (minus the hot peppers...haha!).

I served this with a potato salad of boiled potato chunks and blanched green beans.  I decided to "listen" to David Rocco to skip the heavy mayo to go with this lighter version tossed in olive oil, lemon juice (I used limes) and minced garlic (well, just a touch David says but, hey, we're Chinese...and we love our garlic!) seasoned with salt and freshly cracked black pepper which turned out light and delicious.

The fish had a light crisp on the skin (I didn't dust it with some type of flour before shallow frying, otherwise the skin would have been crispier).  Seasoning the fish with a good dose of herbs and spices is a good way to cook frozen fish to take away the fishy taste (if any).  This makes for a super healthy light lunch served with an equally healthy potato salad (you know I need my potatoes for a fuller meal). ^.^

#3 - Stir-Fried Black Pepper Siakap with Capsicum & Onions

Buoyed by the tastiness of my recent black pepper pork stir-fry, I did the same with the frozen siakap I had in my freezer.  Cooking frozen fish that may not be as fresh with black pepper is a good way to hide the fishiness (and this piece I got from Vfresh was, let's just say, less desirable). >_<

I dusted the siakap slices (try not to cut too thinly) with some cornflour before pan-frying them separately in some oil.  This was because siakap can be quite flaky and moving it around too much during the stir-frying process will certainly break up the fish.

Then I sauteed some chopped onions till soft and translucent before adding the cubed green and red capsicum.  Don't overcook the capsicums as they should stay relatively crunchy to the bite.  Return the cooked fish slices followed by freshly cracked (or coarsely pounded) black pepper.  You can add as much black pepper as you like, a drizzle of dark soy (just a little for colour) and season with salt.  Just mix everything in gently (without stirring the fish slices too much otherwise the fish will disintegrate to small pieces) and the end result is a dish that's both pretty and colourful.

#4 - Fried Siakap with Fresh Chilli Paste

Actually, one of the best ways to use a piece of frozen siakap that isn't of the best quality is to deep-fry it. The fishiness in a crispy, deep-fried fish is not as apparent as when the fish is steamed or stir-fried.  On most days, serving it simply in a sauce of oil, soy and fried garlic or fried ginger shreds is already good enough.

But not this time, as I was feeling slightly more hardworking, so I cooked it with a spicy fresh chilli paste. You just need to saute the chilli paste in oil until it darkens and smells fragrant.  I added a little bit of water to make the sauce slightly wetter.  Spoon it over the fried fish and top it with some fried ginger shreds.

I really enjoyed this one with crispy skin and moist, flaky meat. ^o^  The slightly spicy chilli paste (and ginger shreds) made the fish very appetising indeed and, at the same time, masked any evident fishiness that may be present.

Another good idea is to get your favourite vegetable curry from a restaurant or chap fan stall and add your own fish at home (unless you know how to make a good curry and you don't mind the work entailed in making one from scratch).  The spicy curry will help to drown out any lingering fishiness.  This is what I call a cheat dish but it works too...lol.

Even if we can't get the freshest fish (during these pandemic times when the wet markets are closed), we can still do something worthwhile and turn it into something delicious...we just need to be smart on how best to cook the frozen fish for a good outcome.  Hopefully, some of the ideas/recipes I've shared here will inspire you to cook a fish dish even if you have less than stellar quality fish. ^_~