#ewew cooks Fried (Fresh) Sardines

I think all of us are well versed with sardines....but usually the kind that comes out of a can.  I love sardines...and don't mind those that come out of a can at all.  Canned sardines in tomato sauce is one canned food that you'll always find well stocked in my pantry.  It's a staple I resort to on rainy days and would cook it the most common way and that's by adding sliced onions (and fresh chillies if I have) which makes for a quick and simple meal with rice.

Then you have the more fresh-looking sardines in extra virgin olive oil, slightly more atas (premium) kind that also comes out of a can (but without sauce).  These I would eat as a snack on top of some crackers or as a sandwich.  But, besides the canned versions, you have fresh sardines which I'm working with today.

Fresh sardines isn't commonly found in our local wet markets.  Either that or I mistook them for mackerel or ikan kembong as the two look very similar.  The difference for me is that the ikan sardin is a little narrower/thinner (in body shape) and the head is slightly more pointy compared to ikan kembong but such differences can easily be overlooked.  So, the only way is to ask the fishmonger or buy them online.

I recently got some fresh la la from Barang Dapur Basah (BDB) and it turned out rather well.  In that same purchase, I also bought some fresh sardines (500g) from them (the fish looked fresh with clear, reddish eyes). This is the first time I'm cooking with fresh sardines as I've never found it at my regular fishmonger.

When cooking with small fish, the best way (in my opinion) is to fry them until crispy so that you can devour the whole fish, head and all.  So I made a seasoned flour (you could also just go with plain cornflour) by using salt, black pepper, garlic powder, smoked paprika, (a little) chilli powder and (dried) parsley.

Make sure you pat your fish dry.  Dredge the fish in seasoned flour and shake off any access (my seasoning seems to be lost in all that flour).  This dredging in flour also helps during the deep-frying process to reduce the incidence of oil splattering.

Lower the fish gently into some hot oil and shallow-fry until the fish is cooked and nicely browned.....it's getting there! ;)

I would suggest to use medium heat so that the fish don't brown too quickly (since it's quite small) as you'll want to cook it longer so that it gets really crispy.  If you want it super crispy, you'll have to deep-fry them.

I wanted to eat the fried (fresh) sardines as a meal in itself, a low carb meal at that (great for those on a keto diet as well), so I made a simple salad to go with it.  Just chop up some cucumber and pineapples and season with a light pinch of salt and black pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.  Top with some chopped fresh coriander...and serve with some lemon wedges.  The colours of green and yellow are so pretty.....it's like sunshine on a plate! ^_~

The fish is nicely flaky with a satisfyingly crispy skin.  I prefer to eat sardines over ikan kembong (mackerel) as I find the meat not as dry as kembong.  Of course, any fried fish without sauce will still have that bit of dryness to it.  So, a fresh juicy salad will definitely help.  Also, that little touch of chopped coriander will add further freshness to the plate.

Finally, you have to eat it with a squeeze of lemon juice over the fish...it's a must (the lemon wedges are not there just for aesthetic pleasure).  It not only brings juiciness to the fish but also enhances its fragrant aroma.

If you do not wish to eat the fried sardines like a western meal in itself, you can also serve the fried fish in a Chinese-style meal as one of the dishes with rice.

We fry and eat these crispy small fish with rice all the time like those tiny pomfret (my favourite) or ikan bulus (whiting?).  Some of these small fish we don't even know the names but we just buy them and goreng saja...and eat the whole thing, head and tail.

I was very pleased with the freshness of the ikan sardin I got from BDB and seeing that I could get full on just 3 fish, you bet I'll be making this again for my low carb meals.  I now know where I can get a regular supply of fresh sardines from.

#ewew cooks Stir-Fried La La with Garlic & Chillies

Inspired by the really good tasting la la I had at Restoran Stadium Negara recently, I thought maybe I could replicate the Stir-Fried La La with Garlic & Chillies at home.  So, I went searching to buy some good la la (hopefully).  It's not something that's always available at the wet market I go to (+ I don't go often) and when it's available, it may not always be at its freshest.

I recently came across Barang Dapur Basah (BDB), through Shopee Live, selling all kinds of fresh seafood.  The good thing about buying through that platform is that you can see the items you want to buy live (you can ask them to show you during their live session a particular product in their cart/bag and ascertain if you like what you see before buying)!  So, I got a packet of la la at RM7 (for 400g) to try just to see if they're any good or if the freshness is of an acceptable standard.

At first glance, I was pretty happy with the size of the la la I got which turned out to be a lot bigger than I expected (even bigger than the ones I once bought from the wet market).  But I was also disappointed that they came with quite a few broken shells.  That, I think, was due to the packaging...vacuumed sealed and packed only in plastic (and not in a box), so it could have been crushed by other (heavier) products on top of it during the delivery process.  I rinsed them again (even though they claim the la la have been prewashed and ready for cooking) and made sure I picked out all the broken shells before cooking.

If your la la is fresh, you'll need only the simplest cooking method to bring out its flavour.  I wanted to imitate the one I had at Restoran Stadium Negara and that is to stir-fry them in garlic and chillies.

You start by sauteeing a few slices of garlic in some oil.  Some places I find like to saute them in a lot of shredded ginger (which I'm not fond of even though I love ginger) as I find that too much of it interferes with the original taste of the la la actually.  We obviously know the reason why eateries add so much julienned ginger and that is to mask the fishy flavour, if any, in case the la la is not at its optimum freshness.  I prefer to use ginger slices (for that purpose) so that I don't end up with mouthfuls of ginger.

Once you smell the aroma of ginger, you can add in your chopped garlic (I used 5 big cloves) and bird's eye chillies (I used 5 cili api as well).

Saute the aromatics for a few seconds before adding the la la.  Cover (and shake) the saucepan to let the la la steam and it'll just need a minute or so to cook.  Season with salt and white pepper (I used a pinch of chicken stock as well).

Drizzle a splash of shaoxing wine (I added a little water as I wanted a bit of sauce) and bring it to a boil to let the alcohol burn off.  It should take only a few seconds.

The next step is optional if you're not a fan of coriander...but since I am, I threw a bunch of chopped coriander into the pot, switch off your stove, give it a good stir and pour onto a plate.  I served it with even more fresh coriander on top.

Taste wise, I was happy with the acceptable freshness and size of the la la.  Of course I was hoping for the la la to be a bit more plump but that's not always possible with la la we buy from the market.  Hawkers can get hold of la la that's super fresh and plump as they have their regular suppliers who bring them the freshest catch.

There's no denying that the aromatics of ginger, garlic and bird's eye chillies all played a part in enhancing the freshness and taste of the la la.  The fragrance from the abundant garlic (make sure you don't get them too browned as you want to taste the garlicky flavours and not the crispiness of it in this dish) and heat from the bird's eye chillies were the flavour contributors to the dish.

I like the freshness the Chinese parsley brings to the dish as well which can only happen when it's homecooked as the ingredient is not favoured by many...that's why most eateries don't use it.  It's more frequently used as a garnish on top of a dish (rather than in the dish itself) which you can push aside if you're averse to it (like my family would always do).

The five bird's eye chillies that I used gave quite a kick of spiciness to the la la, so if you want it less spicy, please use less (like three).  Also, if you wish to not bite into one (by accident) or wish to pick them out, the chopped coriander will make that task a little harder (so omit the coriander though I had no problem picking them out either). :P

The stir-fried la la made for a nice light lunch (for me) with half a bowl of rice.  Seeing that I was pretty pleased with the la la I bought from BDB, I'll certainly get them again but will need to get two packets for the two of us (my husband is not a fan of la la)...and omit the coriander! ^_~

We Need Some Cheat Meals in our Lives!

No, no.....I know what you're thinking.....but my kind of cheat meal is not one where you're trying to abstain from a certain type of food that will temporarily break the rules of a diet you're following...like indulging in a sweet dessert or eat carbs when you're not supposed to.

Well, my cheat meals have nothing to do with foods you're not permitted to eat in your diet....they're more like cooking cheats that produce cheat meals that look (and taste) the part with little toiling in the kitchen...lol! :D  And we all know we definitely need some of those secret recipes in our repertoire...hehe.

All the cutting, peeling, chopping, slicing and blending some kind of a chilli paste isn't something we want to be doing often (perhaps not even at all).  Why go through all the work and hassle to make our own when we can simply resort to a ready-made paste...especially so when we need to buy so many ingredients (such as chillies, galangal, lemongrass, ginger, torch ginger, turmeric, tamarind, curry powder, all kinds of biji-biji or seeds and spices like cumin, coriander, fenugreek, cinnamon, cardamom, star anise, cloves, etc.) just to make a small portion (not that I know how some of these seeds and spices work anyway as my own-made chilli paste is super simple).

I've always loved food that is a little spicy and a little tangy.....like an assam pedas which literally means "sour spicy"! ;)  An assam pedas sauce is a spicy and tangy gravy which works well with seafood like fish, prawns or squid.

Since I had some prawns in my freezer (and don't know how to nor want to make an assam pedas paste from scratch), I asked my dry goods supplier if he has an assam pedas paste that he can recommend and he gave me this Tumisan Asam Pedas (or Assam Paste for Seafood) by Tean's Gourmet to try.

A 200g ready-made Tean's Gourmet Assam Pedas Paste is good for 600g of seafood with 400ml water, so you just need to follow the packet instructions to the tee to achieve desired results.  I've seen many ready-made pastes sold in the market but I seldom buy as I don't know which ones are good.  Since this one came recommended by my supplier, I dared to try.

To test-cook this paste, I decided to make Assam Pedas Prawns.  I used 300g prawns with the bodies shelled (for easier eating) but I left the heads (for sucking all the good bits + the prawn brains add even more flavour to the dish) and tails (for better presentation) intact.  You can choose to remove all the shells, your call.  Not knowing how spicy the paste would be, I decided to use a little less than the prescribed dose of half the paste (probably about 75g) with less water too (about 150ml). 

The only thing I did extra was that I sauteed about 10 sliced shallots before adding the paste.  In western cooking, there is no such thing as too much butter!  Well, in Chinese cooking pulak, there is no such thing as too many shallots! ;)  I always add extra shallots to any paste or sauce I'm making coz shallots just brings more flavour to the sauce by adding thickness and sweetness with a garlicky hint.  I also threw in a few kaffir lime leaves (from my neighbour's garden) for extra fragrance.

Once the shallots are translucent, add in the paste and kaffir lime leaves followed by the prawns.  When the prawns are almost done, add in the water the amount of which depends if you like your assam sauce thicker or more watery.  As you can see, I wanted it thicker.  Taste-test at this point to see if it meets your savouriness level but I required no further seasoning.

I've to say my first attempt at making assam pedas prawns was rather successful even if it was done with a pre-made paste....lol.  I thought the assam pedas flavours were spot on with its well balanced flavours of spicy and tart.

Seeing that I really enjoyed the assam pedas prawns, I used the balance paste (of about 125g) to make Assam Pedas Fish since I had a 250g piece of Spanish mackerel (ikan tenggiri or kau yue).  I prefer to pan-fry the kau yue first but you can choose not to.

I sliced one onion and cut into two 4 - 5 okras and one tomato into wedges coz a dish of assam pedas fish would not be complete without these vegetables.  I sauteed the sliced onions until soft first before adding the paste and about 250ml water to make a (more watery) sauce as this is assam fish after all.  I then added the tomato wedges and kaffir lime leaves.  Once the tomatoes soften, you can add in the pre-fried fish followed by the okras (which I already pre-steamed ahead to soften).

If your fish is not pre-fried first, then you can add it in sooner to cook with the vegetables (the okra need not be pre-steamed then) so that the fish has enough time to cook through (you may also need a bit more water for this).  Besides Spanish mackerel, you can make it with other types of fish that you fancy like grouper, snapper, stingray (ikan pari) or tilapia but it's especially good with black/white pomfret or Indian mackerel (ikan kembong).

The earlier assam pedas prawns I made were a bit drier and this assam pedas was a more watery version with vegetables and it was just as good, so you can go either way depending on your preference.  Note that there's a lot more sauce than what you see in the photo as I did not scoop all the sauce (or vegetables) onto the plate.

Just remember to season accordingly.  For the dry version, I didn't need any further seasoning and I added just a little bit of salt for the more watery version.  My dry goods supplier even recommended that I add a bit of sugar to round up the flavours (I didn't though).

After a rather satisfying result with the assam pedas paste, I was eager to try Tean's Gourmet Tumisan Kari Ayam (or Chicken Curry Paste) next.  I decided to make Prawns & Squid Curry with Pineapples with 300g (fairly large) prawns, 2 squid and 2 wedges of pineapple cut into chunks.

The package instructions say 250 - 500ml (that's quite a lot, for a whole 1.5 kg chicken, maybe), though I did measure out 250ml but I didn't use it all, I probably used about half (125ml or half a cup).

Saute the paste for just a little bit with some curry leaves before stirring in the prawns, squid and pineapple chunks.  Next, add in the water (I think I added too much actually, so add in little by little to see how much you actually need).  Don't forget that as the pineapples cook, they release water and there's also the coconut milk).  Let it simmer for a minute or two until the seafood turns opaque, then add in 100ml of santan or coconut milk (I used Ayam brand, half a packet).

Taste wise, it's a light tasting curry with tangy flavours but don't under-estimate it's spiciness, it had a good level of heat.  

Although a tangy, lighter version of curry works well in a seafood version of curry, the taste wasn't what I was expecting.  It was ok but didn't exactly bowl me over.

I'd say it's more like a Nyonya curry that's lighter with sourish notes rather than a savoury-creamy-spicy Malay-type curry.  I wondered if it was the pineapples that made the curry sourish.  The next time I make this, I'll make sure to use less water and more santan for a thicker and creamier consistency.

With the balance half of the chicken curry paste, I wanted to try it with Chicken Curry as the paste was originally intended for (as per the packaging).  I used one chicken leg, 2 potatoes (pre-steamed for 10 minutes until soft) and 5 pcs of beancurd puffs (tau fu pok) cut into two.  Cook the chicken in the paste with about 100ml water.  Once the chicken is fully cooked, stir in the santan (I used the balance half left behind from my earlier Prawns & Squid Curry with Pineapples) and (pre-steamed) potatoes.

In my previous seafood curry, I wasn't sure if the lightly sourish flavour was due to the use of pineapples in the curry, so I thought such tangy flavours wouldn't work in a chicken curry....but the paste did work (and it didn't taste as tangy).

Somehow this chicken curry had a much thicker consistency and a more savoury taste than the seafood curry with pineapples.  I could still taste a very slight hint of tang but it wasn't as pronounced as the earlier prawns and squid curry.  The balance coconut milk I kept in the fridge turned into a much thicker state (like coconut cream) that I had to scoop it out with a spoon into the curry.

So, the chicken curry felt a lot more creamier (not sure if it was because of that or it was because I used less water).  I thought it was a very respectable version of chicken curry that came out of a pack.  I thought the paste worked better in a chicken curry.  Looking at the photo now, I realise I forgot to 'steal' some curry leaves from my neighbour (as something green always brightens up a photo).

But the greatest cheat meal of all has to be this sambal sotong I cooked made put together...lol.  You know sometimes when we buy nasi lemak, we'd ask for the sambal to be packed separately...and they sometimes give us too much.  I would make sambal sotong with it by just adding sliced onions and it'd (of course) taste pretty darn good with someone else's delicious sambal...hah..hah.

Ready-made pastes out of a packet is a godsend to busy homemakers and working moms to put out tasty dishes in little to no time at all.  It's the simplest, quickest way to put our favourite Malaysian dishes on the table.  Just open, pour, cook and serve.....what more can we ask for when we don't have to toil and sweat to make the paste ourselves and have someone else tumis sampai pecah minyak (stir-fry until the oil splits) for us...lol!

Everyone needs some cheat recipes in their repertoire that they can whip up in a jiffy.  Mine came courtesy of Tean's Gourmet.  This brand isn't new by the way but has been around for ages...just that there are so many brands of these ready-made pastes in the market that we don't know which ones to get or which ones taste good unless someone recommends it to us.  My dry goods supplier was on point with this one.

Between the two, I thought the assam pedas paste fared better than the chicken curry paste as the former was closer to its authentic taste.  The chicken curry paste was decent too but I think we've all eaten better curries than this though I'd still consider it a respectable one coming out from a packet.

I can definitely see myself using these ready-made pastes again...and would probably try some of their other flavours in due time (their tom yam and prawn mee pastes interest me).  Everyone needs some cheat meals in their lives, don't you agree? ^_~