Sweet and Sour Salmon Fish

This is a remake recipe of my recipe here.  While trying to think of a different way to serve my salmon, I remembered I once cooked a sweet and sour sauce that I liked.  When I went to look for the recipe, alas!  it was without any measurement!!  Now I know it must be hard for beginner to create a sauce based on the ingredients listed.  So, I wrote it down for you and also for myself (convenient) and my girls (they won't know how much soy sauce to add or how much sugar or vinegar to put, etc. to create a sweet and sour sauce!).  Anyway, I measured the amount, pen it down and tried it myself and we all loved it, it turned out delicious so I shared it here with my readers.

Believe it or not, I frequently came to my own blog to look for my old recipes that I have forgotten (old age?).  I have created lots of recipes over the years and I am actually glad that I documented them in this blog which I can always come back and refer to, even when I am in another country or someone else kitchen. 

Deep-Fried Turmeric Smelts

We all loved this little fish called Smelt.  I bought it at WalMart where they sell frozen fish.  Turmeric has curcumin which have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.  And the best way for me to cook this fish is marinating it with turmeric powder and then deep-fry so that we can eat the whole thing including the fish bones.  So, flouring the fish is important here for it to get crispy and delicious.

Have you eaten Smelt before?  If yes, how else would you cook it?

Korean Stir-Fried Fish Cake

While I was at a gathering and strike up a conversation with a lady friend and she mentioned to me about this Korean fish cake banchan/ side dish.  She said it was really easy to make and delicious and I agreed with her.  So, while shopping at H-mart recently, I bought a packet of fish cake to make this banchan.

All of us liked it and it was easy to make.  Furthermore, it keeps well in the refrigerator.  For the next two days, little Edda and me had it as our lunch with some other vegetable banchan.  I think children would like this, just omit the green chili if your kid(s) cannot tolerate spicy food.

LCOM's Hei Jian (虾煎) Shrimps Omelette

One of my childhood favorites is "oh jian" or Malaysian style oyster omelette.  It is one of the hawker delights and usually we would order this in addition to our dinner (usually fried or soupy noodle).  It has a gelatinous texture and kind of gooey with crispy edges.  Normally serve with sambal.  In Taiwan, they have their own version too which is called "oh ah jian" but theirs was ladle with a lot of sauce.  This starch mixture recipe of mine came from a Taiwanese cooking show.  I adapted their flour ratios and played with the water amount.  I failed the first attempt which created a hard starch and not gelatinous.

Okay, now you should have noticed mine is "hei jian" (shrimp) and not "oh jian" (oyster).  Well frankly I loved the eggs and the gelatinous texture but not necessarily the oyster, also I wanted the convenience of eating it whenever I feel like it and not rushing out to buy the oyster.  But of course you can substitute the shrimp with oyster or simply use both.  But this shrimps omelette pancake (虾煎) can definitely satisfied my cravings.

One think I need to note though.  It is not easy to fry an excellent omelette, it takes skill.  I still need to play with it some more as I don't have the feel yet.  Since I love the gelatinous texture, I might want to add more, but more doesn't means good as the outcome with eggs won't come out great.  It needs to have a balance and I haven't gotten it yet.  I got the starch mixture right but I haven't gotten the technique right yet, I still need lots of practices.  If you know how to fry a killer Malaysian style oyster omelet, please share your technique with me.  Thank you in advance!

Singapore Chili Crabs

Just sharing a picture of my Singapore Chili Crabs.  I added the "tang hoon" or glass vermicelli to soak up the sauce (too lazy to prepare mantou).  However I added it too early and thus it was all broken out.  I won't be sharing this recipe as it was not perfected.  I had better Singapore Chili Crabs at my Singapore friend's house.  One of the reasons of the broken glass vermicelli was I did a taste test and found it lacking and thus I had to add a few other things and therefore more stirring.

However, my two girls enjoyed this crabs a lot.  I guess they didn't know the real taste or what it supposed to taste like so they couldn't compare and thought this was good.  It was a good lesson for them to learn how to eat crab on their own.  Edda was good at using a toothpick to pick up the crab meat from the claws and this mommy happily enjoying her crabs too.

Looking forward to teaching them how to peel the shrimp shells too, that should be easier than crab.

Pan Roasting Cod Fillets with Brown Butter Sauce

This dish came in the right moment.  I was wondering how to prepare my cod fillet when I turned on my TV and on the PBS channel was showing AmericanTest Kitchen.  First half of the show was teaching how to sealed scallops and served it with brown butter sauce.  Second half of the show was teaching how to pan-roasting halibut fillets.  So, my cod fillet dish was set after I finished the show.  I was going to pan roast my cod fillets and served it with the brown butter sauce.

I had an accident when pan-roasting my cod fillets.  I forgot to put on my oven mitten when I tried to move the hot pan away and burnt my hand big time (remember I posted on Facebook?).  No only that, I dropped a big piece of my cod fillet on the floor. :-(  It was a burning pain experience for me, luckily the pain stopped the next morning and only left me with a red burn mark on my hand.

So, please take extra caution if you are trying to pan-roasting your fish fillets.  I probably won't be attempting this method again.  Would go for pan-steaming instead.

Verdict:  This dish turned out well and the brown butter sauce is very yummy and goes well with seafood.   But as a health conscious person, I felt that the brown butter sauce might clog my arteries.  :-P Okay, in moderation, not too often would do.

Black Pepper Crabs

Rock crab sections was on sales at my local supermarket recently.  I couldn't miss this sales and bought 2 lb. to fry at home.  The crabs sold here were all cooked and frozen.  So, basically I just defroze it and then stir-fry it again.  I do find the live ones or uncooked ones at the Asian supermarket, but I hardly go for that because then I would have to kill it and clean it.  Thus I always go for the easiest I guess.

Anyway, I loved black pepper crabs.  I had it at my friend's house many years ago, seem like a Singaporean dish at that time as well as Chili's crabs.  Strange that we don't have this dish in the Chinese restaurants here.  All they have are steamed, ginger scallion, chili garlic white pepper, and XO sauce.  They might have butter cream but I am not too sure.

Pan-Fried Mahi-Mahi in Ginger Soy Sauce

This is a pretty common way of cooking fish in my household.  I created it almost 16 years ago.  I remembered when I first cooked this dish for my parents and sibling 15 years ago when I went back to visit them.  My dad asked me what was the topping?  Okay, I did it slightly different, I added chopped garlic and chopped ginger, the ginger were not in slices back then.  I was surprised back then that he would ask me such a question so til this day, I still remembered it.  The reason being my mom didn't cook him this dish before, so he didn't know what was the topping.  So I had to explain to him what it was and he was supposed to take some of the topping with the fish and eat it with the sauce and rice.  I thought it was real interesting.

Next time when I go back, I need to make an effort to cook for them again.  I didn't do that the last few times because it was too hot, also my girls were little back then.  I really need to make an effort to cook for them.

If you want the recipe, click here.  But instead of using dark soy sauce, I used soy sauce in this, thus the lighter in the sauce color.  I think I added too much water too, or you can thicken it with cornstarch water.  And of course, if you think the ginger amount is too much, use as little as you like.

Sweet and Sour Mahi-Mahi

This is a recipe I learned from watching Chinese cooking shows.  I have seen many different Chinese chefs using this same base sauce for their sweet and sour prawns, fish and poultry.  Since this sauce is so popular, I had tried it on prawns and fish.  It is indeed a good sauce but to guarantee that the sauce comes out perfect, it will have to depend on your years of cooking expertise.  These Chinese chefs don't give measurement in their cooking, only the ingredients, so use your expertise and estimate it yourself.  I added whatever veggie I have at home for the colors and additional veggie intake.  So, feel free to be creative and use what your have at home.

This is the mahi-mahi fillet I bought on-sales at the Sunflower market.  I criss-cross it for faster cooking time.  You can cover the wok when pan-frying to cook the middle as well.  Eat this with some Teriyaki sauce drizzle on top is fabulous as well.  Of course you can use other fish fillets or fish for this dish.

Stir Fried Imitation Sea Cucumber

I saw this dish featured on CCTV4 recently and though what an interesting idea. I never buy sea cucumber before, love to eat it but have no clue how to handle it. Another reason of not buying is my hubby doesn't like it. So, when I saw this imitation sea cucumber made using the seaweed, I was intriguing and wanted to try it. Well, I supposed to shape it into an oblong shape to resemble the sea cucumber but I did not bother. This Chinese food series named Everyday Food does not come with measurement, they cooked with feel like every Chinese cook. So, I tried my best to recreate the dish. It tasted pretty good, the deep-fried ones are crispy and good on it's own. The sauteed one was kind of chewy, just different.


The batter ready to deep-fry. I really not sure whether I should add more flour in it or not since that cook seem to be able to shape it into an oblong shape with this batter. Hmmm...


The finished deep-fried imitation sea cucumber.

Steamed Fish Fillet with Chili Black Bean

I love to steam my fish in the oven. It is no fuss, no cleaning, super easy and ready in 10 minutes, who wouldn't love this method as compared to the traditional Chinese steaming method using a wok? To steamed fish, you just need to cover the whole fish in the aluminum foil and let it steam in the oven. After you done eating, just fold and toss away the aluminum foil. As easy as that! I was trying a new recipe for my steamed fish and it turned out so good so I would share it here and for my own record. It was a little spicy from the chili oil but not too bad, even my girls had no problem eating it. The saltiness came from the black bean and soy sauce. And I loved lots of ginger and garlic for extra flavor.

Stir-fried Mexican King Topshell with Napa Cabbage

King Topshell is an abalone like shellfish with fractional of the cost. Since the major producer of canned king topshell situated in Mexico, thus the name Mexican King Topshell. This is my first time buying this product, frankly I actually mistook it for abalone, no wonder it was cheap. Taste wise, it is really delicious. I really like the texture of this shellfish. Normally you slice it thinly and stir-fry it or braise it.


How it looks like before slicing, straight from the canned. The shape does look like abalone right?



I was fooled by the big letter of "bao" or abalone in English. I didn't bother to read the English words and just grabbed one to try since it was fairly cheap compared to abalone ($7). But I bought this with no regret because this king topshell turned out to be really divine. And I discovered another delicacy to add into my menu. Normally I see this selling during Chinese New Year, not sure whether they have it on other time.

Korean Spicy Tofu Stew

Remember the other day I bought lots of bay scallops and finding way to use them? Since I also bought some imitation crab meats and tofu, I just combined them into my spicy Korean soup. The key ingredient here is Gochujang, Korean red pepper paste. You can easily buy this at any of the Korean grocery store. This paste alone is pretty spicy but I always want an extra kick and added a few dashes of cayenne pepper powder. Guess who besides the parents loved this soup?



My little Edda enjoyed this spicy soup very much. Even me the mother thought this soup was spicy and yet this little fellow finished a bowl and requested for more! I had some leftover for the next day so ladled the rice with this soup and some tofu and crab meat for her and she finished everything in her bowl. WOW right? As for the big sister, she won't even dare to touch the soup!

For recipe, click here. Oh, I also added an egg into the soup this time.

Stir-fried Bay Scallops in Thai Green Curry Paste

I bought some bay scallops when it was on sales for buy one gets one free. I loved to buy it to substitute for chicken breasts. I was thinking hard on how to cook the bay scallops and came out with this dish. The deep-fried tofu was a great addition in this dish as it soaked up the flavor and sauce of green curry and went very well with rice. Now I am curious, how do you normally prepare the bay scallops since it's so small?

Baked Sea Scallops

I saw this recipe at Big Boys Kitchen and decided to give it a try since I just bought some sea scallops. I have not try steaming scallops before so this easy method really interest me. However instead of steaming, I just baked it in the oven because this is easiest as I don't have to wash the steamer. :P I was contemplating of whether to steam it in the oven or bake it and ended out baking this little babies.


Ready to bake in the oven.


All ready to be eaten!

I baked mine in preheated 450'F oven for 8-10 minutes. Do not overcook the scallop as it would get tough.

Thanks to chef. Steven as now I found a new and healthier way to enjoy the sea scallops. :o)

My Yi Lu Fa Cai

This is my copycat dish of Chef. Steven "Hou See Fatt Choy". I added some wolfberries for extra color effect. Whether it's a good idea or not, I don't know but wolfberries is good for us, so why not? Why I didn't name mine "hou see fatt choy" you might asked. That's because I couldn't find any dried oyster here. Nada...not one in sight. So, have to make mine without the dried oyster and gave it a new name which I read at Tigerfish's blog. This is the dish I brought to Lily's house.



Does this dish looks appertizing to you? I would really love to know because my hubby thinks this dish is soooo unappealing that he didn't even bother to try one. *Sorta pissed to learn later that he didn't even bother to try one of my CNY dish creation because to him it looks unappertizing, my own hubby!* You tell me!

Lastly, I want to wish my readers a "Happy Valentine's Day" !
Hubby wants to bring us out for dinner and so no cooking for me. :)

My Yong Tao Foo Sauce

What I did with my leftover fish paste from making the you tiao? Make yong tau foo of course. I only have taufoo poks and red chilies so that would do. But the main purpose of this post is to share with you this yong tau foo sauce. I created this sauce by chance at my friend A's house when she suggested me to make a sauce for her yong tau foo. I have been using Rasa Malaysia soy bean paste sauce all this while but my friend soy bean paste has turned bad so had to throw it away and left me to think of an alternative fast. And thus this sauce was created.

Fried Fish Paste You Tiao

This is what happen when a craving strike! I really like the one that stuffed with sotong paste like commonly served in M'sia. But since I don't normally buy squids and also I think it's healthier with fish paste, I tried it out with the ready made fish paste. I seasoned the fish paste with sesame oil, white & black peppers and chopped scallion. Stuffed it in the you tiao and spread some sesame seeds on top and deep-fried until cooked.

Oh, do forgive my clumsy job with the mayonnaise! It's not supposed to be like this, supposed to be thin strips over and across the you tiao and made it really pretty. Little did I know that my mayo cap is the wide type and can't really do any pattern on it. Thus, look so ugly! LOL! My failed attempt on presentation. :P

When I tried it, only then I knew it's the wrong Mayo! Did they use the Japanese mayo in M'sia? Because it's certainly not the American mayo. The mayo served supposed to be on the sweet side and really compliment the fried you tiao well. Not the American mayo though, it just didn't suit and I resorted to eat it with the Thai sweet chili sauce instead. I was thinking either the Japanese mayo or they added honey or other stuff in the mayo. Anyone care to enlighten me?

It turned out crispy and good but it can be better with perhaps ground pork + shrimp paste. Fish paste is not as sweet in my opinion.

Here's to my last post of 2007. Tomorrow will be a new year to look forward to.

May the New Year brings us much joy, health and wealth!!

Tofu & Seafood Dish

I love to buy those cylinder shape Japanese tofu because I have fond memory of them while in Malaysia. My parents used to order this dish while dining out and I was really impressed by how silken soft it is (10+ years ago) and I especially loved the deep-fried one served in a clay pot. Nowadays, there are variety of tofu sold in the Asian market ranging from extra firm to silken soft. So, this tofu is not that special anymore, except for the unique shape.

I pat dry my cut out tofu, coated it in potato starch and deep-fried til golden brown. I tried one while it was still warm and it was delicious just as it is, crispy outside and silken soft inside. However, I sort of ruin it by cooking the seafood sauce and later added the fried tofu in to simmer. Why? because the potato starch turned gluey, transparent starch when simmering in the sauce. Oh man! I should have just pour the sauce on top as I have planned instead of thinking of warming up the tofu and thus placed it in the sauce to simmer together. Big mistake! So, I pen it down here so that I won't make the same mistake again.

Deep-fried Fish with Soy Sauce

I haven't bought a whole fish for ages. And see what happen when I shopped with Lily (yeah, I get to shop with her a lot these days, :D), I ended out bought two fishes, one was white Pomfret which I steamed it but was too eager to eat it hot and thus didn't take any picture. But since this fish was deep-fried and looking so yummy (not that my steamed pomfret was not yummy), I decided to record it in my blog. Hehe...

I served my deep-fried fish on a bed of scallions in plain soy sauce. I wanted my fish to remain crispy instead of soggy laden with soy sauce. So, I pour soy sauce on a plate, piled the scallions on top and then placed my deep-fried fish on top of the scallion and then drizzled a little hot oil on top.