FISH 1-2-3

 King fish is popular in Asian grocery stores, but mostly available in its frozen from.  If you ever find fresh king fish, the taste is to die for! 

Ingredients:

1. Steaked kingfish, 6 pieces
2. salt, termeric, chilli powder, 1 tbsp of peanut butter, 1 tbsp of mayonaise, 1 tbsp of oil
3. fresh green chillies, cilantro and 1 ripe tomato

Lay out the pieces in an aluminum pan making sure not to overlap them after applying termeric, chillipowder and salt on the fish, into a preheated oven at 450 degrees broil

When browned on one side remove.  Do not try turning over pieces, as they tend to break, simply remove the pieces and arrange on the serving dish

To the aluminum pan, add mayo, peanut butter and mix into an even paste, add a few drops of water if needed, pour or ladle the mix on the pieces and sprinkle fresh herbs and diced tomatoe to garnish.

Serve with steamed rice

 Simplicity is next to Godliness.  Spanish makarel is available at your local Asian grocery store where you can ask them to cut in 1/2 inch thick steaks.

1. Add salt, termeric and chilli powder for heat and a table spoon of oil.

2. Lay out the pieces on an aluminum pan, do not stack and place in 400 degrees preheated oven.

3. Let one side brown evenly before turning pieces with a tong, remove when done

Serve as an appetizer with green salad or as an entree with fried rice or noodles.

Since I found my niche for cooking at the college dorm, I believe that it is a collective process. A process that soaks in the spirit of a place and its people. That is why I always welcome suggestions and contributions from all food enthusiasts. Here is one from a lovely young couple, Arti and Rahul, who reside in Singapore.

Ingredients
1 lb (450g) mud crabs or soft shelled crabs
4 tbsp plain flour if using soft shelled crabs
3 tbsp vegetable oil*
8 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
8 fresh red chilli, roughly chopped
1 egg
2 spring onions (scallions), cut into finger length
1 tsp freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice
1 small bunch coriander plant (cilantro)
*For soft-shelled crabs, oil for deep frying


Mix together for Sauce
1 cup of water, 5 tbsp tomato catsup, 1 1/2 to 3 tbsp sugar, or according to taste, 1 1/2 tsp cornflour, 1 tsp pounded brown preserved soya beans or dark miso (optional), 1/4 tsp salt


Heat the oil in a wok or shallow saucepan over high heat. Add garlic and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the chilli, stir-fry till fragrant. For mud crabs, add at this stage. Fry well till shells start turning red, add sauce ingredients stir well, cover with lid and simmer till shells are red. Break eggs into the wok and streak with a fork, simmer till cooked. Squeeze lime juice over and stir in scallions. For soft-shelled crabs, cut each crab into four, dry well, dredge in flour and deep fry till golden brown and crispy. Make the sauce as above, but omit the mud crabs. Toss soft shelled crabs in sauce just before serving.

Mussels have a rather strong flavor, and does well with a bit of spicing up.  They make excellent appetizers with drinks!

Ingredients:

1. 2 lbs of mussels
2. 1/2 cup of white wine vinegar
3. 1 tbsp of honey
4. 1 teaspoon of minced garlic
5. 1 tbsp of hot soybean past (available in asian grocery stores) or you may substitute with your favorite brand of hot sauce
6. Fresh chopped cilantro
7. 2 small tomatoes diced
8. 1/4 cup of soy sauce
9. Hot sesame oil
10. Olive oil or cooking oil

Keep mussels submerged in cool water for about 20 minutes, drain and repeat to get rid of grits and sand.

Marinate mussels with soy, wine, garlic, honey and sesame oil.

Heat wok or pan on high heat and throw in mussels, cover and cook untill the shells open, if one or two do not open, then discard them as they are less than fresh.

Remove from heat, split in two baking sheets and mix in hot soy paste or hot sauce evenly, top with a drizzle of olive oil and put into preheated oven on broil for about 7-10 minutes depending on the power of the oven or until much of the liquid evaporates.

Top with fresh chopped herb and tomatoes.

Serve as is or with salted nuts and olives along with your favorite cocktail.  Salute!

 After being served a tonn of empty and near empty, shells on a bed of starch for a tonn of money at restaurants, I decided to take matters into my own hands as all my folks love these shelled wonders.  My discovery was rather pleasant in that, cooking them is a no-brainer and a super fast process.

Ingredients:

1. 2 lbs of clams
2. 1/2White wine vinegar
3. 1 tbsp, honey
4. 1 teaspoon minced garlic
5. 1 tbsp of provencal seasoning, which is a mix of parsley, thyme, rosemary, pepper and lemon rinds, or you can use fresh chopped parsley
6. 1/4 cup of soy sauce
7. 1/4 cup olive oil
8. 2 small fresh diced tomatoes

Keep clams submerged in cool water for at least 20 minutes, drain water and repeat.  This helps in getting all the residual sand and grit trapped in the shells.

Mix wine, honey, garlic, soy, olive oil and pour over drained clams in a baking pan, (you might have to divide it up in two batches)

Heat Wok or pan over high heat, throw in clams, cover and check to see if the shells have opened, you might find one or two that have not, those can be thrown out as they would not be fresh.

Sprinkle provencal seasoning or fresh herb and tomatoe and serve over a bed of linguini.

 Ingredients:

1. 1 and 1/2 lb of salmon fillet cut into 1 and 1/2 inch pieces
2. bottled Thai Green Curry paste available in all Asian grocery store or most supermarkets
3. 1 large clove of crushed garlic
4. 1 tbsp of lemon juice
5. 1/2 can of coconut milk
6. 1 small red onion chopped
7. 1 small can of mushrooms
8. cooking oil
9. 1 tbsp of sugar

Marinate fish pieces in 1 tbsp oil, lemon juice, Thai paste, salt, sugar and garlic, store for at least an hour in the refrigerator

Microwave fish on a serving dish at high heat for 4 minutes approx., depending on the power of your microwave oven, or until a lighter shade of pink and flaky.
SALMON SHOULD NEVER BE OVERCOOKED!

pan fry onions and mushrooms till onions begin to brown just about, pour over fish before serving

Serve with rice and wilted baby spinach topped with parmasean cheese

Ingredients:

1. 1 and 1/2 lb of salmon fillet cut into 1and 1/2 inch pieces approx.
2. dry provencal seasoning (consisting of dried garlic, rosemary thyme and black pepper and other spices)
3. 1 tbsp of sugar
4. 2 tbsp of mayonaise
5. 1 large clove of crushed garlic, ie, 1/3 teaspoonful of minced garlic
6.olive oil
7. 1 tbsp of lemon juice

Marinate fish in all of the above ingredients excepting mayonaise, then add salt to taste, keep refrigerated for at least 1/2 hour.

Layout fish in a serving dish, cover with saran wrap, microwave at high heat for 4 minutes or so depending on the power of the microwave, or until a lighter shade of pink and flaky.
SALMON SHOULD NEVER BE OVERCOOKED!

Stir in mayonaise taking care not to let the fish pieces crumble. Serve hot with rice and steamed vegetables.

Salmon is at the top of the charts from every health aspect! It is a dermatologist's prescription  As a matter of fact, Nicolas Perricone asks his patients to eat salmon every night for 3 nights in a row before attending a wedding or special occassion, as it ensures glowing skin!  Yada, yada yada, I make it because it tastes good, and easy to make.

Ingredients:

1. 1lb and a 1/2 of salmon filleted
2. 1 teaspoon of crushed garlic
3. a squirt of lemon juice
4. salt to taste
5. 1 tbsp of mayonaise

Keep salmon slices marinated in salt, lemon juice and garlic, keep loosely wrapped in an aluminum foil pouch, for about 1/2 hour or more.

In a 500 degrees pre heated oven, (toaster oven does just fine)  place aluminum pouch

In 5-7 minutes open wrapper to expose fish and re insert into oven and cook until the tips begin to turn brown

Remove from heat, test for doneness with a fork.  Fish is cooked when it easily flakes and has some creaminess to it.  Overcooking salmon is a "NO, NO"

Apply mayonaise on the surface with a butter knife, garnish with fresh parsley, or dried oregano or dill.

Suggestion:  add a few lightly salted frozen vegetables of your choice to the pack for delicious steamed veggies and serve on a bed of rice or linguini!

Ingredients:

1. 1 and 1/2 of shelled and deveined shrimp, with tail on
2. A can of coconut milk
3. 1 cup of frozen peas
4. 1/2 teaspoon of cumin, red chilli powder and termeric
5. 1 tbsp of brown sugar or honey
6. cilantro and green chillis
7. fresh tomato (optional)
8. 1 large onion
9. 1 tbsp of julienned ginger
10.1/2 teaspoon of whole mustard seeds

This dish is quick and cooks on a deep skillet. Marinate shrip in salt, termeric, chilli powerder and cumin, a dash of nutmeg if you have it.

Heat oil in the skillet. Arranged shrimp pieces evenly and turn with a tong only when slightly browned, remove from heat and store.

In the same pan, add a dash of oil along with the residue of the oil in which the shrimps were fried. Carmelize brown sugar and let incorporate with the liquid, then let the whole mustard seeds sputter in the hot oil.

Brown ginger and onion, add frozen green peas to the skillet, salt and wait till the skin of some of them begin to wrinkle up a bit, then add the diced tomato, then 1/2 a can of coconut milk...at this point you may taste for salt and add the shrimps, wait till the sauce bubbles, add green chillis and cilantro, remove from heat.

Serve over steamed rice or vermicelli.

Even though baccala is Spanish for salted cod, when you order for it at a tapas bar, in Spain, you are likely to get either the dried and salted variety or fresh cubed and fried with and extremely thin cruchy layer of batter. It is delicious both ways. Cod is a fish easily available at any super market, relatively inexpensive and easy to freeze. White and flaky, it is a tasty fish

1. Cut fillet into 1 inch cubes
2. Coat pieces evenly in a layer of cornstarch and salt mixture
3. Heat olive oil or any cooking oil in a pan, wait till the surface of oil looks extra liquid, indicating that the oil is adequately hot, yet not smoking.
4. Arrange the fish cubes evenly and turn only when golden brown.

Serve with a salad!

The rising prices in the seafood market is indicative of the populatity of fish today, as more people have aquired a taste for it in the US and understand the goodness of fish as a food. Not many grandmothers need to encourage toddlers to work on their fish sticks calling it "brain food". Although if they did, it would be right on. Word of wisdom from dermatologists to most would be that a diet, rich in fish, works wonders for the skin.

That said, tonight we are eating fish, I have the raw halibut cut in 2 inch cubes approx., in a marinade. The fish will go into the microwave 10 minutes prior to dinner, and come out ready to serve.

Ingredients:

1. 2 fillets of halibut or any other flaky fish, cut up in 11/2 - 2 inch square pieces
2. 2 tbsp of sour cream, 1 tbsp of mayo
3. 1 teaspoon of freshly ground mustard (a small coffee grinder is perfect for the job)
4. 1 tbsp of mustard oil or any cooking oil,
5. 1 tbsp of freshly ground ginger
6. 2 or more freshly ground Thai green chillies for heat
7. 1tbsp of salt
8. 1 teaspoonful of sugar
9. 1 teaspoonful of turmeric powder

Mix ingredients into a paste and marinate fish for at least 1/2 hour
Microwave for 10 minutes approx. or until soft and flaky to the touch of a fork
Drizzle a tbsp of mustard oil or cooking oil on top
Serve hot with steamed rice and salad or wilted greens.