fish in soya sauce

a.k.a. ikan masak kicap.

sometimes, simple can also be translated as nice. sometimes, you don't need to go all fancy to satisfy your taste bud. sometimes, when you've run out of ideas of what to cook  all you need is something very easy to prepare and yet, tasty.

today is the i-want-to-cook-something-simple-and-this-is-it day, or better known as 'makan aje apa mummy bagi day.' haha!

for some people, to prepare something like this, they do not need a recipe book or a specific recipe. i too have my own easy-peasy version of ikan masak kicap. BUT! since, i have a recipe book that has this recipe and since i'm still experimenting from recipe books, i decided to give this recipe taken from this book, Nostalgia Bonda.

the author of the book added a little something extra to her recipe, she added chicken stock cube, cinnamon stick and also cloves. whereas, if i were to cook my version, i'd just saute some shallots and garlic je. :-)

taste wise, because of the chicken stock cube and the cinnamon and cloves, i think it's a tad different, next time i will try this recipe with the recommended choice of fish stated in the recipe. biasalah senaaaah, temah ni kan tangkap muat sajork.

okay! on to the recipe, shall we:

you will need:
4 pieces of ikan tenggiri, mackerel (i didn't have any, so i used HRH Kembung)
1 cm cinnamon stick
2 to 3 cloves
10 shallots, pounded
4 cloves garlic, pounded
1 inch ginger, pounded
¼ cup dark soy sauce
¼ cup sweet soy sauce
1½ cups water
1 cube of chicken stock
2 tsps turmeric powder
1 tsp salt

the how to:
1)  rub salt and turmeric powder to the fish slices. leave aside for 20 minutes.

2)  fry the fish slices and put aside.

3)  saute cloves and cinnamon stick till fragrant.

4)  add pounded ingredients like shallots, garlic and ginger.

5)  when golden yellow, add water and stir well.

6)  add both types of soy sauce and allow to simmer.

7)  add in the fried fish slices and mix well.

8)  garnish with halved chillies and sliced big onions.

9)  ready to serve!

easy enough, right? well, let's go to the freezer and take the fish out already!!

recipe source:  nostalgia bonda, reminiscing mum's love by kamariah jamaludin

Tenggiri Goreng Asam

spanish mackerel cooked in tamarind juice.

today, we shall go to Negeri Sembilan. A state located in the western coast of the peninsular Malaysia. Known for its very, very spicy dishes using bird's eye chillies. Podeh! i took the recipe from this book i bought a while ago...

tastewise it is waaaay better than a similar dish i blogged about some time ago... this one has a more sourish taste...something that i am craving for these days.

ready for the recipe? wait...you want to see a photo of this dish? here it is: :-)

okay, now for the recipe:

ingredients:
(a)
spanish mackerel, how ever many you desire
3 shallots, sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
1" ginger, sliced thinly also
10 red bird's eye chilli, i used 3 only (i know, i sissy...hehehe)
5 green bird's eye chilli, i used 3 also...these two you need to slice
1 big onion, cut into circles
salt to taste
oil for frying

(b)
1 cup of tamarind juice
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 tomato, cut into 4 - i made mine into 6...saja je...

the how to:
1)  coat the fish with some turmeric powder and salt, fry till cooked and golden brown.

2)  set the fish aside, remove most of the frying oil and leave some so that we can use it to saute (a)

3)  saute (a) till they are all soft and shiny.

4)  add in the tamarind juice, tomatoes and the turmeric powder.

5)  once the gravy starts to boil, put in the fish, stir it for a bit and heat off.

6)  you can enjoy this with hot rice. YUM!!

that's it for today folks. please try the recipe and lemme know okay? ta!

fish head curry

or, kari kepala ikan...

once again, i took this recipe from this book, 1 hari 1 resipi. i've never attempted to cook fish head curry before, mainly because i don't think i'll ever come close to my mum's version. but since this is the try-everything-once year, i thought, why not. so, here's my fish head curry, using chef hanieliza's recipe.

what?? can't hear you...where's the fish head?? tuuuu...okay, okay fine, the recipe calls for jenahak  or tenggiri fish head, but since i don't have those and plus it's just for the two of us, i used the head of ikan nyoknyok for the curry. :-p

ready for the recipe?

ingredients:

(a)

head of tenggiri or jenahak, i used ikan nyoknyok

5 tbs fish curry powder, mixed with some water

2 round aubergine, i didn't have any

3 green chillies, i didn't use

2 tomatoes, cut into 4

1 cup tamarind juice

1 cup coconut milk, i used M&S UHT coconut milk

cooking oil

salt to taste

(b) to saute

5 onions, pound or sliced thinly

2 cloves garlic, pound or sliced thinly

1 inch ginger, pound or sliced thinly

1 tsp of mixed spices

some curry leaves, i don't have :-(

the how to:

1)  heat oil in wok and saute (b) till fragrant.

2)  add in the curry powder that has been mixed with water, and saute till it's cooked.

3)  next, in goes the tamarind juice and the coconut milk. let it simmer till it starts to boil.

4)  put in the fish head and aubergine.  add in a little bit of water so that the coconut milk will not be too thick.

5)  reduce heat and let it simmer.  once it starts to boil, add in the tomatoes and salt. let it simmer a little bit more and take it off the heat.

6)  ready to serve.

now for the taste, well, the taste is quite good, although it's the mamak version that we're used to, but still edible. haha!

trylah and lemme know okay?

recipe source: 1 hari 1 resipi by chef hanieliza

sup ikan

or a.k.a. fish soup. hmm...somehow, fish soup does not sound too appealing, huh? but, it you're looking for something light to have for dinner and you don't want to cook like a gazillion dishes, this is a good choice to make. you have your fish and you can add in your veg, like celery or even potatoes...or a fruit, like tomatoes. kan?

i am not feeling too good today, hence the craving for something soupish.  well, here's the recipe for you guys.

ingredients:
(a)
1 red snapper (ikan merah), i used about 2 cuts
1 sup bunjut, it looks like this and inside it has all of these inside
3 cups water
1 tsp ground black peppercorns
2 stalks chinese celery
2 stalks spring onions
salt to taste
cooking oil

(b) slice
3 shallots
1 clove garlic
2" ginger

the how to:
1)  clean the fish and set aside.

2)  heat oil in pot and saute (b) till fragrant.

3)  add in the water, black pepper and sup bunjut.

4)  once the water starts to boil, you can then put in the fish and add a little salt. let it boil one more time and then it's done.

5)  garnish with chinese celery and spring onions.

YUM-MAY!

recipe source: 1 hari 1 resipi
sup bunjut image take from: abam google and from here. thank you so much!

ikan masak masam manis

or sweet sour fish

for dinner, i made sweet sour fish with the recipe, once again, taken from

this book. and as always, the book will not disappoint you. but, hehehe...(ni nak puji diri ni, sila sediakan baldi or barf bag, okaaay) my roomate prefers my version of sweet sour fish, with pineapple and everything else.

the recipe is very simple and basically does not call for any additional veges, but i decided to add some capsicum...all three colours of it, some big onions (cut into rings) and some cucumber.

baiklah, puan-puan...let's get on to the recipe, shall we?

ingredients:

(a)
2 kerisi, i used medium sized silver pomfret
salt and turmeric powder.

(b) for the sauce
5 shallots, sliced
3 cloves garlic, sliced
½" ginger, sliced
5 tbs tomato sauce
3 tbs chilli sauce
2 red chillis, thinly cut
½ cup water
1 tomato, cut into 6
1 stalk eacho f spring onions and chinese celery
salt and sugar to taste
cooking oil

the how to:
1) coat the fish with turmeric powder and salt and fry till golden brown.

2) make sure the fish is equally cooked, then set aside.

3) heat the oil and saute the shallots, garlic and ginger.

4) once fragrant, add in the tomato and chilli sauces along with the water.

5) when the gravy has thickened, pour it on top of the fish.

6) garnish with spring onions and chinese celery.

siap dah!

luck luck you guys!

recipe source: 1 hari 1 resipi

ikan berlada, hmm

i usually like to follow new recipes exactly how it is. well, i did for this particular recipe.

all i can say is that, i think the kalamansi lime juice used, is not that suitable for this recipe. i'd rather change it to some good ole tamarind juice. but hey, maybe you guys should give it a try and lemme know how it turns out for you guys. yes?

okay, let's go directly to the recipe.

ingredients
(a)
2 Scad/Selar fish - i used whatever is in the freezer, which is kerisi
1 big onion, cut into rings
5 kalamansi lime (for the juice)*
salt to taste
2 tsp turmeric powder
oil for frying

(b) ingredients to blend
6 red chillies
5 bird chillies (cili api)
3 cloves garlic
3 shallots

the how to:

1) once the fish is cleaned, coat with turmeric powder and salt.

2) fry till golden brown and slightly crispy then set aside.

3) leave a little of the oil used to fry the fish in the wok and saute the blended (b) ingredients till fragrant and cooked.

4) add in salt and the big onion rings, stir.

5) take the wok off the heat and pour in the kalamansi lime juice and stir a bit more.

6) pour the gravy on top of the fish.

7) bon apetite!


*as i mentioned earlier on, i really didn't like the taste of the kalamansi lime juice in this dish. somehow the acidity of the lime juice taste a little bit too 'wrong' for me. i would rather replace the lime juice with tamarind juice. i don't know, maybe that's just me. why don't you guys try it and get back to me, okay?


recipe source: 1 hari 1 resipi.

ikan masak taucu

this is one of my roomate's favorite fish dish. i'm just very happy because it's easy to prepare.

okay, for those of you who do not know what taucu is, hamboi...tak tahu ka? eksyennyaaa. haha!! taucu in english, according to abam wikipedia, is douchi...or chinese fermented black beans. fermented soya beans. they look like this:



please forgive the gambar above, because i took it from abam google. now, on to today's recipe, shall we? nak tengok gambar dulu ke...nak ingredients dulu? gambarlah dulu, ek? alright...


Ingredients:
(a)
1 cut jenahak (golden snapper) - i used 2 pieces of kembung (indian mackerel)
½ cup taucu (douchi)
½ cup tamarind juice
1 small cucumber - cut
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp turmeric powder
oil
(b)- to be sliced thinly
3 shallots
2 cloves garlic
2 red chillies
1 green chilli
1 big onion

the how to:
1) clean the fish and coat with turmeric powder and some salt. fry till golden brown and set aside.
2) leave a little bit of oil in the wok and saute the sliced shallots and garlic till fragrant.

3) add in the taucu, tamarind juice, sugar and let them simmer for a bit.

4) it's now time to add in the cucumber, the red and green chillies along with the big onion. incorporate all ingredients together.

5) once the sauce has somewhat thickened, take the wok off the heat and pour the sauce onto the fish.

Done!
luck luck you guys!!

taucu photo credit: abam google
recipe sourse: 1 hari 1 resipi

ikan asam tumis

it seems as if i've been cooking more instead of baking...rinduler pulowk.

today's recipe is called ikan asam tumis. again, taken from here. i think the taste is similar to the dish that my MIL once made. so, okaylah tu! kan? hehehe...




personally, i think this is one of the easiest dish that i've made. i also have the recipe book to thank because the instructions are not that many and pretty easy to follow. kenapalah masa aku muda-muda remaja dulu, masa tak reti masak dulu tu, takde orang nak kuarkan buku macam ni, kaaaan?



aneeways, here are the ingredients needed to make this super simple dish. ready? let's go!
ingredients:
(a)
2 slices/cuts (?) of spanish mackerel/tenggiri
1 cup tamarind juice
1/2 teaspoon tumeric powder
1 tomato (cut into 4)
salt to taste

(b) these should be thinly sliced

3 shallots
2 cloves garlic
1" ginger
1 green chilli
1 red chilli
1 big onion

the how to:
1. clean the fish thoroughly and coat with turmeric powder and salt.
2. deep fry the fish until it's cooked and set aside.
3. saute all the sliced ingredients (b) until shiny and fragrant.
4. add in the tamarind juice and the 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder.
5. once the gravy starts to boil, add in the fish and tomato.
6. add salt to taste.

haaaa...what did i tell you? easy, right? well, what are you guys waiting for? get to the kitchen already!!

1 hari 1

resipi.




a friend of mine suggested that a few of our friends get the same book so that maybe one fine day, we could all get together, choose a particular recipe and then try it out. well, yesterday i just flipped open a page and tried one of the recipes and true to what is claimed on the front cover of the book, 'gerenti jadi'. which brings me to another issue. i've been asked by friends to share recipes before. i was shocked that one day a friend asked me for a recipe and also said at the same time that "it's okay if i don't want to share". hmmm...this really was something new for me. because i love to share recipes and see what others make out of them. i was also shocked to learn that some recipes 'dont work' or is 'not reliable'. question is, why put out recipes but at the same time 'hide' a few ingredients? or why even put it out, at all? well, knowledge isn't knowledge until you share it with others. that's what i believe.

okay, back to the book and the first recipe that i tried. yesterday, i made Ikan Tiga Rasa. i must say that the taste is really good. (perasankah? takpelah...sendiri masuk bakul, sendiri angkatlah...) and i can even say that it's similar to that i've tasted at the many tomyum shops around town. so, nak resipi? betul ke? okay, i share.

ingredients:
(a)
fish - the books says use either pomfret or asian seabass (siakap) but i used kerisi (itu je yang ada kat dalam fridge mak temah)
1tbs of corn flour (to coat the fish with) - i opted
3 shallots, peeled and sliced thinly
1 onion, peeled and sliced thinly
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced thinly
2" of ginger, thinly sliced
some oil to fry the fish

(b) for the sauce. in a bowl mix these together:
3 tbs of tomato sauce
3 tbs of chilli sauce
3 tbs of oyster sauce
3 tbs of water
1 tsp of sugar
(c) garnish
some spring onions
2 red chillis - i opted
2 green chillis - i opted
2 tomatoes - cut into four
method
1. coat the fish with cornflour and fry till golden brown.
2. once done, place the fish on a serving dish.
3. leave about 2 tbs of the oil used to fry the fish in the wok and use that to saute the sliced ingredients until fragrant.
4. add in item (b) and let it simmer and stir once in a while.
5.once done, pour the sauce onto the fish and garnish sesuka hati.

luck luck guys!
book cover taken from: here
recipe from the book: 1 Hari 1 Resipi, 365 Resipi istimewa Chef Hanieliza