Memories in the Cooking

This recipe involves a home-made Cajun spice-mix.  Ingredients: - 1 tablespoon of paprika powder - 1 tablespoon of Cayenne pepper powder - 1 tablespoon of dried Italian herbs  - 1 teaspoon of salt  - olive oil  - fishes (I used 10 sardines)  - 1 lemon, sliced Procedures: 1) Marinate the fishes with all the herbs.  2) Bake at 180 degree celsius for 30 minutes.  3) Serve with lemon slices. 

This Baked Salmon dish is so pretty that it can be a centre-piece for a Christmas meal. Ingredients: - salt - 2 tablespoons of honey  - pepper  - 100g of butter  - 4 cloves of garlic, minced  - 100g cream cheese, soften at room temperature - 125g Spinach  - a handful cranberries  - a handful nuts, chopped  Procedures: 1) Cook spinach over a non-stick pan until soft.  2) Mix spinach with cream cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste.  3) Add butter to the pan and melt it. Add 2 tablespoons of honey. Add minced garlic. Add salt for taste.  4) Place salmon on a baking tray. Pour butter-honey sauce over it. Cover it with a baking paper. Bake at 180 degree for 15 minutes.  5) Place the fish on a serving board. Spread spinach cream cheese on it.  6) Sprinkle some dried cranberries and chopped nuts. Serve. 

I once had a sumptuous meal at a Japanese restaurant and then concluded that the best dish was the unassuming Garlic Fried Rice.  Ingredients: - 500g of salmon belly, cut into cubes  - 1-2 bulbs of garlic, minced  - a packet of beanspouts - a packet of spring onions, chopped  - a packet of Chinese parsley, chopped  - overnight rice from 2 cups of rice - 3 eggs  - 2 tablespoons of light soya sauce  - pepper Procedures: 1) Pan-fry the salmon belly cubes skin-down without adding oil. Fry until the salmon belly cubes are crisp and brown. Set aside the salmon belly cubes.  2) In the salmon fats, fry minced garlic until brown and fragrant.  3) In the cold rice, add the 3 eggs and light soya sauce. Mix well.  4) Add the rice to the frying pan. Fry until well mixed. Add beanspouts, spring onions and parsley. Fry until well mixed and vegetables are cooked.  5) Add more salt and pepper to taste.  6) Add the salmon cubes back and mix well...

The Husband bought 1kg of salmon sashimi from Fassler for a small family of four! After using 2/3 of it to make Salmon Pokebowl, we are still left with a stab of it. So, we decided to make Salmon Ceviche with Asian Lemon Olive Oil Dressing.  Ingredients: - 350g of sashimi-grade salmon, sliced  - lemon juice from 1 lemon  - 2 teaspoons of sugar  - 1 tablespoon of fish sauce  - 1 tablespoon of olive oil  - parsley, finely chopped  - a handful of raisins, chopped Procedures:  1) Arrange the sliced salmon on a plate. Place it back to the fridge.  2) In a mixing bowl, add lemon juice, sugar, olive oil, fish sauce and raisins. Mix well. Leave it for 1 hour.  3) Drizzle the dressing over the salmon slices. Serve. 

Mala has conquered the world! It appears in almost every food court. This is my recipe for Mala Grilled Fish. For the fish, I chose a more than. 1kg pearl grouper. So, you can imagine what a huge dish this is.  Ingredients:  - More than 1kg grouper, butterflied  - 4 preferred vegetables (tau kwa, black fungus, cabbage, taukee)  - Haidilao mala paste  - peanuts, fried  - parsley, chopped - 4 cloves of garlic, chopped  Procedures: 1) Place the butterflied fish on a baking tray. Brush vegetable oil around the fish. Bake at 225 degree celsius for 20-30 minutes.  2) Cut tau kwa into small blocks. Pan fry it until golden brown in a frying pan.  3) Drain away the excess oil. Add chopped garlic. Fry until fragrant.  4) Add softened taukee, black fungus and cabbage. Fry until soft.  5) Add Haidilao paste. Mix well.  6) Pour the Mala vegetables onto the grilled fish.  7) Top it with peanuts and parley. 

This fish soup is similar to a chowder. It has so much ingredients that it can be eaten as a meal.  Ingredients: - 300g of salmon, cut into cubes  - 2 carrots, diced  - 2 russet potatoes, diced - 2 stalks of leeks, diced  - 1 cup of milk  - 1 cup of fish stock (or dissolve 2 fish cubes in water) - 1 can of nestle cream  Procedures: 1) In a pan, add vegetable oil and fry leek until caramelized.  2) Add carrots and potatoes and fry until soft.  3) Add fish stock and let it simmer for 5 minutes.  4) Add cream and milk. Mix well.  5) Add salmon and turn off the fire. Let the salmon poach for 15 mins until cooked. Serve. 

Yesterday, my family had a Nordic countries theme day and we cooked Nordic/Scandinivian food throughout the day. We had this baked salmon with mustard, lemon and dill sauce for lunch. It was amazing.  Ingredients: - about 600g of salmon filet  - 2 tablespoons of mustard sauce  - chopped dill - 1 lemon Procedures: 1) Place wash and pat dry salmon fillet on a baking tray.  2) In a mixing bowl, mix lemon juice (of half a lemon), mustard sauce and dill.  3) Spread the mix on the salmon fillet.  4) Lay a few slices of lemon on top of the fillet.  5) Bake at 180 degree celsius for 25-30 minutes. Serve. 

Saba is an oily fish that gives a creamy texture. This recipe is so easy that you can serve dinner in less than 30 mins.  Ingredients: - 5 halves of Saba  - 1 stalk of spring onions, shred lengthwise  - half a tablespoon of miso paste, dissolve in one cup of water  Procedures: 1) Add a little vegetable oil in a frying pan. Pan fry the saba fish, skin down first. Then flip it over to fry the other side.  2) Add miso paste dissolved in water. Let it simmer for a while.  3) Serve and garnish with spring onions. 

Crispy Fish Skin. Tangy and sweet sauce. This dish is quite a winner, considering how simple and fast it takes to prepare it.  Ingredients: - 2 halves of Saba Fish  - 3 small tomatoes and some cherry tomatoes, chopped - 2 tablespoons of ketchup - 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce  - 2 teaspoons of sugar  - a bunch of parsley, chopped Procedures: 1) Add oil to a non-stick pan. Fry Saba Fish skin-side down until crispy. Turn it over to cook the other side.  2) Add tomatoes and let it sit with the fish into soft.  3) Add ketchup, light soya sauce and sugar. Mix the sauce well with the fish. 4) Add chopped parsley. Serve. 

I am not very good at frying fish. Hence, for this recipe, I oven-baked the fish first.  Ingredients: - 1 large grouper  - 250g of minced pork  - minced garlic - 1 chili, sliced  - 1 tablespoon of minced beanpaste  - 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce  - 1 teaspoon of dark soya sauce  - 1 tablespoon of sugar  - ginger, sliced  Procedures: 1) Score both sides of the fish. Insert a slice of ginger into each slit and the stomach of the fish. Place the fish on a baking tray. Drizzle vegetable oil on both sides of the fish. Bake in the oven at 225 degree celsius for 20-30 minutes.  2) In a frying pan, fry some minced garlic until fragrant. Add minced meat and fry until brown.  3) Add chili, beanpaste, oyster sauce, dark soya sauce and mix well. 4) Add about 1 cup of water. When the sauce boils, thickens it with corn starch.  5) Place the grilled fish on a serving plate. Pour the sauce over the fish. Serve. 

I have been cooking dinners on weekdays. It is definitely challenging to cook after rushing back from work. This recipe is simple and it leaves me little dishes to wash too.  Ingredients - 2 cups of rice  - 1 packet of french beans, chopped - 500g of salmon fillets  - 1 piece of salted fish  - 1 packet of beech mushrooms  - 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce  - 1 tablespoon of dark soya sauce  - 1 tablespoon of sesame oil  - 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce  - fried shallots  Procedures: 1) Cook 2 cups of rice with 1.5 cups of water in rice-cooker. Add washed salted fish to cook with the rice.  2) After 10 minutes, add salmon fillets and beech mushrooms and french beans to it and continue to cook until it is done according to the rice cooker.  3) Set aside the salmon fillets and salted fish from the rice. Add oyster sauce, dark soya sauce and sesame oil to the rice. Stir well.  4) Shred salmon fillets and salted fish. Add light ...

Here is another self-invented porridge to nurse my husband after his wisdom tooth extraction. The green and pink colours on this porridge make it so appetising.  Ingredients: - 1 head of broccoli - 2 salmon fillets  - 4 eggs - porridge cooked from 1.5 cups of rice  - 1 tablespoon fish sauce - 1 fish stock cube - 1 tablespoon of sesame oil  - 3-4 ginger slices  - fried shallots  Procedures: 1) In a pan, add 1 bowl of water to cook the broccoli and broach the salmon fish. Add garlic slices to get rid of the fishy smell.  2) Set aside the salmon fillets and tear it into smaller pieces. Add fish sauce and sesame oil. Mix well. 3) Blend the soften broccoli.  4) Add porridge to the pan. Mix well with the blended broccoli. Add fish cube.  5) Add eggs to the porridge.  6) Serve the porridge and egg to individual serving bowls. Top up with salmon and fried shallots. 

This is my favourite Japanese soup that I will order at any Japanese restaurants. This soup has the power to make a cold sushi meal end off on a warm satisfying note. Ingredients: - salmon fishhead - salt - pepper - corn flour - soft tofu, diced - 1 radish, sliced - 1 carrot, sliced - 2 tablespoons of miso paste - ginger, sliced Procedures: 1) Rub some salt, pepper and corn flour to the salmon fishhead. Set it aside. 2) To a pan, add some vegetable oil and fry the ginger slices until fragrant. 3) Place the salmon fish head, skin-side down, on the pan for 2-3 minutes. Flip the fish head to the other side and fry for another 2-3 minutes. (Can choose to grill in the oven too) 4) Add about 3 large bowls of hot water to the pan. 5) Add radish and carrot to the pan and boil it until soft. Add tofu. 6) Add 2 tablespoons of the miso paste to the soup. Stir well until the paste dissolve. Serve.

I cooked this dish while staying in England where herbs such as dill is easy to source and inexpensive. Today, I decided to make this dish to reminisce about the past. Ingredients: - 30g of dill, chopped - 200g of smoked salmon - 2 cups of milk - half a packet of penne - 10 cloves of garlic, minced - 1 stock cube - 2 tablespoons of flour  - pepper and salt  - 200g of mozzarella cheese  Procedures: 1) Cook penne acccording to instructions on the packet. 2) Add garlic and oil to frying pan. Fry until fragrant. Add flour and fry until brown. Add milk, cheese and water to get a thick, cheesy consistency.  4) Add stock cube, pepper and the chopped stems of the dill.  5) Add cooked penne and stir well.  6) Turn off the flame. Add smoked salmon and dill and mix well. Serve.

I used to buy ready-made Teriyaki sauce at around $5 dollars a bottle (250 ml) from supermarket until I found that Teriyaki sauce is essentially just light soya sauce, mirin, sake, sugar and ginger juice. Not only is it more economical to make your own Teriyaki sauce, it also produces tastier teriyaki dishes. Reason? Home-made Teriyaki sauce produces a shiny and sticky coat on the meat or fish, which is achieved through slowly reducing the mixture of seasoning. By making your Teriyaki sauce from scratch, you could easily produce enough quantity at a faction of the price for a big batch of meat (i.e. chicken wings, chicken cutlets, salmon etc), ideal for a party. This post, I am going to show you how to whip up a Teriyaki Fish Burrito Bowl. Ingredients: - 2 fish fillets  - 20 ml of sake - 20 ml of mirin - 10 ml of Japanese soya sauce - 20 ml of water - 2 tablespoons of sugar  - 50g ginger, grated Procedures: 1) Combine all seasoning and ginger....

Fish with sauteed onions - very rarely do I like the accompanying ingredients on the fish more than the fish itself. This is one dish which I could eat a bowl of rice with just the sauteed onions. This is my Mummy's recipe and it is definitely going to stay for at least my generation. Ingredients: - 1 grouper - 2 large yellow onions, sliced - 1 thumb-size ginger, shredded - parsley for garnishing - 3 tablespoons of black vinegar - 2 tablespoons of light soya sauce - salt, pepper - corn flour - 2 tablespoons of sugar Procedures: 1) Pat dry grouper. Season it with a little salt and pepper. Coat it with corn flour. 2) To a pan of hot vegetable oil, add grouper and pan-fry it until brown over medium fire (around 5 minutes on each side). When the fish is cooked, set it aside on a serving plate. 3) Pan-fry sliced onions until soft. Add shredded ginger and fry until fragrant. Add vinegar, light soya sauce, pepper and sugar. 4) Add the onions on the grouper. Garnish wi...

As part of our family drama day, we also recreated the scene of Mr Beaver's Dinner from CS Lewis' novel - "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe". Here is our version of the marvelous fish!  Ingredients: - huge seabass (about 1.2kg)  - 2 lemons cut into half slices  - 1 box of cherry tomatoes  - 1.5 tablespoons of sea salt  - 1 teaspoon of mixed herbs  - 3 bulbs of garlic, remove the skin  - 1 box of dill (about 90g)  - 3 tablespoons of olive oil  Procedures:  1) Rub 1 tablespoon of seasalt to both sides of the fish and the fish stomach.  2) Cut slits into both sides of the fish. Insert a slice of lemon into each of the slits. Insert a few slices of lemon and  a few stalks of dill into the stomach of the fish.  3) Place a few slices of lemon on a baking tray and lay the fish on it. 4) In a mixing bowl, mix together olive oil, mixed herbs, the rest of the dill, sea salt and some crushed gar...

This dish is super easy and the kids love anything that is creamy and cheesy. Ingredients:  - 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise  - 2 tablespoons of honey mustard  - 4 cloves of garlic, minced  - mozzarella cheese  - salmon steaks  Procedures: 1) Mix mayonnaise, honey mustard and garlic in a bowl.  2) Lay the salmon steaks on a oven tray.  3) Spread the mayonnaise-mustard mix on each piece of salmon.  4) Top it up with mozzarella cheese.  5) Cover the salmon steaks with aluminium foil. Bake it at 180 degree celsius for 15 minutes.  6) Remove the aluminium foil. Grill it at 225 degree celsius for another 5 minutes until the cheese turns brown. 

Well, well.... what is Salmon Well...ington? I guess most of us would have heard of Beef Wellington - beef ramp/steak wrapped in puff pastry. When Beef Wellington is cooked to perfection, it would have a crispy crust and pink centre from the medium rare beef. Sounds heavenly to eat but hellish to make? I think so too. So, for a start, you might want to try making Salmon Wellington as there is more room for error. To make it even easier and more economical, I use roti prata for the pastry!  Ingredients: - 4 slices of 50g salmon fillet (2 blocks of Muar Otah) - 6 slices of roti prata (frozen pastry from supermarket) - 250g of spinach  - a pinch of sea salt and pepper - 1 egg  - 2-3 clove of garlic  Procedures: 1) Stir fry garlic and spinach. Add salt and pepper. Set aside the soften spinach. Try to drain away any water.  2) Arrange 3 roti prata such that they overlap with one another and form a base.  3) Place the salmon fillets o...

I used to only know one way to cook Saba Fish - Grilled Saba Fish with Onions. So, today, I just tried to improvise a new recipe with whatever I can find in the fridge. And guess what, I found some lemons today! Ingredients: - 4 halves of Saba Fish  - 4 tablespoons of corn flour  - juice of 2 lemons  - 2 tablespoons of sugar  - 1 bulb of garlic, minced  - 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce  Procedures: 1) Coat Saba Fish with corn flour. Pan-fry it until it is crispy. Set aside on a serving dish.  2) In a saucepan, stir-fry minced garlic until fragrant. 3) Add lemon juice,sugar  and light soya sauce. Simmer until the sauce thickens. Drizzle the sauce on the fish. Serve.