Nonya Beanpaste Steamed Fish

According to my dad, I am a quarter of a little Nonya. My late paternal grandmother was one and she was always in Nonya Kebaya and cooked Peranakan food. It is a pity that I have never seen her before. Thankfully, I could catch a taste of her home-cooked food through the recipes that are passed on. This Nonya Beanpaste Steamed Fish is one of her signature dishes.









Ingredients:
- 1 whole white pomfret
- 1 large chili
- 1 thumb-size ginger
- 1 large onion or 3-4 shallots
- 8 cloves of garlic
- 1 tablespoon of beanpaste
- 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon of dark soya sauce
- 2 teaspoons of sugar
- spring onions for garnishing

Procedures:
1) Blend chili, ginger, onion, garlic, beanpaste, oyster sauce, dark soya sauce and sugar into a paste.
2) In a frying pan, add oil and fry the paste until thick and fragrant.
3) Spread the beanpaste mix on the bottom and top of the fish.
4) Steam it for 20 minutes (depending on the size of the fish) until just cooked. Garnish with spring onions. Serve.

There are times when I do not have the time to blend the aromatics together into a paste. When that happens, I will just lightly fry the aromatics and place them on the fish before steaming. It taste equally good!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shallots Steamed Chicken Wings

Image
I am embarking on an effort to collect my mummy's recipes. It is not an easy task as she does not have her recipes written down and she bases the quantities on her intuition. But I am sure that this endeavour is worthwhile as what I am collecting are not mere recipes but also wonderful memories. This dish, shallots steamed chicken wings, is one of my favourites when I was kid. Ingredients: - 1 kg of chicken mid wings - 4 tablespoons of light soya sauce - 2 tablespoon of sesame oil - 3 tablespoons of hua tiao wine - pepper - 6 shallots, chopped - spring onions and parsley, chopped for garnish Procedures: 1) Marinate chicken wings and shallots with light soya sauce, sesame oil, hua tiao wine and pepper for 30 minutes. 2) Arrange on a steaming plate and steam for 30 minutes. 3) Garnish with spring onions and parsley. Serve.
Read more

Hokkien Mee

Image
Hokkien Mee is my husband's favourite hawker dish and I have been wanting to cook it at home with the freshest and best ingredients. So, I finally did it today and he loved it! Now, he is lamenting that he has one less dish to eat outside as I have raised his expectation on Hokkien Mee. Hilarious! Ingredients: - 500g fresh prawns, peeled (set aside the heads and shells) - 500g squid rings - 250g of pork belly - 400g of yellow noodles - 400g of thick mee hoon - 2 tablespoons of sugar - 1 chicken cube - a lot of spring onions, cut into a few inches long - 1 bulb of garlic, crushed - 6 shallots, chopped - 1 tablespoon of pepper corns - 2 tablespoons of fish sauce - 1 teaspoon of dark soya sauce - pepper Procedures: 1) In a pot, add a little vegetable oil. Fry half the garlic and shallots until fragrant. Add prawn heads and shells and fry until pink. Add chicken cube, white pepper corns, 2 tablespoons of sugar and 4 bowls of water. Boil for at least 30 minut...
Read more

Salmon and Mushroom Rice (Rice-cooker)

Image
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 ...
Read more