Stuffed Tofu Puff with Minced Fish 魚肉釀豆腐

INGREDIENTS:

100 gram Minced Fish

15 Tofu Puff

SAUCE:

4 tablespoons Soy Sauce

2 tablespoons Sugar

1.5 teaspoons Cornstarch

1/3 cup Water

The look of minced fish. You can purchase it at Asian market.

The look of tofu puff.

DIRECTION:

1. Cut each tofu puff in half with scissor.

2. Using a finger, carefully make a hold in the middle of it.

3. Fill the hole with a portion of minced fish.

4. Repeat the process until you finish the minced fish and tofu puffs.

5. Add about 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium heat. Place the tofu puff in the pan with minced fish facing downward. Let them fry for about 5-7 minutes.

6. Flip the tofu puffs onto the other side. Fry for another 5 minutes. Transfer them onto a serving plate.

7. Mix the sauce ingredients. Add the mixture in the same pan. Cook over high heat until it thickens to your liking; stirring constantly. Pour it over the tofu puffs.

Baked Crispy White Fish with lemon and Parsley

INGREDIENTS:

3 pcs White Fish Fillets

3 cups Cornflakes, no sugar coating

1/2 cup Parsley, finely chopped

1 Lemon of zest

1/2 Lemon of Juice

1/3 teaspoon White Pepper Powder

1/2 teaspoon Salt

Vegetable Oil

SAUCE: 

1/3 cup Mayonnaise

2 tablespoons Ketchup

1 teaspoon White Vinegar (optional)

DIRECTION:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350F.

2. Crush cornflakes into fine pieces.  Mix them with parsley lemony zest, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, white pepper and salt together.  The mixture should be gluey.

3. Pat dry the fish and cut it into strips.

4. Coat the fish with a fair amount of the cornflake mixture.  Slightly use both palms to tighten it.  Lay the fish on a baking tray that lined with parchment paper.  Repeat this process to finish all the fish.

5. Bake it for about 25 minutes or until the it is golden and crispy. 

Pan-fried Pomfret with Peach Sauce 蜜核煎倉魚

Crusty pan-fried fish with sweet and sour sauce. It is a classic flavour but with fruit instead of ketchup.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Pomfret, gutted

1 Canned Peach

1 tablespoon Cornstarch

2 tablespoon White Vinegar

Salt

Vegetable Oil (for frying)

DIRECTION:

1. Rub both sides and inside of the fish with a generous amount of salt; leave it for 15 minutes.

2. Heat up about 4 tablespoons vegetable oil over medium heat. Slide the fish onto the pan. Fry it until the skin is crispy; about 10 minutes. Turn the fish over and fry for another 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, pour the canned peach in a small pot with the syrup. Add cornstarch and white vinegar. Heat it up over high heat. Once the peach is slightly heat through, remove them from the pot.

4. continuously boil the syrup until it is thick enough to your liking. Turn off the heat; set aside.

5. Transfer the cooked fish onto a serving plate. Top it with peaches. Pour the syrup over.  It is delicious to serve it with steamed rice.

Simplest Crunchy Pan-fried Sardine

Fried fish is one of the simplest but the most satisfying recipes I love to have over a bowl of hot rice.  The lemony juice is optional, but it brings tremendous difference in the flavour of sardines.  I enjoy these little fishes with bones, fins and tails everything except the head part.  What about you?

INGREDIENTS:

3-4 Sardine (I used frozen)

1-2 teaspoons Cornstarch

3 tablespoons Vegetable Oil

1/3 Lemon

DIRECTION:

1. To clean the sardines, slit open the belly with a knife and remove the guts.  Remove the gills and descale the sardines.  Rinse them well under running water and then pat them dry with paper towel.  If you are using frozen ones, let them thaw at room temperature until they become soft again before cleaning them.

2. In a non-stick frying pan, add vegetable oil.  Heat it up over medium heat.  Meanwhile, coat each sardine with a thin layer of cornstarch.  When the oil is ready, carefully lay them into the pan.  Fry until they are crispy and slightly brown; about 5 minutes.  Flip the sardines onto the other side; fry for another 5 minutes.  Remove them from the heat.

3. To serve, squeeze the lemon juice over sardines before eating.

Boiled Green Banana with Salted Mackerel

I learnt to eat green bananas from a colleague who grew up in the Caribbean.  She told me that the people in her home island consider banana as vegetable rather than fruit.  They eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert.  

Unlike the ripe ones, green bananas have a mild taste and starchy texture that is very similar to potato after cooking.  I let my son to try it without telling him what it was first, and he thought it was boiled potato.  We are so happy to discover one more new healthy food that can substitute potato in our diet.

  

INGREDIENTS:

4 Green Bananas (not Plantains)

1 Red Onion, small, sliced

4 Garlic Cloves, mashed and chopped

1/2 Red Bell Pepper, seeded and cubed

1 Salted Mackerel, deboned and cut into bite size

Salt and Pepper to taste

Vegetable Oil

DIRECTION:

1. Cut both ends of each bananas.  Slit the bananas lengthwise; set them aside.

2. Set a pot of water to a boil over high heat.  Add a tablespoon of salt and a tablespoon of oil (to prevent the banana sap sticks to the pot).  When the water comes to a rolling boil, add bananas.  Boil the bananas for 15 minutes; drain.  Remove the peels and cut the flesh to chunks; place them on serving plate.

3. In a pan, heat up three tablespoons of oil over high heat.  Add garlic and onion; stir fry until fragrant and the onion starts to soften.  About 10 minutes. 

4. Add mackerel.  Continue to cook until the fish is throughly cooked; about 10 minutes.  Remove the pan from the heat and spoon the fish beside the bananas to serve.

Dace Fish Pork Bone Soup | 陵魚豬骨湯

This soup is commonly made during the summer time, when the weather is humid and hot and we feel lethargic.  We believe that the humidity brings tiredness to our body and this soup can help replenish our energy.

The dace fish is absolutely tasty.  You can surely still taste the sweetness in it after the long period of cooking.  Though be careful of the fine bones hidden inside.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Dace Fish, descaled, rinsed

4-6 Pork Bones, rinsed

1/4 cup Chixiaodou

1/4 cup Biandou

8 cups Water

Salt to taste

材料：

1 條 鯪魚

4-6 塊 豬骨

1/4 杯  赤小豆

1/4 杯  扁豆

8 杯  水

鹽  調味

DIRECTION：

1. In the soup pot, combine pork bones, chixiaodou, biandou, and water.  Bring it to a boil, and then continue to boil over medium-high over about 30 minutes.

2. Add dace fish; boil another 30 minutes.  Season with salt to taste. Turn off the heat.

做法：

1. 在一只湯鍋內加入豬骨、赤小豆、扁豆和水。用大火煮滾，再用中大火煮30分鐘。

2. 下陵魚；繼續煮30分鐘。下鹽調味；關火。

Perilla Leaf Kimchi ｜紫蘇葉泡菜

If you have ever visited a Korean supermarket, you probably have seen perilla leaves.  They are usually sold in bundles or in packages.  Perilla leaf is a common vegetable that belongs to the mint family, with a mild herby flavour somewhat similar to anise and basil; it is widely used in Korean cuisine as vegetable, kimchi, flavouring, or wrap.

Perilla leaf isn't usually found in Hong Kong cuisine, so I learnt this wonderful leaf late after I moved to downtown Toronto, where Korean cuisine is broadly embraced. 

Funny is that my first experience of perilla leaf wasn't a nice one.  I always noticed the herby note of these vivid green leaves, but I'd never realized how strong it could taste when putting the whole piece of leaf in the mouth, along with the hot rice or spicy marinade.  I remember I swallowed it down hard, followed by a full glass of water and a few bites of other side dishes.

After that, I tried to stay away from perilla leaves, but I still bought them whenever I go to the Korean supermarket, just because I was attracted to their beautiful look.  Once I have them, I have to cook them, right?  Through time, I learned to enjoy its distinct flavour and perilla leaf kimchi has become the Korean recipe I make most often and enjoy most by far.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you enjoy this recipe.

You can buy perilla leaves at Korean supermarkets.

Perilla leaves are available all year around, but their have much better leaves in summer.

Perilla Leaf Kimchi 

紫蘇葉泡菜

Kimchi

Ingredients:

15-20 pcs Perilla Leaves

2 tablespoons Glutinous Flour

1/2 cup Water

4 tablespoons Fish Sauce

2 tablespoons Red Chile Flakes

1 tablespoon Garlic, peeled and minced

1 tablespoon Ginger, peeled and minced

How to make it:

1. Rinse the perilla leaves under cold running water.  Drain and set them aside.

2. In a glass bowl, combine the glutinous rice with 1/2 cup of water.  Mix it well.  Microwave the mixture for about 30 seconds; stir well.  Then return it back to the microwave to heat it for another 25-30 seconds, or until the mixture become gluey.

Don't over heat it, otherwise the mixture will turn lumpy or harden and it will have to start over again.

3. Combine the rest of the ingredients except the perilla leaves into the glutinous mixture.  Stir it until it becomes chilli paste.

4. Spread 1-2 teaspoons of the chilli paste on a perilla leaf.  Then, place another perilla leaf on top, and spread the chilli paste on it again.  Repeat this process until you finish all the perilla leaves.

5. Store the perilla leaves in an air-tight container.  Leave it at room temperature for two days before serving it.  Transfer the rest to the fridge and it can keep up to 4 days.

6. To serve, wrap a small bite of rice with a perilla leaf, and then put the whole thing in the mouth.

Preserved Meyer Lemon ｜ 醃梅爾檸檬

To preserve your own food is one big step towards an urban homestead.  It is a way to re-learn and practice a basic life style.  Living in the city, we have little space to grow our own vegetables, but my family and I are trying as much as possible to eat what is in season and preserve the bounty for later.  Making preserved lemon is my annual project.  I will preserve just enough of it to last until the next batch of lemons is ready.  

Comparing the regular lemon to the Meyer lemon, I would say the flavour of the Meyer lemon is more profound and less pungent.  It tastes like a combination of lemon and orange.  Salted Meyer lemon makes a wonderful citrus seasoning that can be used in many meat dishes, and goes especially well with pork and seafood.

The high season for Meyer lemons begins in November to March

Preserved Meyer Lemon  ｜ 醃梅爾檸檬

INGREDIENTS:

4 Meyer Lemons

1/2 cup Sea Salt

A clean air-tight bottle

DIRECTION:

1. Wash the lemons carefully with a soft brush; dry them.

2. Cut them into quarters.

3. In the clean bottle, add a thin layer of salt and then add a layer of Meyer lemons.  Alternately add the salt and the lemons until the bottle is full. Seal the bottle and keep it in the fridge for at least three weeks.  You can start to use this preserve after three weeks, but I found the best flavour develops only after the full year of preserve and when the lemon rinds get really soft.

This recipe is one I reach for preserved Meyer lemon most often.

Steamed Pomfret with Meyer Lemon

(Ingredients):

1 Pomfret, gutted

2 wedges of Preserved Meyer Lemon

DIRECTION:

1. Roughly chop the lemon; apply it on both sides of the fish and inside the fish’s belly. Place the fish on a plate and leave it on the counter to marinate for 15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil and add a rack in the pot. Place the fish on the rack and steam on high heat for about 12–14 minutes (depends on the size of the fish). Drizzle some light soy sauce to add extra flavour if you want.