Glazed Miso Cod

The post for Little Thumbs Up October: Soya Beans is here. Please go to this link to submit your posting. Thank you!

This Glazed Miso Cod, using a few easy to find Japanese cuisine ingredients, brings home the mouthwatering taste of a Japanese restaurant favorite. 

This five-ingredient dish starring miso, mirin and brown sugar is easy to make and the flavours of the marinade works wonderfully well with the rich and creamy texture of the cod fish. 

The cod is almost melt in your mouth and so delicious - it's definitely more cost effective to make this at home than to eat this at the restaurant. 

Miso Glazed Cod (Serves 6)

Recipe from Food Network

Ingredients

• 6 (6-ounce/170 g per piece) black cod fillets, or regular cod fillets
• 1/3 cup low-sodium blond or white miso
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons mirin (Japanese cooking wine)
• Toasted sesame seeds and scallions, for garnish, optional

Method

• Preheat broiler.
• Rinse fish fillets and pat dry with paper towels. 
• Combine miso, brown sugar, sesame oil and mirin and stir well until brown sugar is fully dissolved.
• Brush about 2 tablespoons miso glaze on each fish fillet. Marinate for at least 30 minutes, or up to 1 hour. 
• Place fish under broiler for 3 to 4 minutes, or until top is slightly charred and glaze has caramelized. Remove fish from oven and brush with remaining glaze. 
• Lower oven to 375 degrees F/190 degrees C. Cook an additional 5 to 6 minutes, until fish is flaky but not overcooked.
• If desired, serve with toasted sesame seeds and scallions.

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs up organised by Doreen from my little favourite DIY and Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids, hosted by Mich of Piece of Cake at this post.

I'm submitting this post to Asian Food Fest #1 Oct 2013 : Japan hosted by Alan from Travelling-Foodies.

Pineapple Fish Curry

A friend of mine, Kirsten, shared this unique Pineapple Fish Curry recipe on Facebook, that uses fresh pineapple juice instead of coconut milk to flavour the dish. Being a big fan of the fruit and using it in savoury dishes, it's one of those healthier recipes that I was keen to try out. 

Instead of a rich and creamy sauce, the pineapple juice makes a lighter and refreshing fruity curry base for the fish. The lingering taste of the pineapple goes well with fish and I love to eat the chunks of pineapple and other vegetables that have been stewed in the sauce. 

This is definitely one of those curries that gives the spicy kick but without the calories and guilt. Even my daughters enjoyed the dish very much. 

 Pineapple Fish Curry (Serves 4)

For the spice mix

• Ready made curry paste 2 tbsp (You can reduce this if you want it less spicy)
• Shallots 75 g
• Pineapple cubes 230 g

For the curry

• 1 tsp of oil 
• 500 g of fish head or fillet 
• 300 ml of stock or water
• 180 g of cherry tomatoes (cut into halves or left whole)
• 1 capsicum
• 200 g of pineapple, cut into cubes
• Fish sauce, salt to taste

Method

1. For the spice mix, puree the shallots (75 g) and pineapple cubes (230 g) into a fine and smooth paste.

2. Wash the fish head/fillet, and marinate with salt.

3. Heat up 1 tsp of oil, and stir fry the curry paste till fragrant. Add in the blended shallots and pineapple mixture. Add in the water or stock and let it boil. 

4. Add in the fish and cover the pot. 

5. When the fish is almost cooked, add in the capsicum, cherry tomatoes and the remaining pineapple cubes and allow the vegetables to soften.

6. Season with fish sauce or salt, if desired.

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs up organised by Doreen from my little favourite DIY and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, hosted by Miss B from Everybody Eats Well in Flanders, at this post.

Ikan Cencaru Sumbat (Terengganu)/Spicy Stuffed Fish

Ikan Cencaru Sumbat is one of those dishes I love and hate. This fish has many fine bones and it’s always a challenge to eat this without swallowing a bone or two. As much as I dislike picking out bones, the rempah (spice paste) for stuffing the fish is so delicious and goes very well with the firm white flesh of the fish that I am willing to take the risk!

My hubby and I would normally finish up our dinner before moving on to the fish as one really needs to concentrate. We would check each piece of fish meticulously for bones before dabbing it with lots of rempeh! The moist, flavourful and aromatic rempah is so good that my daughter was using it as a dip for her tofu.

Ikan Cencaru Sumbat (Terengganu)/Spicy Stuffed Fish (Serves 6) 
Recipe adapted from Chef Rossham Rusli for Kuali.com

Ingredients

• 6 medium sized of cencaru fish
• 3 tbsp chilli paste
• 3 inch old ginger
• 2 red onions
• 5 pips garlic
• 3 stalks lemongrass
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 thumb-sized turmeric leaf, thinly sliced (omitted)
• 1 freshly grated coconut, just the white part (I used 250g)
• 4 candlenut, pounded
• 1 slice (square) dried shrimp paste/belacan, baked, pounded
• 2 tbsp tamarind paste, mix with 1/2 cup of water)
• salt and sugar to taste (omitted)

Method

• Wash and clean the fish thoroughly.
• Blend the ginger, onions, garlic and lemongrass in a blender till fine (I added 1/2 a cup of water to make it easier to blend).
• Stir-fry blended paste until fragrant for 6 minutes.
• Add the tamarind juice, candlenuts, dried shrimp paste, grated coconut, salt and sugar.
• Keep stirring until the paste is very dry.
• Lastly, add turmeric leaf.
• Then stuff the paste into the fish and deep-fry until golden brown for 6-8 minutes. (If using an oven, set the temperature at 160 degrees Celcius and bake for 15-20 minutes.)

Acar Ikan (Terengganu)/Mackerel with Spicy Pickles

Pan fried mackerel is a favourite at home in my growing up years. My grandmother who cooked dinner daily had this on the dining table very often. I enjoy the crispy fish so much that when I was ten years old, I gobbled down the fish so quickly that I swallowed a 2 cm long bone which was lodged in the throat. My mother had to take me to a specialist to pull out the bone and that was quite expensive.  Even after that incident, I still love fried mackerel though I do eat all types of fish a lot more carefully!

When I saw this Terengganu dish, I was happy because it is easy enough for me to do for Malaysian Food Fest’s Terengganu Month. The chilli in the recipe is grounded and uses chilli padi as well. I am not sure if I can handle a dish that is too spicy so I sliced the chillis instead and omitted the chilli padi. I also added in some pineapples as I thought that would go quite well. The sauce turned out very delicious as the turmeric’s peppery taste went well together with the spiciness from the chillis. With the additional pineapples, the sauce turned out very refreshing and delicious with the mackerel. Even my 5 year old daughter had a serving of the sauce over her rice! The best part is, it’s fairly easy to make.

Acar Ikan (serves 10) 

Recipe from Chef Rossham Rusli for Kuali.com

Ingredients

• 1 kg mackerel, cut into 2 cm slices
• 1 tsp salt (for marinating)
• 1 tsp turmeric powder (for marinating)
• 5 pips garlic, peeled and sliced thinly
• 2 inch old ginger, sliced and julienned
• 3 red chillies, ground (I sliced them)
• 3 green chillies, ground (I sliced them)
• 2 green cili padi (omitted)
• 1 tbsp turmeric powder
• 2 tbsp white vinegar
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 litre water
• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• salt to taste
• A handful of fresh pineapple (my own addition)

Method

• Wash and clean the fish. Then marinate with salt and turmeric powder.
• Deep-fry until golden brown and cooked. Set aside.
• To make sauce, heat some oil in wok. Stir fry garlic and ginger till fragrant.
• Mix the turmeric power with the sugar, water, fish sauce and vinegar.
• Add in ground/sliced chilli to the pan followed by the turmeric powder mixture.
• Add in pineapples and simmer for 8 minutes.
• Season with salt.
• Lastly, pour onto the fish before serving.