KITCHEN厨房日记: Fish Challenge

RM16! That's the price of a piece of Siakap fish fillet I bought in market. And the best part is, I don't know or don't remember the weight of the fish fillet. The fishmonger must have lots of luck to have such a customer like me.

Since the fish fillet is so~ pricey, I decided to divide it into 3 portions and cook it for 3 meals. So, here we go!

Meal #1 - Shallow fried fish fillet with pasta salad

I marinated the fish fillet with salt, ground black pepper, chili powder and light soy sauce for half an hour. Then, I fried it in a non-stick pan with a bit of olive oil and yellow onion. For the pasta, I decided on something cooling and refreshing. So, I tossed macaroni with cucumber and tomato cubes, then seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice and a bit of pepper. [TIPS: If you overcooked your macaroni/pasta, keep them refrigerated and the texture will be better, but only applicable to make pasta salad though, as they are served cold.]

Served with lemon slices, you can sprinkle the lemon juice on top of the fish fillet. Yummy!

Meal #2 - Baked fish fillet with red dates & raisins, and potato apple crunchy salad

Red dates and raisins must have been long lost brothers! They go perfect together, as they have same size and sweet taste. I first applied some olive oil on aluminium sheet, then placed the fish fillet and sprinkled with more oilve oil, sliced garlic, red dates and raisins. Season with a little bit of salt, wrap the fish fillet nicely but leave some opening to the wrapping. This will give the fillet a bit of crunchy texture while baking. Then, bake for ~10mins or until the fish fillet is well done. [TIPS: If you wrap the fish fillet tight and bake it in oven, it will turn out to be steamed fish.]

For the salad, i just tossed boiled potato and freshly cut apples with mayonaise and sugar. Perfect meal with carbs, protein and fibre.

Meal #3 - Stir fry fusili with fish fillet and baked french beans

This meal is made after 12 days I bought the fish fillet from the market. I guess the fish is still fresh! So, I sliced them in to smaller pieces, seasoned with salt, olive oil, soy sauce and corn flour, and shallow fried them in a pan. Then, I stir fried the pasta with onion, tomato cubes and fish fillets in Chinese cooking style (dark soy sauce). Opt for a healthier meal with more veggies, I baked french beans with garlic, salt and olive oil.

While preparing these meals, I remember that my mum told me, since I was an infant and starting to eat solid food, no matter how bad the condition is (my dad didn't earn much back then), my parents would prepare fish in my daily meals. They believe that eating fish is good to brain development of kids (which sort of explains why my sister and I are good in studying!). Knowing how EXPENSIVE the fish are, I would like to say, thanks to my parents, for all the fish.