Fish Head Curry Recipe | Easy Asian Cooking

Fish Head Curry

I have been wanting to cook fish head curry for awhile but at the other times I was so engrossed with other activities that I put this on hold.  This was until a whirlwind wet market tour last weekend when I caught a glimpse of the commercially available instant fish head curry paste in local groceries stall. It attracted me in no time, awakened my sudden whim to make fish head curry for brunch and bought it back unhesitatingly, even though this dish is not included in my initial weekly meal planning list.

Fish head curry is a classic Penang-style spicy and tamarind-soured fish head stew with eggplant (a.k.a. brinjal or aubergine), tomatoes, okras (lady fingers) and a handful of bird's eye chillies to add an extra spicy kick. The reddish gravy is thick with chillies, hot enough to make us break out in a sweat. Instead of stirring in coconut milk for final touch, I added in tamarind juice which is sour enough to gear up our stomach juices. As I placed a spoonful of steamed rice caressed by curry, I can feel the twitch of my tongue. Utter bliss! I then soothed my throbbing tongue with another spoonful of white rice to go with stir-fried chicken and beancurd. Then another spoonful of fish head curry again. What a vicious cycle!

Here's the simple how-to-cook recipe for fish head curry. With fish head curry instant pack (which costs me merely RM 3.30 per pack), you don't have to take the trouble into pounding your pestle and mortar or grinding with food processor to transform fresh herbs and spices (chillies, spices, onion, garlic and curry leaves) into curry paste. You can come out with a bowl of piping hot fish head curry in a jiffy!

Ingredients :

1 pre-packed instant Indian seafood curry paste (I used A1 brand)
1 big fish head, cut into big chunks
2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
7 okras (lady fingers), cut across into half
1 eggplant (a.k.a brinjal or aubergine), cut into wedges
6 bird's eye chillies, retain whole (you can adjust the amount according to your preference)
2 onions, cut into wedges
Tamarind juice or 120ml coconut milk
400ml water

Ingredients for Fish Head Curry

Method :

1. First, steam sliced okras and eggplant separately for roughly 10 minutes until the textures soften.

2. Pour instant Indian seafood curry paste into a clean wok. Add in onions, bird's eye chillies and tomatoes. Stir-fry using medium heat for one minute. Pour in 400ml water and bring to a boil. Then add in steamed okras and eggplant and slightly stir until all are drenched in the curry.

3. Then add in fish head. When the curry is about cooked, pour in some tamarind juice or coconut milk, serve hot with steamed rice.
(Make sure fish head is added last and not over-cooked, else it'll become mushy with fishy odour)

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Stewed Turmeric Chicken Recipe | Easy Asian Cooking

Stewed turmeric chicken (黄姜鸡 in Chinese or ayam kunyit in Malay) is a dish that transcends two cultures in Malaysia - Chinese and Malay. The Malays usually serve turmeric dishes (such as turmeric rice, turmeric chicken etcetera) during the month of Ramadhan, Aidfiltri, Aidiladha, during feasts, wedding receptions and also in daily home-cooked meals. Consider turmeric to be one of natural most potent anti-inflammatories and antioxidants, the Chinese believe turmeric intake after woman's childbirth can help to expel winds and invariably turmeric is widely used in Chinese post-natal confinement recipes favoured for its healing properties. The list goes on for health benefits of turmeric.

Before I digress further into a health charade, this chicken recipe relies heavily on fresh turmeric root to exude a slightly bitter, with a hint of mustard and horseradish flavors and imbue the dish with its strong golden yellow color. Young ginger and lemongrass also blended together with fresh turmeric to impart an aromatic flavor but to me, lemongrass flavor is too mild to overpower fresh turmeric. The most vivid experience while preparing this turmeric dish is, this powerful yellow dye will leave its trail in whatever things it's in touch with, my cooking utensils, chopper board, plates and even my own hands did not get spare from its natural golden yellow dye. Gosh, it takes days to get rid of and I have to hide away my yellowish hands from appearing public! My advice, avoid touching your clothing when working with turmeric and use glove if possible. Some say cleansing milk will get rid of the stain it left behind but I've yet to verify the effectiveness. You might want to try when you're dealing with it.

If you're cracking your head thinking to add some out-of-the-ordinary flair to your thawed out chicken, try the below home-cooked stewed turmeric chicken recipe! 黄姜鸡食谱

Ingredients :
1 whole chicken, about 1.5kg
50g fresh tumeric (黄姜)
100g young ginger (嫩姜)
4 stalks lemongrass (香茅)
1 tbsp oil
250ml water

Seasoning :
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp shaoxing wine (绍兴酒)

Method :

1. Clean the whole chicken and cut into half.

2. Put fresh tumeric, young ginger and lemongrass into a food processor and blend until very fine.

3. In a heavy non-stick skillet, heat up 1 tbsp oil, saute all the blended ingredients (in method 2 above) until fragrant. Add in water, seasoning and bring to boil.

4. Add in chicken, cover with lid and cook at low heat for 30 minutes or until the chicken is done. Remove the chicken from the skillet and leave it to cool down before cutting into pieces.

5. For the remaining gravy in skillet, reheat the gravy with 1 tbsp shaoxing wine added in and then bring to boil. Pour over chicken and serve.

Turmeric tips :

(i) Fresh turmeric can be found in Asian wet markets, or in some Asian specialty stores in the US. You can use ground dried turmeric as a substitute but be reminded that you're not able to reproduce the same flavors as exuded by the fresh turmeric.
(ii) Turmeric is highly susceptible to light, hence it's usually stored in an airtight container in a dark cool place. It will lose its potency approximately after six months and even sooner if it's exposed to light or heat.
(iii) Turmeric is extremely pungent and gets stronger when cooked. Hence use it sparingly when experimenting.

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Stewed Hakka Fried Pork Belly with Black Fungus Recipe | Easy Asian Cooking

This Hakka dish is a perfect mingling of chewy pork belly morsels and crunchy black fungus, slowly stewed in low heat in the bath of Hakka nam yee red sauce to please discerning appetites.

Once you laid your hands on Hakka nam yee red sauce (客家南乳酱) and kept it refrigerated, you just simply can't stop making a series of Hakka cuisines before the storage period of nam yee sauce due. After making Hakka Steamed Pork Belly with Yam (客家芋头扣肉) (Cantonese "khau yoke"), it seems like trigger an avalanche of desires to get my hands on its "cousin dish" - Stewed Hakka Fried Pork Belly with Black Fungus (客家炸肉) (Cantonese "zhar yoke"), which I'll lay out here. Here comes a good dose of Hakka fattiness. :-)

Similar to "khau yoke", the soul ingredient that make this "zhar yoke" an unforgettable flavor is five spice powder, but with a somehow stronger hint of five spice powder and more stew-meat in texture than in the "khau yoke". My mother-in-law usually deep-fry the sliced pork belly and store in fridge before Chinese new year and this makes the dish really easy by just stewing with the rest of the ingredients for reunion dinner.

Here's my in-law's Hakka "Zhar Yoke" Recipe (客家炸肉食谱). This legacy divulged by my sister-in-law.

Ingredients :

600g pork belly, wash and drain well, then slice thickly into an inch each or bite-sized pieces (五花肉或三层肉)

100g black fungus, soak in water till fungus soft and cut quarterly (木耳), pat dry with kitchen towels

1 egg (beaten), 4 tbsp plain flour (面粉) - for coating meat slices before deep-frying

5 cups oil for deep-frying

800ml water
1 tbsp chopped garlic

Seasoning :

4 tbsp Hakka nam yee (fermented red beancurd) red sauce (客家南乳酱)

1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce

light soy sauce to taste

Marinade :

4 tbsp Hakka nam yee (fermented red beancurd) red sauce (客家南乳酱)

1 tsp five spice powder (五香粉) - to make the meat more flavorful in addition to nam yee sauce

Extract of ginger+shallots+garlic in proportion of 2:1:1 tbsp (See method 1 below)

Method :

1. Blend ginger, shallot and garlic finely (approximate proportion should be 2:1:1) to become paste and extract out the juice mixture, set aside for marinade.

2. Combine pork belly with all the marinade above and marinate for at least 2 hours. Preferably marinate overnight in the fridge (wrapped with cling wrap) to allow sliced pork belly to absorb the marinade well.

3. Heat up oil to deep-fry black fungus (to exude aromas for the dish).  Dish up and sieve excess oil or drain with kitchen towels.

4. For marinated pieces of pork belly, dip in the beaten egg and then followed by plain flour, deep-fry until the pork belly slices become golden brown and crispy. This is to prevent the meat pieces from being too dry after deep-frying. 

5. Heat up 2 tbsp cooking oil in a wok or stock pot, saute 1 tbsp chopped garlic, add in 4 tbsp Hakka nam yee red sauce (客家南乳酱), 800ml water and bring to boil. Add in pre-fried pork belly pieces and black fungus, stir to mix well. Cover, simmer with low heat for 45 minutes or stew until the pork is tender. Add dark soy sauce and light soy sauce to taste. Garnish with coriander leaves before serving.

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Double-boiled Ginseng Roots and Chicken Soup Recipe | Easy Asian Cooking

Ginseng roots and chicken soup provides the perfect meal-in-a-bowl at lunchtime. Taste of this tonic soup is pleasant and flavorsome with natural sweetness in the palate.

There's something supremely comforting about hot soup, especially when you prepare it yourself at home, the aroma ensures that the pleasure starts long before you lift the ladle. Soup, especially Chinese herbal tonic soup, is the most frequent dish serves our dining table maybe due to my tiredless advocacy of it as a dietary supplement and herbal remedy. Due to this, soup has become so entrenched in my life.

The recipe calls for double-boiling (炖/燉), which is a controlled heating technique that you place the chicken soup in a pot and then place that pot in boiling water in another larger pan or pot. This technique ensures there is no loss of essences from the food being cooked without scorching or drying it and it's often used to prepare delicate food and Chinese herbal medicines.  Alternatively, you might run into a stovetop apparatus called a double boiler, a specialized pot with two layers, the top vessel contains the food to be heated and is fitted into the lower pot which holds the boiling water. 

For the convenience of preparing the soup, my hubby has tweaked the technique from double boiling into stewing by using crockpot (or slow cooker). This allows unattended cooking overnight and will be ready in the next morning. Well, I should say there's some advantages of  this long slow crockpot cooking, besides leaving the gelatinised tissue in the meat without toughening the lean muscle fiber, cooking the soup in a crockpot keep the washing up minimal due to its low cooking temperature and also glazed ceramic or porcelain pot make cleaning very easy.

For those who think cooking dinner is a chore, this foolproof approach will transforms mealtime into a hassle-free experience yet enhances the flavors and taste of the entire soup. The chicken is so tender that it just slips off the bone and provides melt-in-your-mouth morsels.

Follow this simple tonic chicken soup recipe to impress your family and guests.

洋参须炖鸡汤食谱

Ingredients :

1 kampung chicken, cleaned, skin removed and cut into 4 pieces
50g ginseng roots (洋参须)
10 red dates (红枣), seeds discarded
2 tbsp Chinese Wolfberries or qi zi (杞子）
1000ml water
salt to taste

Method :

1. Blanch chicken in boiling water for a short while. Remove and set aside.

2. Put all ingredients into a double boiler and double-boil at high heat for 4 hours. Alternatively, you can use crockpot (slow cooker) and stewing it overnight (Or you can set to slow-cook before leaving for a day's work, and will be ready on return).

3. Add salt to taste. Serve hot.

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