When it comes to preparing fish dishes, the usual ones we buy are salmon, snapper and seabass. How about experimenting with something new this Lunar New Year.
The parrot fish, with its firm and meaty texture can be used for 3 different dishes.
You can get this and other seafood at 2 Girls 2 Guys.
Jasmine Adams shows us how to whip up a feast with the parrot fish.
Advertisement
Fish Steamboat
Ingredients
| First header | Second header |
|---|---|
| White fish fillets | 300 – 400g |
| Oil (for making flavoured oil) | 1 teaspoon |
| Sesame oil | 4 teaspoons |
| Ginger | A thumb-sized knob |
| Shallots or Garlic | 5 - 6 cloves |
| Light soy sauce | 1 teaspoon |
Method
Prepare flavoured oil
- Peel and slice the ginger, shallots or garlic.
- Heat the oil in a wok or pan.
- When the oil is hot, drop in the sliced aromatics.
- Once lightly brown, strain the oil and discard the aromatics.
- Set aside to cool.
Marinade the fish slices
- For easier slicing, ask your fishmonger to make meaty fillets or slice them into 2cm pieces.
- If slicing the fillet yourself, rub salt all over the fillets and then rinse. Slice them into 2cm thick fillets.
- Marinade the sliced fish with 1 – 2 teaspoons of the flavoured oil and light soy sauce.
- Cover the marinated fish and store in the fridge till needed.
Note: More than the amount of oil used for this recipe is prepared as it is not possible to make such a small quantity of flavoured oil. The remaining flavoured oil can be used to stir fry vegetables or meat.
Braised Fish Head in Claypot
Ingredients
| First header | Second header |
|---|---|
| Half a large fish head (1 side) | 400g |
| Ginger | 1 thumb-sized knob |
| Shallots | 3 - 4 |
| Garlic | 3 cloves |
| Slab of roast pork | 150 g |
| White cabbage | A head |
| Fresh shitake mushrooms | 8 to 10 pieces |
| Carrots | 2 |
| Celery | 3 stalks |
| Yam | ½ or whole small |
| Spring onions | Few stalks |
| Spicy bean paste (gojuchang) | 3 teaspoons |
| Brown soy bean paste | 1 teaspoon |
| Hua tiao wine | 2 teaspoons |
| Cornflour (for deep frying fish head) | 4 - 5 tablespoons |
| Salt | |
| Pepper |
Method
Marinade for fish head and yam chunks
- Few tablespoons of ginger juice made from 1 thumb-sized knob of grated ginger soaked in 1 tablespoon of water
- 1 teaspoon of pepper
- 2 teaspoons of hua tiao wine
- 1 teaspoon of light soy sauce
Preparing fish head
- Mix all the above ingredients together and pour over the fish head to marinade for half an hour.
- Drain the fish head, reserving the liquid.
- Coat the fish head thoroughly in cornflour.
- Heat the oil in a deep wok.
- When the oil is hot, slide in the fish head.
- Deep fry on one side for about 8- 10 minutes and then turn over.
- Leave to sizzle until the flesh is cooked.
- Lift up the fish head and set aside.
- In the same oil, deep fry the yam chunks until golden brown.
- Lift up and set aside.
Putting everything together
- Peel and slice the aromatics.
- Peel and cut yam into large chunks.
- Peel and slice carrots.
- Cut celery, white cabbage and spring onions in 4cm pieces.
- Halve the mushrooms.
- Chop the roast pork into 2cm chunks.
- In a clean wok, heat 3 – 4 teaspoons of oil used for deep frying.
- Add in aromatics to saute till fragrant, lift up and set aside.
- In the same oil, saute the spicy bean pastes, adding another teaspoon of oil if necessary.
- Add in the vegetables except the spring onion and the roast pork, frying for a few minutes.
- Return the aromatics to the wok together with the yam and about 5 cups of water.
- Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add in the fish head and simmer for about 10 minutes.
- The fish head can be served immediately or kept in the braise sauce to absorb the flavours.
- Reheat when ready to serve.
Fish Head in Spicy Tamarind Sauce with Pineapple
Ingredients
| First header | Second header |
|---|---|
| Fish head | 1 large |
| Pineapple cored and cut into chunks (reserve core) | 1 small |
| Rempah or wet spice paste | 1 bowl |
| Shallots | 5 pieces |
| Lemongrass (bruised) | 3 stalks |
| Peeled and sliced tumeric | 1 thumb-sized piece |
| Tamarind | 4 teaspoons of juice from a 3cm square of tamarind |
| Large prawns (heads and legs trimmed, slitting the back of the prawn in the middle, leave the shell on) | |
| Chillis | 3 rice bowls |
| Candlenuts | 8 - 10 |
| Salt |
Rempah or wet spice paste
- A rice bowl of shallots
- 3 rice bowls of fresh chillis
- 8 to 10 candlenuts
- 3 stalks of lemon grass
Method
Making rempah
- Peel the shallots and chop them roughly.
- Rinse the chillis, chop them roughly.
- If you prefer them less spicy, place the cut chillis in a colander and strain out the seeds.
- Wash and pound the candlenuts lightly.
- Chop off the top sections of the lemon grass, leaving about 8cm. Slice thinly.
- Process the above till fine in the food processor, adding 1 teaspoon of salt.
- Add a pinch of sugar if desired.
Putting everything together
- In a large soup pot, add a rice bowl of rempah with 5 cups of water, sliced tumeric, whole shallots and bruised lemon grass as well as the tamarind juice and chunks of pineapple core.
- Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes.
- Taste for seasoning, and add half of the pineapple chunks.
- Simmer for 5 minutes and then bring to a rolling boil, add the fish tail.
- Once the fishtail is nearly cooked, add in the prawns, boiling till the prawns are pink and cooked.
- Serve immediately
