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Yong Tau Foo

Yong Tau Foo

Stuffing Paste

400g lean pork, minced

100g prawn paste

250g fish paste

Seasoning

1 1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp light soy sauce

1½ tsp sugar or to taste

2½ tbsp cornflour

1 egg, lightly beaten

Cut bitter gourd into rings and remove seeds. Cut brinjal into thick slanted pieces and make a slit or cut along the ladies’ fingers then dust the surface of the vegetables with a sprinkling of cornflour.

Combine fish paste, pork mince and prawn paste with the seasoning ingredients. Stuff the paste mixture into the vegetables and lightly coat with the beaten egg.

Heat up your prepared soup stock and blanch each stuffed vegetable in the hot soup stock. Cook until the vegetables are cooked through.

Braised Herbal Fish Head and Yam

Original Recipe by Amy Beh

½ portion fish head (garoupa or red snapper), about 800-900g, chopped into sizeable pieces

Oil for deep-frying

½ cup cornflour

2 chicken wings, chopped into bite-sized pieces

5 dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked and halved

300g yam, cubed

10g tong kwai

5-6 slices ginger

1 tsp chopped garlic

1 tsp Shao Hsing wine (optional)

3 stalks spring onion, cut into 3cm lengths

Marinade (combined)

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tsp ginger juice

½ tsp pepper

Sauce – (combined)

1 tbsp abalone sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp light spy sauce

¾-1 tsp sugar or to taste

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp sesame oil

1 litre chicken stock

Season fish head pieces with combined marinade and leave aside. Just before deep-frying in hot oil coat fish pieces with cornflour. Deep-fry for 4-5 minutes or until lightly golden. Dish out and drain from oil.

Leave 2 tablespoons oil in a wok and fry ginger, garlic and tong kwai slices until fragrant. Put in chicken and mushrooms and sprinkle in wine (optional).

Pour in combined sauce ingredients and bring to the boil. Add yam.

Reduce the heat then cover the saucepan and braise for 15-20 minutes. Put in fish head and continue to braise for 7-8 minutes. Thicken the gravy with cornflour mixture and add spring onion.

STIR-FRIED ASSORTED VEGETABLES WITH FISH AND PRAWNS

Original Recipe By Amy Beh

150g garoupa fillet, cubed

4 medium large prawns, shelled and cubed

100g chicken fillet, diced

5 water chestnuts, cubed

5 button mushrooms, cubed

40g celery, cubed

100g carrot, cut into desired shapes, blanched

4 baby sweet corns, cubed

1 tbsp young ginger, minced

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp oil

1 tbsp Shao Hsing wine (optional)

Seasoning (A)

1 tsp salt

Dash of monosodium glutamate

1 tsp corn flour

1 egg white

Sauce (B)

1 tbsp abalone sauce

¼ tsp sugar

¼ tsp pepper

1 tsp cornflour

125ml fresh chicken stock

Combine fish and prawns with seasoning (A). Mix well then leave aside for 30 minutes. Heat oil and sesame oil in a wok, fry ginger for a while. Add marinated seafood ingredients and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Add celery, water chestnuts and carrot to mix and stir in sauce ingredients. Bring to a quick boil.

Splash in Shao Hsing wine if using and add a little more sesame oil to glaze the dish.

Transfer to a serving plate and serve immediately.

Assam Fish Curry

Original Recipe by Amy Beh

Tantalising dish: Try this Asam Fish Curry, made with ikan kembong.

1kg mackerel (ikan kembong)

250g ladies fingers

1 tomato, quartered

3 sprigs polygonum leaves (daun kesum)

4 tbsp tamarind paste (asam jawa) mixed with 500ml water

1 wild ginger bud, halve and smash stem

2 pieces dried tamarind skin

5 tbsp oil

Ground ingredients

12 shallots

8 fresh red chillies

4 slices galangal

1cm piece fresh turmeric

2cm square belacan, toasted

2 stalks lemon grass

Seasoning

¾-1 tsp salt or to taste

½-1 tsp sugar or to taste

Heat oil in a deep saucepan and sauté ground ingredients and wild ginger bud halves and polygonum leaves until aromatic and the oil rises.

Add asam jawa juice and bring to the boil. Add ladies fingers, dried tamarind skin and simmer for 8-10 minutes. Put in mackerel and cook for 10 minutes. Add tomato and adjust seasoning to taste. Dish out and serve with hot plain rice immediately.

Braised Fish Head

Original Recipe by Amy Beh

½ fish head, about 750–800g, chopped into big chunks

1 tbsp ginger juice

1 tbsp rice wine (optional)

3–4 tbsp cornflour, for sprinkling

2 dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked and sliced

50g belly pork, sliced

50g bamboo shoots, sliced

2 stalks spring onion, cut into 4cm sections

1 red chilli, seeded and sliced

2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

1 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tbsp oil

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp Shao Hsing wine (optional)

Sauce

1 tbsp light soy sauce

½ tsp pepper

½ tsp thick soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp chicken stock granules

¾ tsp sugar or to taste

500ml water

CLEAN fish head pieces well and season with ginger juice, rice wine (if using) and light soy sauce for 20 minutes.

Just before deep-frying, coat fish head with cornflour. Deepfry for four to five minutes, then remove and drain.

Heat oil and sesame oil in a clean wok. Lightly brown ginger and garlic, then add oyster sauce. Add mushrooms, belly pork and bamboo shoots. Sprinkle in Shao Hsing wine (if using) for added aroma.

Pour in combined sauce ingredients and bring to the boil, then add fish head pieces. Reduce the heat and simmer for five to six minutes. Add red chilli and thicken the gravy before dishing out.

Baked Cheesy Fish Fillet

From The Star

Original Recipe by Faridah Begum

Baked Cheesy Fish Fillet

Baked Cheesy Fish Fillet

Ingredients:

A packet of frozen tempura fish fillets, deep-fried and drained

A little olive oil

A variety of mushrooms, cut up into bite pieces

Some pizza cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Chopped parsley for garnishing

Method:

Heat the oven. Lightly oil an oven-safe dish and place the fish fillets at the bottom, take care not to overlap them. Sauté the mushrooms for about three minutes and pour it over the fish fillets. Sprinkle with cheese as generously as possible, season with pepper and add the parsley.

Grill the dish for about 15 to 20 minutes until the cheese bubbles and serve.

Tempura Black-pepper Fish Fillet

From The Star

Original Recipe by Faridah Begum

Tempura Black-pepper Fish Fillet with Mushroom Sauce and the Summer Medley

Tempura Black-pepper Fish Fillet with Mushroom Sauce and the Summer Medley

Ingredients:

One packet of frozen tempura black- pepper fish fillets, deep-fried and drained

1 tablespoon of brown sauce mix, mixed with a little water

Fresh thinly sliced button mushrooms

Salt and pepper to taste

Medley of vegetables – leeks, zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, cauliflower, celery and carrot

A little olive oil or butter

Method:

Sauté the button mushrooms in some butter and when browned, add the brown sauce mixture and wait till it simmers.

In another saucepan, heat up a little olive oil, toss the vegetables in and stir-fry until slightly soft.

Season to taste and place a portion on individual plates. Put a piece of the fish fillet on the plate and smother with the mushroom sauce. Serve with garlic bread.

Spicy Fish Floss

Original Recipe by Amy Beh

Spicy Fish Floss

600g mackerel, cleaned

150-200ml thick coconut milk

2 tbsp oil

Seasoning

150-200ml thick coconut milk

2 tbsp oil

Seasoning

1 tsp salt or to taste

3 tbsp castor sugar

¾ tsp pepper

2 tbsp tamarind juice

Combined ground spices

4 cloves garlic

8 shallots

2 stalks lemon grass

2cm knob ginger

3 tbsp meat curry powder

Put the fish into a pot of boiling water until the fish is cooked. Drain well and flake the fish.

Heat oil in a wok and fry the ground spice ingredients until fragrant. Put in the flaked fish meat and fry over medium low heat until the fish meat is almost dry.

Add coconut milk gradually and continue to fry until the fish is dry and golden brown. Mix in tamarind juice and seasoning. Continue to fry and stir until the fish is completely dry. Remove and spread on a baking tray. Bake in the oven over low temperature (150°C) for 15-20 minutes. Stir constantly until the fish floss is dry and crispy.

Scallop and Fish Porridge

Original Recipe by Amy Beh

1 cup rice (150g), rinsed and drained

2 dried scallops, soaked

1.7 litres fresh chicken stock

150g fish fillet, sliced thinly

2 Tbsp shredded young ginger

1 Tbsp shredded spring onion

1 Tbsp chopped coriander leaves

Marinade for fish

1 tsp sesame oil

pinch of salt

pinch of pepper

Seasoning (B)

¾-1 tsp salt, or to taste

pinch of sugar

½ tsp sesame oil

dash of pepper

Bring chicken stock to the boil, add scallops and rice. When it boils, reduce heat and cook for 50-60 minutes. Keep stirring until the porridge gains a smooth texture.

Season fish with marinade and leave aside. When porridge is ready, transfer to a claypot and let it simmer. Add marinated fish. Stir well until fish is cooked. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Add ginger, spring onion and coriander leaves before serving.

Fish rice

Ingredients
2 tilapia (500g each)
1½ tsp salt
½ tsp white pepper
1 thumb-sized ginger (sliced)
1 tsp finely chopped fresh turmeric
1 tsp chopped lemongrass
1 tsp garlic
1 cup sliced button mushrooms
1½ cups oil for deep-frying
1 cup sweet basil (or daun kesum)
1 cup spring onions (cut into 2cm lengths)
½ cup water
1 slice of lemon

Method
1. Clean the fish thoroughly, fillet it and cut into big chunks. Marinate the fish with 1 tsp salt and white pepper for 15 minutes.

2. Heat the oil in a wok. Slowly put in half the fish pieces, and fry them over high heat for two minutes. Turn them over and fry for another minute, till they are brown. Repeat with the rest of the fish.

3. Drain the oil in the wok, leaving one tablespoon in it. Put the wok over medium heat, add chopped turmeric, lemongrass and sliced ginger, fry for one minute and add the chopped garlic. Brown these, then add the sliced button mushrooms. Stir fry for 1 minute; add a pinch of salt and pepper.

4. Add the fried fish to the wok and stir fry for one minute. Sprinkle with half the water, add spring onion and all the basil. Stir fry for one more minute and add the rest of the water, stir for another minute and dish out.

5. Serve with garlic rice. Squeeze lemon on the fish before serving. You could eat the fish with the raw herbs too.

Fish in herbs and DOM

Ingredients
600 gms white fish
50gm young ginger
4 pieces chuan xiong (Radix Ligustici Wallichii)
8 pieces ginseng
500ml water
Salt
2 tbsp Benedictine DOM

Method
1. Put herbs in a pot with 500ml water. Boil for 20 minutes over slow fire.

2. Mix salt, water and DOM in a bowl and pour over the fish.

3. Steam for 10-15 minutes until fish is thoroughly cooked.

Fish fillet with salted radish

Ingredients

500g white fish fillet
50g young ginger, finely shredded
1/2 tsp salt and pepper

Chop:
100 g preserved salted radish, soaked in water for a few minutes
1 chilli
4-5 bird chillies
4 cloves garlic
4 shallots

Seasoning:
1 tsp sesame oil
3 tbsp corn oil
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp pepper

Garnish:
Spring onion and Chinese celery, finely cut

Method
l. Clean fish and towel dry. Rub salt and pepper on the fish.

2. Place on platter with ginger. Allow to steam for 5 - 8 mins. Discard the fish stock.

3. In a saucepan, heat oil. Saute chopped ingredients till fragrant. Spoon in sugar and pepper.

4. Top onto steamed fish and sprinkle spring onion and celery.

- Contributed by reader Judy

Fish balls

Ingredients
600g fish meat, preferably wolf herring (ikan parang) or Spanish mackerel (ikan tenggiri)
1 tbsp tapioca flour
200ml cold water combined with
2 tsp salt

Method
1. Fillet the fish and flake the meat with a metal spoon, making sure there are no bones.

2. Put the fish meat and tapioca flour into the blender and blend for half-a-minute.

3. Add ice-cold water with salt, a little at a time, and blend till the mixture turns sticky.

4. Turn the fish paste into a large bowl and slap the side of the bowl a few times.

5. Take up a bit of the paste and squeeze through the hole formed with your thumb and forefinger. Scoop the fish balls out with a spoon.

6. Boil some water in a pot and drop the fish balls into it. When they float, they are ready.

Claypot fish and chicken with coriander leaves

Ingredients

350g garoupa or tenggiri fillets
230g chicken thigh meat, deboned and sliced
2 tsps light soya sauce and pepper for seasoning chicken
Oil for frying fish
1 heaped Tbsp taucheo or fermented bean paste
2 large onions, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, smashed
4cm knob of old ginger, smashed
3 pieces of asam keping
4 dried chillies, soaked in hot water, seeded and cut into two
1 large bunch of coriander or Chinese parlsey, cut into 4cm lengths
3 stalks spring onion, cut into 4cm lengths
170ml water
Salt to taste

Method
1. Fry the fish fillets in hot oil in the wok and set aside.

2. Fry onions, garlic and ginger in 2 Tbsps oil till fragrant. Add the finely chopped fermented beanpaste, and stir for a minute. Add dried chillies and saute.

3. Put in the chicken and fry for a minute. Add asam keping and saute. Add water and stir.

4. Heat up a claypot, pour the contents of the wok into it. Let it simmer for just five minutes. Add the fried fish and taste before adding salt if needed.

5. Add in the Chinese parsley and spring onions and lift off the flame.

Note: You can also use thin slices of belly pork marinated in soya sauce, a little sugar and pepper and dry them first before adding to the claypot.

Catfish and black bean soup

Ingredients

500g black beans
3 litres hot water
1 kg catfish
1½ tbsps salt
1 tsp white pepper
10 seedless red dates
1.4 cm length ginger (sliced)
2cm length of dried mandarin orange peel
1 tbsp chopped spring onion

Method
1. Soak the black beans in water for half an hour and change the water twice.

2. Put the soaked black beans in a soup pot and add the hot water, boil under medium heat for half an hour.

3. Wash and clean (take out the stomach and gills) the catfish, rub it with a tablespoon of salt and wash off the salt with water. Pat dry the fish. Cut the catfish into big chunks, marinate them with half a tablespoon of salt and a teaspoon of white pepper. Put aside.

4. In a non-stick pan, pan fry the catfish chunks and ginger slices with a little oil until they are light brown. Scoop out the fish and ginger slices and put aside.

5. Add the fish and ginger slices, red dates and mandarin orange peel to the black bean soup. Continue to boil the soup for 15 minutes and lower the heat to boil for a further 45 minutes.

6. Add salt to taste. The soup should look thick and yummy; serve with some chopped spring onion.

Boneless steamed fish fillet

Ingredients

200g Dory fish fillet
1/2 tsp salt
Pinch of white pepper
2 Tbsps chopped young fresh ginger
2 tsps chopped garlic
1 Tbsp oil
2 tsps soy sauce
1 Tbsp chopped spring onion

Method

1. Clean the fish fillet and pat dry it thoroughly with kitchen paper.

2. Place the fish in a plate (or tray) for steaming, rub the fish with the salt, add pinch of pepper on it, then sprinkle the chopped ginger on top.

3. Steam the fish fillet in a pre-heated wok for 7 minutes.

4. In a non-stick pan, fry and brown the chopped garlic with 1 tablespoon oil and pour the oil and fried garlic on to the fish when it is cooked.

5. Add soy sauce to the fish and sprinkle the chopped spring onion. The fish is ready to be served.

Note: Codfish can be used instead of dory. Add another two minutes when steaming.

Assam Fish Head Curry

Original Recipe by Amy Beh

1 garoupa fish head, cut into 4 pieces
5-6 ladies fingers
1 tomato, quartered
1 onion, cut into wedges
salt and sugar to taste
½ tsp ikan bilis stock granules

Spice ingredients (A)

8 shallots
3 cloves garlic
20g dried shrimp paste (belacan)
100g dried chillies, soaked
2 tbsp chilli powder
2 tbsp fish curry powder

Ingredients (B)

2 stalks lemon grass, smashed
1 wild ginger flower bud (bunga kantan), halved and smash stem
2 sprigs polygonum leaves (daun kesom)

Mix and strain

4 tbsp tamarind paste
250 ml water

Seasoning

1 tbsp light soy sauce
salt and sugar to taste

Arrange the fish pieces on a heatproof dish; steam for 10 minutes or until cooked. Pour out the excess liquid from the fish. Add seasoning and put aside.

Heat oil in a wok and sauté ground spice ingredients until fragrant. Add in lemon grass, wild ginger bud and polygonum leaves. Continue to sauté for a while, then pour in tamarind juice and bring to the boil.

Add ladies fingers, tomatoes, onion and adjust seasoning to taste.

Put cooked fish in a serving bowl and dish out cooked spice gravy over. Serve immediately.

Deep-fried Fish in Fragrant Sauce

Original Recipe by Amy Beh

1 siakap, approximately 600g
Oil for deep-frying
1 Tbsp chopped garlic
1 Tbsp shredded ginger
2 Tbsp oil

Seasoning
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1½ Tbsp cornflour

Sauce ingredients (combined)
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 Tbsp light soy sauce
1/8 tsp thick soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
½ tsp sugar
¼ tsp pepper
150ml fresh chicken stock or water

Garnishing
1 red chilli, cut into strips
Some coriander leaves and spring onion curls

Clean the fish, cut 2 diagonal slits across each side of the fish. Rub with seasoning ingredients. Heat oil in a wok until very hot, then put in fish. Deep-fry for 10–15 minutes or until fish is cooked, golden and crispy. Drain from oil and place on a serving dish.

In a clean wok, heat 2 tablespoons oil, and fry garlic and ginger until fragrant, mix in sauce ingredients and bring to a quick boil. Pour the sauce over the fish and serve with garnishing.