Saturday 10 January 2009

Steam Cod With Tangerine

Chinese New Year is just two weeks from today. The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first lunar month (Chinese: 正月) in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th day. So for this coming festival, let me share with you one of the dish that I have prepared for my Chinese New Year Menu :) It's called Steam Cod With Tangerine and "如鱼得水" in Mandarin.

This is a very eye catching colourful dish that is full of favour. As you can see from the ingredient pictures, I actually used the New Year Tangerine as one of the ingredients because of it's wonderful colour and fragrance. The tangerine is an orange or red coloured citrus fruit and it is a variety of the Mandarin orange. The fresh fruit is also used in salads, desserts and main dishes. Tangerines are a good source of vitamin C, folate and beta-carotene. They also contain some potassium, magnesium and vitamins B1, B2 & B3. The combination of Cod and use of some Chinese Herbs will eventually brings out the natural taste of the dish with any seasonings.

There are a few versions that you can come out with using the ingredients shown in this dish. It's just a matter on how you prepare it to suit your family taste-buds. Eg. If you or your family don't like the strong fragrance of the Dang Gui - 当归片, you can omit it and it be be just like an normal steam cod dish without herbs. But since I am serving this as an individual portion, the usage of Dang Gui is only a small slice per plate just in order to fragrance the cod and cover the fishy smell......This is a very simple, and easy to prepare dish which you can do it even if you don't have tangerine, just replace it with Orange......... Posted by Picasa

Ok I will leave you with this Chinese New Year dish and I would also like to take this Opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Lunar New Year earlier just in case I am too busy to post anything till then.........

Ingredients: (serves 2)
6 Slices of 2" x 4.5" Cod Fillet(雪鱼)
2 Medium Size Prawns
1/2 Tablespoons Wolfberries(枸杞)
2 Small Slices Of Dang Gui(当归片)
2 Tablespoons Rice Wine(黄酒) or Mirin
1 or 2 Tangerines(桔子)

Methods:
1. Remove the shell of the prawns and leave the tail part on, devein and cut a small opening slit at the middle of the back and push the tail through the hole bending on the belly side.
2. Slowly remove the peel of the tangerine, then cut it into thin strips and set aside. Next remove the white pits of the tangerine flesh and separate each wedges and set aside.
3. Place 3 slices of the cod fish one on top of each other but leave about 1/2 cm allowance between each slice then roll it up and place it on a small plate.
4. Next place the prepared prawn on top of the fish slices (refer to ingredient picture, 1st row - column 2).
5. Break a slice of the dang gui into half then place it on the both side of the fish pyramid, sprinkler with some wolfberries and arrange some tangerine wedges on the side of the plate.
6. Upon steaming, drizzle 1 tablespoon of rice wine on the fish, top with tangerine peel strips and steam over medium heat for about 5 minutes or till cooked through depend quantity used.
7. Serve hot with rice or as starter.


Notes:
a) If you don't like cod, you can replace it with other fish fillet that is suitable for steaming, eg. Grouper - 石斑.
b) You can also omit the prawn and just purely using fish slices.
c) If you don't have Rice Wine, you can replace it with 2 Teaspoons of Hua Diao Jiu (花雕酒) instead as the taste is much stronger than the sweet rice wine.
d) You can also replace it with 2 Tablespoons of Chicken Stock if you do not wish to serve liquor to kids.

Comments from my food taster :)
* You can actually taste a few favour and fragrance in this dish. When you drink the gravy, it's full of tonic and sweetness because of the rice wine, cod and wolfberries and it's also scented with some tangerine fragrance.

*When you give a bite to the fish, it's smooth, silky and it has a combination of dang gui and tangerine peel taste which make it light and refresh.

Related Post:
1. Steam Cod Fish & Double Boil Frog Soup

Sunday 28 December 2008

Cod & Wolfberries Porridge

Cook this quick and easy nutritious porridge for our dinner. I have turned this simple dish into two version that suits both kid and adult. I cooked the porridge with some wolfberries until almost done then I add in the half-cooked pan-fry cod fish and continue to simmer till done.

Wolfberries can strengthens our body and bones, supplements kidneys and energy, nurses liver and clarifies eyes. It also cultivates energy and aids yang bodies, moistness lungs and stops coughing. Whereas Cod is a popular fish with a mild flavor, low fat content and a dense white flesh that flakes easily. The use of cod fillet is to prevent bone that might be found inside the fillet and cause hazard to kid when they consume.

If your kid is not fancy of eating fish, this is a good dish which i find it suitable to incorporate fish into their meal, as the porridge is ready to be serve, you can just check for bone in the fillet then mash it together with the porridge and feed the kid, the texture and colour of the cod fillet blend well with the porridge and the kid don't really notice the existing of the fish...... :)Posted by Picasa

Ingredients: (serves 2)
1/2 - 3/4 cup of uncooked rice
1 Medium Size Cod Fillet, around 100 - 120g
1/2 Tablespoon of Wolfberries, rinse
600ml - 700ml Water
1 Century Egg, roughly chopped

Methods:
1) Wash the rice and soaked it with the require amount of water for about 30 minutes before cooking so that the texture of the porridge will be nicer and easier to cook through.
2) Next cook the porridge accordingly. While cooking the porridge, rinse, check for bones and marinate the cod fillet with some soy sauce, pepper and dust with some cornflour.
3) Next heat up a non-stick pan and lightly grease it with some oil then pan-fry the cod fillet, skin side down for about 2 minutes till sightly brown on both sides. (the purpose of pan-fry the cod fillet is to keep it whole while adding into the porridge and also the oil of the cod fillet will actually enhance the favour of the porridge)
4. Remove the half-cooked fillet and set aside.
5. When the porridge is half-way done (you can test by press the grain of the rice to see whether is it soft), put in the cod fillet and wolfberries and continue to simmer till the porridge is done.
6. If the content is too dry, you can add in more HOT water to dilute to the texture that you prefer. (usual I use my themo magic cooker to make the porridge as it require lesser time and it also able to keep the porridge warm till we are ready to consume)
7. When the porridge is ready to serve, remove the kid's portion of the porridge, add in some mashed code fillet(you can mash the cod fillet a separate bowl in order to check for bones) and serve warm.
8. As for the adult, you can add in the century eggs and serve with some shallot oil, pepper and etc....

Note:
a) If you prefer to add more fish, you can choose a bigger portion.
b) The use of the century egg is optional if you don't prefer.

You can also check on my other recipes using which use Cod Fillet @ COD RECIPES.


Peanut Butter French Toast

Since today our Sunday service had being change to a later timing, I decided to make a hearty Breakfast for the day. After eating Peanut Butter French Toast from one of the Hong Kong cafe, I decided to try out this dish using my own method. But I didn't really managed to get that puffy and crunch bread like what I had eaten in that cafe :(

So from what you seen here, it's just normal sandwich bread that I spread with Peanut Butter and pan-fry with beaten egg then serve with extra honey and butter. In order to cut that that grease effect, I serve it with some orange wedges and grapes to make it more healthy. Posted by Picasa

P/s:
If anyone of you know any good and proof method for making this nice Hong Kong Style French Toast, do drop me an email/comment to advise me can? Thanks.


Saturday 20 December 2008

Hidden Treasure

This is the adult version of the Cod Onigiri which I made for Reyon. His onigiri is slightly different from mine because I didn't wrapped it with any filling, I just mixed the cooked sushi rice with mashed cod fillet then coat it with fish floss.

As you can see from the picture, my version of the Cod Onigiri is more colourful with different assorted design. I wrapped it with some cod fillet, cucumber and tomato cubes for that extra crunch. Posted by Picasa

Assemble the Cod Onigiri
1. Cook the sushi rice according to same method as Cod Fish Rice in my previous post.
2. When it is done, slowly removed the fish from the top of the rice and set aside.
3. Use the rectangle Onigiri mould, spread a layer of cooked rice, add a piece of the cod fillet, some tomato and cucumber cubes then top with rice, shape it into triangle shape.
4. You can assemble it with seedweed strips, sesame seeds or even coat with fish floss.

Notes:
a) You can season the cooked rice with some sushi seasoning to enhance the flavour of the rice.

ShareThis