Promise me that if you use this recipe, please stick to a sustainable source of the Chilean sea bass.  Whole Foods Market, where I teach, carries farmed Patagonian toothfish seabass. Otherwise, you can always substitute with other higher oil content white fish such as black cod which is sometimes referred to as butterfish or sablefish, or escolar fillets

Chef’s tip:  You can just broiled or grilled fish till cooked.  Also, instead of mirin, you can use 1/4 cup sake with 2 TB sugar.  Here’s a recipe to making your own pickled ginger.

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup white miso paste
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 cup mirin
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1 teaspoon chopped pickled ginger + 1 Tablespoon pickle juice

Four 6-oz chilean seabass, black cod or escolar fillets

1. Mix marinade ingredients together.  Add fish, cover and refrigerate 24 hours
2. Broil fish 4 minutes.
3. Roast in oven 425 degrees for 3-5 minutes.

Serves: 4

I read in this month’s Saveur that Penang is having its international food festival this week where the celebration is Penang’s foodways.  First of all, in food-obssessed Penang, every day is a celebration of food.  In the same blurb, it described the local specialty, Assam Laksa, as aromatic, tamarind-based fish noodle soup.  Hard to imagine with such a description what the dish really is – except for those in the know.  My mouth starts to water at the thought of the tang, sour, saltiness and spicyness of the beloved noodle dish.

Chef’s tip: You can find fresh tamarind in the pods at Asian, Indian, Latin markets and Whole Foods.  To prepare tamarind, peel off the tough outer skin of the tamarind pod.  Place the flesh, seeds and veins in a bowl and add some warm water.  Using your hands, gently massage the tamarind to dissolve it.  Sieve.  You can also find tamarind in the block at Asian markets, which is essentially the peeled version.  Tamraind concentrate in the bottle is a lot more sour than fresh tamarind, so start with half the amount.

Ingredients:

1 lb bluefish (Traditionally mackerel, otherwise, any oily flaky fish)

Spice Paste:
6 dried Japanese chilies or 3 fresh red jalapeno
2 pieces of lemongrass
5 shallots
1 tablespoon roasted belachan
¼ cup of canola oil for frying

Soup:
1/2 cup tamarind pulp (including seeds) + 1 cup warm water
6 cups water or fish stock (use fish bouillon if necessary)
5 pieces of dried tamarind slices
4 stalks laksa leaves
Salt to taste (at least a few pinchfuls of salt)
2 teaspoons sugar

Toppings:
1 cup of shredded English cucumber
1 red jalapeno
½ red onion
1 cup of fresh pineapples
1 cup of mint leaves, whole
2 tablespoons laksa leaves, finely minced

12 oz thick fresh rice noodles (lai fun) or 6 oz dried rice vermicelli

1 lime, preferably calamansi
2 Tablespoon haeko

Preparing the fish
1.    Steam the fish until opaque and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Reserve fish stock.
2.    When cooled, remove bones and skin, coarsely flake the fish with a fork.
Preparing the spice paste
3.    Grind together spice paste ingredients in a food processor until smooth.  Set aside.
Preparing the laksa soup base
4.    Peel tamarind.  Mash tamarind flesh in 1 cup of warm water.  Remove solids, reserve juice.
5.    Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat until just hot.  Stir in spice paste. Cook, stirring constantly, until the red oil separates from the spice paste about 8 to 10 minutes.
6.    Lower the heat, slowly add tamarind paste, water, fish stock, tamarind slices and laksa leaves and bring to a slow simmer, stirring constantly.  Simmer for at 20-30 minutes.  Add salt and sugar to taste.  Remove tamarind slices and laksa leaves. Just before serving, add the flaked fish.
Preparing the vegetables
7.    Finely julienne cucumber, jalapeno, slice the red onion and cut pineapples into small wedges.
8.    Mince the laksa leaves.
Preparing the noodles
9.    Bring a pot of water to boil.  Add salt and oil.  Blanch rice vermicelli quickly – a few seconds.
Assembly
10.    In a small bowl, mix hae-ko shrimp paste with 2 tablespoon warm water
11.    Place a serving of noodles and vegetables in bowls and ladle laksa broth over.
12.    Serve with halved limes and a dollop of hae-ko.

Chef’s tip: Starch cooks translucent.  The minute it turns clear, it no longer taste powdery.

6 eggs
½ teaspoon kosher salt

Batter
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese wine
½ teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoon tapioca/ potato starch
1 tablespoon rice flour
8 tablespoons water
½ teaspoon kosher salt

3 tablespoons canola oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup cilantro leaves
White pepper

½ cup green onions, chopped
12 oysters, shucked, drained
1 Tablespoon fish sauce

1.    Whisk the eggs with salt. Set aside.
2.    In another bowl, whisk batter ingredients together.
3.    Heat a large non stick pan over medium heat until hot.
4.    Add  2 tablespoons oil, followed by the batter and cook for a  minute until translucent, stirring continuously
5.    Pour in the eggs, allow the eggs to cook for half a minute, then stir inwards to let the runny eggs go to the bottom of the pan to make an omelet
6.    When eggs have somewhat thickened, make a whole in the center
7.    Add 1 tablespoon oil, the minced garlic and fry for a 10 seconds until the garlic is fragrant
8.    Add in the oysters and the seasoning mixture.  Sprinkle in chopped green onions.
9.    Stir the eggs over the oyster mixture.  Drizzle on fish sauce.
11.    Garnish with cilantro leaves, sprinkle with more white pepper and serve with Chili Garlic Sauce

Serves: 6

The perfume of the typical Thai aromatics of galangal, lemongrass, coriander and kaffir lime leaves is infused in the tender flaky fish.  The lime-nuoc nam dressing is well suited for oily white fish,

Chef’s tip: Baking en papilotte is a simple solution to steaming fish, especially if you have a big piece of fish and limited pot sizes.  There are many ways to crimp the parchment paper, some requires no staples.  I just use the staple approach to create a fool-proof leak-proof envelope.

Ingredients

Garlic Oil:
3 cloves garlic
1/3 cup of oil

Sauce:
4 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine
1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground white pepper
1-2 lime – make about 1/3 cup juice
3 tablespoons water

Aromatics:
2 red jalapeno, seeded, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 coriander/cilantro roots, or 4 tablespoons cilantro stems, minced finely
1 stalk scallions, white part minced, green part julienned about 1 inch long for garnish
1 inch ginger, peeled, julienned finely
1 inch galangal, peeled, grated
3 kaffir lime leaves, chiffonade finely
3 stalks lemon grass – white part only, cut into 2 lengthwise, smashed

Fish:
4 pieces of parchment paper – 12 X 20 inch
2 lbs escolar / butter fish fillet/ sustainably-farmed chilean sea bass (or any fatty white fish, too)
A handful of cherry tomatoes

Garnish:
1 cup cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped
1 cup of basil, preferably Thai

Preparing the infused oils and sauce
1.    Coarsely chop garlic. Heat oil.  Fry garlic till golden.  Drain and set aside.
2.    Mix sauce ingredients with 4 tablespoons garlic oil.  Set aside.
Preparing the, aromatics and garnish
3.    Mince jalapeno, garlic, cilantro stems, and scallion white part.
4.    Grate galangal, and using a mortar and pestle, grind cilantro roots into a paste, if using.
5.    Julienne ginger and chiffonade kaffir
6.    Julienne scallions green parts, coarsely chop cilantro leaves and chiffonade basil.  Reserve for garnish.
Preparing the fish en papillote
7.    Preheat oven 425F*
8.    Remove fish bones and pins.
9.    Take a large piece of parchment paper 30 x 22 inch, fold into half, and lay it flat on a baking sheet.  Unfold the parchment and lay pieces of smashed lemon grass at the base followed by half of the aromatic mixture.
10.    Place a fish on top.  Top with remaining aromatic mixture.
11.    Drizzle the sauce on top.
12.    Next sprinkle on julienned ginger and kaffir leaves.  Toss in the tomatoes.
13.    Cover the fish with the other half of the parchment paper and fold over edges, stapling if necessary to create an airtight seal.
14.    Bake in oven for about 15 minutes, depending on thickness of fish, rotating once.
15.    Open the package carefully, avoiding the steam.  Sprinkle with basil, cilantro, and green scallions. Drizzle with a teaspoon garlic oil.  Serve immediately.

Serves: 6

Deconstructed or perhaps re-constructed.  Merging the guac and salsa together in one tall timbale but isolating the flavors of the cilantro so that it stands out on its own.

Chef’s tip: Zesting is done best with microplane. To make your own lime-infused olive oil, warm the olive oil to about 175F. Add in the lime zest, cool and let it sit for an hour. Strain.  To seed the tomatoes, cut a tomato into half and just gently squeeze out the seeds.

1 Tablespoon lime zest
1/3 cup lime-infused olive oil (or EVOO)
1 cup cilantro, leaves and stems, packed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 avocado, pitted, diced
1 Tablespoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3 ripe tomatoes, seeded
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon cumin, ground
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 Tablespoon lime juice
1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon coriander seeds, toasted, crushed coarsely
A few turns of sea salt

Directions
1. To make the cilantro vinaigrette: Zest the lime with a microplane zester. Combine zest with the cilantro and lime-infused olive oil. Blend together till smooth.  Add salt.
2. To make the avocado mash: Dice and gently mash avocado with the lime juice and salt with a fork, leaving some chunkiness texture in it.
3. Seed the tomatoes, chop into fine dice.  Toss tomatoes with garlic, cumin, salt, lime juice and olive oil.
4. Assemble: Using a tall cake ring, fill the lower part of the ring with the avocado. Top with the tomato mix. Drizzle around the sides with the vinaigrette. Sprinkle with crushed coriander seeds and a few turns of the sea salt. Serve with tortilla chips.

Serves: 4

This crudo is truly simple to assemble and just delish!

Chef’s tip: Frankly, there’s little skill needed to put this dish together.  Just get the best hamachi you can buy.  In SF Japantown, at the Nijiya market, they fly in fish from the Tokyo’s Tsukiji fish market several times a week. I know, it’s not locally-correct, but you’ve gotta sink your teeth into the fish to feel the springy, crunchy texture to feel the fresh difference.

Ingredients

6 oz of sashimi-grade yellow-tail hamachi

Zest of 1 Meyer lemon
Juice of half a Meyer lemon
1/3 cup of Meyer lemon olive oil (O Brand)
A pinch of sugar
A pinch of salt

¼ of English cucumber

1 Tablespoon dried hijiki, soaked in hot water, 10 minutes
Thinly sliced Meyer lemon
Some fleur du sel

To make the Vinaigrette:
1.    Zest the Meyer lemon with a microplane zester
2.    Combine ½ the zest with olive oil, lemon juice, sugar and salt and mix well.
To Assemble:
3.    Slice the yellowtail thinly and arrange on serving plate
4.    Slice cucumber into half moon slices and arrange around the fish
5.    Drizzle with the vinaigrette
6.    Garnish with sliced lemons and drained hijiki.
7.    Finish with a sprinkle of fleur du sel.

Serves: 4

Cantonese folks believe that the best way to savor the sweetness of fresh fish is to do the least to it.  A classic case of less is more.  “7 minutes” is the magic number to cook the fish.  Regardless of amount.  You want it just flaking, and not tough.  You can control how much oil you want to add.  This recipe makes a small jar of shallot oil that you can use many times over.

Chef’s tip: Invest in a steamer rack, like the picture below….for a grand price of $0.69.  You can find the racks in many of those houseware stores in Chinatown, typically hung outside the shop….as if in marketing terms, an impromptu purchase item.  Go figure.    Just place it on a big pot, wok or saute pan with a cover, add some water till it comes up to the height of the steamer, use a heatproof dish and you would have outfitted your kitchen with a steamer capability.

Ingredients:

2 shallots, sliced thinly
1/2 cup canola oil

8 oz soft, white fish (rock fillet, red snapper, sea bass)
1/2 inch ginger, peeled, julienned fine
1 Tablespoon light soy sauce
1 sprig green onions, green part only, julienned
1 sprig cilantro

To make the shallot oil:
1. In a small sauce pot, heat canola oil.  Add sliced shallots and fry till light golden brown.  Remove from heat and the shallots will continue browning to a deep brown.
2.  When cool, transfer oil and shallot crisps to a glass jar.  Shallot oil can be kept for a couple of months in a jar.
Preparing the fish:
3. Bring a wok of water with a steamer rack to boil.
4. Smear a heat-proof deep plate with a little of the shallot oil.  Place fish on the plate.  Top with ginger strips.
5. Place in steamer and steam under boiling water for 7 minutes.
6. Remove plate from the steamer, drizzle with 1-2 Tablespoons of shallot oil and crisps, soy sauce and top with green onions and cilantro. Serve immediately.

Serves: 2

This picture was taken eons ago on my first gen digital camera…before I got my VR lens and my D70.  But the memory of that meal at Cha Ca La Vong in Hanoi is still as vivid as ever.  You climb this steep stairs, or more aptly called, a ladder, to get to the second floor of this nondescript shop lot in the old town of Hanoi.  As immediately as you sit down, a charcoal stove appears, together with a variety of Asian herbs and a simmering pan of bright orange tumeric oil.  This was the most simple and memorable meal I had in Hanoi.  I was heady with the smell of turmeric, dill, rau ram and all the wonderful Vietnamese herbs and the sweet smell of fried fresh fish.  Or was it the carbon monoxide from the numerous charcoal stoves in the room that was making me giddy?  I have tried to reproduce the recipe based on that memorable meal sans charcoal.

Chef’s tip: Make sure you have everything mise-en-place before you start cooking. The cooking itself literally takes minutes.  Traditionally, the freshwater snakehead fish is used.  Catfish or tilapia is a good substitute.  I like it with the more fatty salmon.

And here’s an updated picture 10 years later.

Marinade:
3 inches of galangal – Thai ginger
2 Tablespoons water
2 Tablespoon fish sauce
3 Tablespoon tumeric powder
1 Tablespoon rice wine
1 Tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 Tablespoon grapeseed/ safflower oil

1 ½ lb fresh salmon (tilapia or catfish works well, too)

1 (4 oz) package of thin rice vermicelli, cooked and drained

8 approx. 2”X4” pieces of butter/green lettuce leaf, ribs removed
12 sprigs mint, chiffonade
1 bulb of fennel, thinly sliced
1 red onion, thinly sliced
½ bunch cilantro, tear into smaller sprigs
½ bunch of green onions, julienned, separate white from green
1 cup Rau Ram – polygonum (Vietnamese Mint), chiffonade
1 cup Fresh basil, chiffonade

1 lb dill, stemmed, cut into 3 inch strip
1 ½ cups of grapeseed/ safflower oil

Nuac Mam:
1 red chile, diced finely / 1 tablespoon Sri Racha sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 Tablespoons sugar
Juice of 1 lime
2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
4 Tablespoons water
2 Tablespoons fish sauce

½ cup roasted peanuts
2 limes, cut into wedges

Preparing the Fish:
1.    Grate galangal and mix with 2 tablespoons warm water, squeeze juice and discard solids.
2.    Whisk together marinade ingredients with galangal juice
3.    Cut salmon into 1 inch cubes and marinate fish for at least a half hour.
Preparing the vegetables and rice vermicelli:
4.    Bring a pot of water to boil.  Drop rice vermicelli in, bring to boil again. Cover for 15 minutes.  Drain and fluff.  Place in the middle of a large platter.
5.    Wash and clean all vegetables, spin to dry.
6.    Sliced fennel and onion finely. Place onions in a bowl of cold water for 10 minutes.  Drain.
7.    Chiffonade herbs except dill. Set herbs and vegetables around the rice noodles on the platter.
Cooking the fish:
8.    Heat a cast iron pan or a wok on high heat
9.    Add oil and cook salmon till golden brown.
10.    Add the dill, cook for 1 minute.
11.    Toss in white part green onions.
12.    Ladle salmon over the rice noodles, sprinkle with ground peanuts.
Just before serving, toss together to mix in herbs and vegetables.
Preparing the nuoc mam dipping sauce:
13. Blend together all nuoc mam ingredients.
To serve:
14.    Serve with nuoc mam, cut lime and freshly cracked black pepper on the side.

Serves: 6

Mini little scrumptious paninis. And a recipe to make your own garam masala, too.

Chef’s tip: Store the garam masala in a tightly closed jar in a cool place for up to 6 months.

Ingredients

Garam masala:
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 cardamon pod, seeds only
1 piece clove
1 small piece star anise
½ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cayenne
2 teaspoons kosher salt

6 oz salmon fillet, skinned
2 teaspoons canola oil

5 tablespoons greek yogurt, drained
1 small shallot, thinly sliced, and soaked in water
2 oz paneer (substitute with Cotija cheese)

1 baguette
Olive oil

Preparing the Garam Masala
1.    Toast the cumin, coriander, fennel seeds, cardamom, clove, star anise and black pepper over medium heat until fragrant, shaking the skillet often, about 2 minutes
2.    Using a spice grinder or mortar and pestle, grind whole spices. Mix together ground spices with cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne, and salt
Preparing the fish
3.    Preheat oven 400F
4.    Coat the salmon with the spice rub.
5.    Lightly coat a large ovenproof skillet with oil, and place over medium heat.
6.    When the skillet starts to smoke, place salmon pieces into the pan.  Sear salmon until spices are golden and toasted, about 2 minutes each side, flipping once. Immediately transfer the pan to the hot and roast for another 5 minutes.
7.    Remove fish and mash with yogurt.  Add more salt if needed.
Preparing the Panini
8.    Thinly slice paneer /cheese.
9.    Thinly slice shallots and soak in water for 10 minutes, drain and pat dry
10.    Slice baguette into ¼ inch thick rounds, brush one side with olive oil.  Place on a baking tray, oiled side down.
11.    Smear on salmon paste, top with a thin slice of shallot, cheese and another slice of bread.  Brush the top with olive oil.
12.    Heat a Panini grill or a grill pan.  Place Panini on grill, press lightly till golden marks are created and cheese is melted.

Makes 12 paninis

Adding some avocado to the Hawaiian poke freshens up the dish.

Cook’s tip: Wait until the last minute before you serve to toss the avocado and the fish together.

Ingredients:

12 round Wonton skins
Some olive oil for brushing

6 oz of sashimi-grade tuna

1 tablespoon mirin
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon grated, fresh wasabi (substitute with horseradish or 1 teaspoon wasabi paste)
2 tablespoon chopped green onions
2 tablespoon chopped cilantro

1 Avocado
2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Daikon sprouts

Preparing the wonton cups:
1. Preheat the oven 350F.  Brush a mini muffin pan with oil.

2. Line the muffin cups with a wonton skin.  Roll up a piece of skin and use it instead of your fingers to push the wonton skin into the cups.  Brush each wonton cup thorughly with olive oil.
3. Bake in the oven till golden, about 6 minutes.
4. Remove from the pan and cool on a rack.
To make the Sashimi Tartare:
5. Chop tuna into fine cubes, and finely chop green onions and cilantro
6. Mix tuna with mirin, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, wasabi, scallions and cilantro.
7. Cut the avocado into half and score it to make a grid.  Scoop out avocado to get dice.  Toss with lime juice and salt.
To assemble just before serving::
8. Toss tuna mix with avocado.
9. Spoon into prepared cups.
10. Serve immediately.

Serves: 4

An alternative to tuna tartare – salmon tartare.  The robust truffle complements the salmon well.  The goat cheese adds a tang to break up the richness of the tartare, and the daikon sprouts complements the flavor.  Capers and salmon are a classic combination.  This recipe is adapted from Tetsuya’s “Recipes from Australia’s Most Acclaimed Chef.”

Chef’s tip: Make sure you get sashimi grade salmon. Regular salmon, even if it’s fresh out of the sea, needs to be frozen to kill the natural micro-organism that resides in salmon.

6 oz of sashimi-grade salmon

1 teaspoon capers in salt, rinsed, chopped
1 teaspoon white truffle paste
1 Tablespoon white truffle oil
1 Tablespoon parsley or chervil, chopped finely
1 tablespoon chives, chopped finely
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
A pinch of black pepper

2 Tablespoons crumbled goat cheese
1 teaspoon meyer lemon zest

1 cup daikon sprouts
1 Tablespoon truffle oil

To make the Sashimi Tartare:
1.  Chop salmon into small cubes
2.  Mix salmon with capers, truffle paste, truffle oil, parsley, chives, salt and pepper
3.  In a separate bowl, mix the goat cheese with lemon zest
To Assemble:
4.  Using a tall cake ring, put some chevre in the middle
5.  Top with the salmon mixture
6.  In a separate bowl, toss the sprouts with the truffle oil
7.  Place sprouts around the tian.
8.  Serve with some wasabi crackers.

Serves: 4

Cilantro or coriander, depending on where you come from, is perhaps the world’s most widely consumed herb. Cilantro is used in cuisines from Latin America to across Asia. I refer the seed of the plant, the spice, coriander and plant itself, cilantro. You can use the stem and the leaves.
In this Asian Fusion recipe, we combine the freshness of Japanese sushi style with a cilantro pesto and an avocado guac. The flavors come together with the help of the best EV olive oil and lime zest. The finishing sprinkling of crushed coriander and sea salt gives the dish an aromatic kick and texture.

Chef’s tip: Zesting is done best with microplane…just like how those Food Network folks do it on TV.  If you are like most of us who are right handed, hold the citrus with your left hand, then slide the microplane around the citrus, being careful to only remove the colored part of the peel.  The zest collects right on the microplane itself.   To make your own lime-infused olive oil, warm the olive oil to about 175F. Add in the lime zest, cool and let it sit for an hour. Strain.

12 Square Wonton skins or store-bought shrimp chips/rice chips
Canola Oil

1 tablespoon lime zest
1/3 cup lime-infused olive oil (or EVOO)
1 cup cilantro, leaves and stems, packed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

6 oz sashimi-grade tuna
1 tablespoon mirin
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
A drop of sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon lime-infused olive oil (or EVOO)
1/4 teasppon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 Avocado
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, toasted, crushed coarsely
A few turns of sea salt

Directions
1. To make the Wonton skin crisps: Heat a wok with 1-inch canola oil. Cut each wonton skin into two triangles. Deep fry till golden brown. Finish with salt. Drain and set aside.
2. To make the Vinaigrette: Zest the lime with a Microplane zester. Combine zest with the cilantro and lime-infused olive oil. Blend together.  Add salt.
3. To make the Sashimi Tartare: Chop tuna into small cubes. Mix tuna with mirin, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, lime-infused olive oil, white pepper and salt.
4. To Make the Avocado mash: Dice the avocado and gently mash avocado, lime juice and salt with a fork, leaving some chunkiness texture in it.
5. Assemble: Using a tall cake ring, fill the lower part of the ring with the avocado. Top with the tuna mix. Drizzle around the sides with the vinaigrette. Sprinkle with crushed coriander seeds and a few turns of the sea salt. Serve with wonton skins or chips on the side.

Serves: 4

Bouncy meatballs! My good aunt, Kheng Cher, shared this recipe with me – her secret ingredient is to add the egg (you must stir in in one directions, she says) to make the fish ball puff up during frying. The skin then collapses to a chewy bite, while the meat inside remains bouncy.

Very few people really make this at home anymore since you can buy ready-made fish paste quite easily. But there’s nothing better than making your own fish paste, and tasting the sweetness of unadulterated fish balls.

Chef’s tip: A lot of TLC is needed to make the fish ball. First, it is preferred to chop the meat with a cleaver by hand than pulsing it in a food processor so that you can slowly get to the right consistency of paste. Also, make sure to slap the fish paste to a round, shiny, blob! This is the step that determines how bouncy the ball will be.

Ingredients:
Dipping sauce:
3 Tablespoons Asian sweet chili sauce
1 Tablespoon tomato ketchup
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ginger, grated
2 Tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Meatballs:
1 ½ lb whole Spanish mackerel (yellowtail, haddock, pike, bluefish)  yielding 1 lb flesh
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground white pepper
1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 cup water
1 Tablespoon kosher salt

1 egg

3 cups canola oil

Preparing the dipping sauce
1.    Mix all dipping sauce ingredients together (chile, ketchup, garlic, ginger, lime juice, sugar and salt).  Set aside.
Preparing the meatballs
2.    Using the whole fish, starting from the tail end and working towards the head, slice off the top half of the fish flesh.  Repeat with the other side of the fish.  Using a spoon, scrape off any remaining fish meat from the bones.    Place the fish fillet, skin side down over an inverted bowl and remove any bones with a tweezer.  Place the fish fillet, still skin side down, on a cutting board and using a spoon, scrape out the fish flesh.
3.    Place the fish on a cutting board and sprinkle on 1 teaspoon salt, pepper and cornstarch.  Using the blunt side of the cleaver, chop the meat, while smashing/dragging the meat against the cutting board till it becomes a paste a shade lighter. (Or place the fish meat in a food processor and pulse about a dozen times till it becomes a paste a shade lighter)
4.    In a small bowl, mix together the water and salt.  Set aside.
5.    Transfer the meat into the bowl drop in the egg and stir in one directions to incorporate the egg.
6.    Wet your hands with the salt water and grab the fish mixture and slap the meat against the side of the bowl.  Repeat until the fish comes together and forms a shiny and firm ball.  Wet your hands continuously with the salt water as you work.
7.    Using your hands, form small golf ball 1 inch size fish balls, coating it with the salt water as you work.  Place the fish balls on a baking sheet.
Frying the fish ball
8.    In wok, heat about 2 inches of oil.  When it reaches 360°F, quickly pat dry each fish ball and drop it into the hot oil.  Fry until it becomes a golden brown and the fish ball floats on top of the oil.
9.    The fish ball will puff up during the frying but will cool and collapse when cooled.  Serve hot with the dipping sauce.

Serves: 6

This recipe is adapted from a recipe from my friend, Tammy Kang, whom I used to work with in Kuala Lumpur.   We used to love seeking out all the best “makan” joints -  street foods being on top of our list.   Laksa is really the king of street foods.   Laksa Johor is my all-time favorite of the laksa family.  We use many different kinds of fragrant herbs like kaffir lime leaves and if you can get it, bunga kantan, a pink ginger flower bud, and of course, laksa leaves, or more commonly known in the US as Rau Ram.

Chef’s tip: Instead of using a ikan kurau masin (salted dried fish), I use the bacalhao salted cod which is more easily found here and offers just as much sweetness and umami flavors.

Ingredients:

Meat:
½ lb salted cod
½ teaspooon kosher salt
1 lb cod

Spice Paste:
10 dried Japanese chilies or 5 fresh red jalapeno
10 shallots
1 inch of ginger
1 inch of galangal
1 inch fresh tumeric
1 tablespoon roasted belachan
5 candlenuts
½ teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoon dried shrimp, soaked
3 tablespoon toasted desiccated coconut

Broth:
¼ cup of canola oil for frying
3 cups coconut milk
3 pieces of lemongrass, bruised
5 stalks laksa leaves
3-4 cups fish or chicken broth
1 Tablespoon kosher salt

Toppings:
1 cup of shredded English cucumber
1 red jalapeno
½ red onion
1 cup of fresh pineapples
2 eggs
1 cup of mint leaves, whole
2 tablespoons laksa leaves, finely minced
1 Tablespoon ginger flower, finely minced

8 oz spaghetti, some salt and olive oil
1 lime, quartered

Preparing the salted cod:
1.    Soak the salt cod for a couple of hours.  Change the water if needed.
2.    Remove the bones and mince the fish fine. Soak the dried shrimp for at least an hour.
Preparing the fish:
3.    Salt the fish.  Steam the fish until opaque and cooked through, about 10 minutes.
4.    When cooled, remove bones and skin.  Coarsely flake the fish with a fork.
Preparing the spice paste:
5.    Grind together spice paste ingredients in a food processor until smooth.  Set aside.
6.    Grind dried shrimp, salt cod, and toasted desiccated coconut into fine flakes.
Preparing the laksa soup base:
7.    Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat until just hot.  Stir in spice paste. Stir constantly, until the red oil separates from the spice paste about 8 to 10 minutes. Add fish mince.
8.    Lower the heat, slowly add coconut milk, lemon grass, tamarind slices, laksa leaves, chicken broth and bring to a slow simmer, stirring constantly.  Simmer for at 20-30 minutes.  Salt to taste.  Remove tamarind, lemongrass and laksa leaves.  Add flaked fish.
Preparing the vegetables:
9.    Finely julienne cucumber and jalapeno. Slice the onion. Cut pineapples into small wedges.  Chiffonade the laksa leaves and ginger flower.
10.    Beat eggs with a pinch of salt.  Make thin omelets. Slice them into ¼ inch strips.
Preparing the noodles
11.    Bring a pot of water to boil.  Boil spaghetti till el dente.  Drain.
Assembly
12.    Place a serving of noodles, vegetables, herb, eggs in bowls and ladle laksa broth over.
13.    Serve with quartered limes and sambal.

Serve: 6

When Chinese New Year comes around in Malaysia and Singapore, one cannot escape the symbolic dish of Yu Sang. When I was a corporate banker in Kuala Lumpur (in my previous life), we would take our customers out for Yu Sang lunch, and Yu Sang dinner during CNY. If it was served for breakfast, we would have taken them out for Yu Sang breakfast, too! When I got home, my mom would ask “We have to have Yu Sang!” Yu Sang, Yu Sang everywhere!

In the Cantonese dialect, “Yu Sang” is literally translated as raw fish. The words sound like the words for “abundance and growth”. This dish is also sometimes referred to as “Lo Hei” which sounds like “growth in business undertaking”. So when we do the “Yu Sang”, we are wishing our colleagues, friends and family, at the start of a new year, lots of prosperity, good luck and good business.

PS: Don’t forget the red packet!

Chef’s tip: To create the beautiful vegetable julienne spirals, use a Benriner Japanese spiral mandoline.

Ingredients

Special equipment needed A Japanese mandolin/ vegetable shredder

2 cups medium sized carrots
2 cups large white radish/ daikon
1 cup of small green papaya*
1 cup of spring onions
1 cup of cilantro leaves
½ cup pickled shallots*
½ cup of pickled ginger
1 pomelo or 1 grapefruit

½ lb fresh ahi tuna – sashimi grade
1 cup of Asian plum sauce* (Lee Kum Kee brand)
½ cup of grapeseed oil or other mild flavored oil
½ lime

½ cup of roasted peanuts, crushed
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds, toasted
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds, toasted
1 tablespoon Asian 5 spice powder
6 pieces of wonton skin
1 cup of canola oil for frying
1 red envelope

Preparing the crunchy topping
1.    Cut wonton skin into juliennes.
2.    Heat oil in pan.  Fry wonton skin till golden brown.  Drain.
3.    Roast peanuts in an oven 350F till golden brown.  About 7 minutes.
4.    Coarsely crush with a mortar and pestle.
5.    Dry roast sesame seeds till fragrant.
Preparing the vegetables and fish
6.    Shred all vegetables into thin long strips using a Japanese mandolin.
7.    Cut scallions into 2 inch long juliennes, and then slice lengthwise thinly.  Soak in cold water 10  minutes, then drain.
8.    Slice pickled shallots and pickled ginger finely.  Remove tough stems from cilantro.
9.    Remove skin and membranes from pomelo to obtain the fruit sac.
10.    Arrange all vegetables on a large platter in a circle, taking care to alternate colors.
11.    Slice fish about ¼ X 2 x 1 inch and place in the middle.
Assembly:
12.    Just prior to serving, drizzle with oil and plum dressing
13.    Sprinkle on peanuts, sesame seeds, wonton skin crisps
14.    At the table, sprinkle Asian 5 spice (served out of the red envelope).
15.    Squeeze lime over fish.
16.    Toss for good luck

Serves: 6-8