Thermomix Mackerel Fish Porridge

Ingredients:

1. 1 1/2 cups of rice (soaked and washed)
2. 1000gm of boiling filtered water
3. 2 slices of grilled mackerel (remove all bones from fish)

4. Sea-salt

5. White pepper (optional)

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1. Place the rice into the Thermomix jug.

2. Pour the boiling water into the jug.

3. Set 25 minutes/90C/Speed 2. (Remove the MC)

4. Add the fish pieces through the hole in the lid after 10 minutes.

5. Add some sea-salt (and pepper) to taste.

6. Once done, pour the porridge into a big pot.

7. Serve hot.

Bon appetit!

Grilled Fish

Ingredients:

1. 2 or 3 mackerel fish (washed and cut slightly at the belly part)
2. Sea-salt
3. Cooking oil (sunflower or any other oil which you are able to tolerate)
4. Pepper (optional)

(season overnight in fridge)

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1. Preheat oven set to grill.

2. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

3. Lay the fish on the tray and grill for 45 minutes until crispy.

4. Serve hot with rice or eat it by itself.

Bon appetit!

Allergy Fact 11 - (8 Top Food Allergens & Their Alternatives)

*picture taken from HERE

A Fiery CNY Eve Lunch!

A very Happy Fiery Monkey Chinese New Year to all my Chinese fellow bloggers and readers.

Here was what we had for our reunion meal.

Steamed fish.

Thermomix stir-fried choy sum with carrots and prawns.

Steamed beancurd with minced pork (Yong Tau Foo).

Curry potato and pork.

Steamed okra with minced pork (Yong Tau Foo).

Steamed bittergourd with minced pork (Yong Tau Foo).

Double boiled bone broth with lotus root.

Steamed chicken.

And brownies for dessert! 

Thermomix Steamed Fish

I am very fortunate to have bought the Thermomix from an agent who is very particular with after-sales-service. She and her team had gone dish-hunting for dishes that fit perfectly into the Varoma. Thus, the dish in the picture above is one of the two which I had bought from her.

Ingredients:

1. Approximately 500gm of fish (I used one whole pomfret fish)
2. Sea-salt
3. Tamari sauce
4. 2 garlic bulbs (finely chopped)
5. 1 stalk of chives (spring onion) (finely chopped)
6. Sunflower oil
7. 1/4 cup of plain chicken broth
8. 750gm of water

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1. Place the water in the mixing bowl. (As the Thermomix is a weighing machine, you can weigh the amount of water needed in the mixing bowl.)

2. Place the fish on the steaming dish. Season the fish with a dash of sea-salt, a teaspoon of Tamari sauce, some sunflower oil and 1/4 cup of plain chicken broth.

3. Place the steaming dish into the Varoma dish.

4. Garnish the fish with the chopped ginger and spring onions.

5. Close the lid and steam for 35min/Varoma/speed 1.

6. Once it is done, check whether the fish is throughly cooked. If it is not, add some time and continue to steam until throughly cooked.

7. Serve with hot rice once it is done.

Bon appétit!

Steamed Garoupa Fish with Minced Garlic

Ingredients:

1. 1 medium sized Garoupa fish (washed and cleaned)

Garoupa (the two fish on the right and middle)

2. 1 tablespoon of minced garlic
3. 1 stalk of chives (chopped into fine pieces)
4. Sea-salt
5. Tamari sauce
6. Sunflower oil
7. Pepper* (optional) HIGH IN SALICYLATES
8. Sesame oil* (optional) HIGH IN SALICYLATES

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1. Place the fish in a large steaming dish.

2. Season the fish with sea-salt, Tamari sauce, sunflower oil and minced garlic.

3. Place the fish in the fridge for an hour to allow the fish to absorb the seasoning.

4. Steam for about 1/2 hour or until the fish is fully cooked.

5. Garnish the fish with the chives just before serving.

6. Serve with hot, steaming rice.

Bon appétit!

Baked Butter Garoupa Fish

Ingredients:

1. 1 thick slice of Garoupa fish fillet (washed and pat dried with kitchen towels)
2. Sea-salt
3. Butter

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1. Heat the oven at 220C.

2. Place the fillet in a baking dish.

3. Season the fillet with sea-salt and butter. Make sure the fillet is seasoned liberally with butter.

4. Bake for about 1/2 hour or until the fillet is golden brown.

5. Serve with hot rice.

Bon appétit!

The Braces Diet - Soft Rice With Fish & Spinach

Dish One:

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 cup of rice
2. 1 1/2 cups of filtered water
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1. Wash rice thoroughly.

2. Cook for about 20 minutes.

Dish Two:

1. 1 slice of red fish
2. Sea salt
3. Sunflower oil
4. Filtered water
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1. Season fish with sea-salt and sunflower oil.

2. Place in steaming dish.

3. Add about 3 tablespoons of water to the fish.

4. Steam for about 1/2 hour.

Dish Three:

1. 200gm of spinach (washed thoroughly).
2. Sea-salt
3. Sunflower oil
4. Filtered water

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1. Heat up a wok.

2. Drizzle some sunflower oil.

3. Add the spinach and some sea-salt. (Be careful when you add the spinach to the hot oil. The oil will sizzle and splash!)

4. Add 3 tablespoons of water.

5. Stir-fry until the spinach has softened.

***********
Before serving these three dishes to the person with braces, mash and break everything to minute pieces. It's like making food for a one-year-old child!

Bon appétit!

Did You Know....

...That fish roe is good for you?

Fish roe and all other marine animals' eggs contain omega-3 fatty acids. More than 30 percent of the fatty acids that are found in the eggs are EPA and DHA. Both of these are crucial for the brain's function and also the cardiovascular system.

Two fish roe that are very rich in EPA and DHA: Salmon and mackerel.

Extracted oil from fish roe has a higher content of omega-3 than regular salmon and tuna oil!

Click on LINK to read more on roe.

What are you waiting for? 'Roe' away to healthy food!

Did You Know....

... That lipsticks contain fish scales?

Fish scales are used in lipsticks to give that shimmery look. It is called 'pearlescence'. It is the silvery stuff found in fish scales which are grounded and then added to lipsticks.

There are lipsticks that are made without fish scales. Some use synthetic ingredients to replace the fish scales.

For more information about pearlescence, click on LINK. This is an interesting read.

Yong Tau Foo

The Yong Tau Foo dish is a very popular Hakka Chinese soup dish found in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

Basically it is a clear consommé soup served with a variety of food items such as fish balls, crab sticks, cuttlefish, vegetables and tofu which are stuffed with fish paste (also known as surimi). The usual vegetables that are used are bitter gourd, brinjal, lady fingers, and chillies.

These are cooked briefly in boiling broth and is served in the boiled broth.

Some people eat this dish with a bowl of steamed rice or with noodles. Some people serve this in a bowl of curry sauce!

This dish is usually served with a dipping sauce. It can be a spicy, vinegary chili sauce which is made from red, fermented bean curd or hoisin sauce.

Ingredients:

1. 20 okras (large in size if possible)
2. 1 bitter gourd (cut into medallion size)
3. 2 packets of firm square tofu.

This is how the tofu looks like. Just cut it into half. 

4. 600gm of fish paste (click on LINK)

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1. Slit open the okras. Slit the half-ed tofu. (Don't slice it into half.)

2. Scoop about 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of fish paste and stuff it into the slits. It should look something like this:

3. For the remaining fish paste, I made them into fish balls.

4. For the okras, bitter gourd and tofu stuffing, I steamed them for about 20 minutes. For the fish balls I baked them at 200C for about 20 minutes.

5. Serve warm with soup and rice or noodles.

Bon appétit!

Yang Chow Fried Rice

The Yang Chow fried rice was invented by Yi Bingshou (1754 - 1815) during the Qing dynasty in China. The dish is given such a name as Yi was once the regional magistrate of the city of Yangzhou. Though there are many versions of the Yang Chow fried rice, but the staple items are cooked rice (which is preferably one day old rice), cooked shrimp, spring onions, fresh vegetable (peas, corn, carrots, bamboo shoots) and eggs. Many people add ham or char siew pork to their Yang Chow fried rice.

Below is my salicylate-tolerable-version of the Yang Chow fried rice.

Ingredients:

1. 4 cups of cooked white rice (cooked, kept in freezer overnight and thawed the next day)
2. 2 large eggs (beaten)
3. 200gm of fish cake (for recipe, click on LINK) (cut into small pieces)
4. 200gm of prawns (cut into small pieces and seasoned with sea-salt and some sunflower oil)
5. 1/2 bulb of garlic (sliced into thin pieces)
6. 2 carrots (cut into cubes)
7. 1 cup of green peas

I bought a packet of dried garden peas from the organic shop. I had to soak it for about 18 hours to get it to soften. And then I had to boil it for 2 hours. But they were yummy. 

8. 2 stalks of spring onion (chopped into fine pieces)
9. Sea-salt
10. Sunflower oil

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1. Heat a wok.

2. Add three tablespoons of sunflower oil into heated wok.

3. Once oil is heated, add the sliced garlic and stir fry until it is slightly browned.

4. Add the fish cake, carrots and peas and stir fry until carrots and peas soften slightly.

5. Add the prawns and fry until throughly cooked.

6. Add the rice and some sea-salt. Mix everything thoroughly

7. Pour the beaten eggs over the rice.

8. Stir fry until eggs are cooked and well blended with the fried rice.

9. Add the spring onions and stir for another 2 minutes.

10. Scoop onto serving dish.

11. Serve warm.

Bon appétit!

Gluten-Free Fish Croquettes

Ingredients:

1. 600gm potatoes
2. 450gm cod
3. 2 eggs
4. 50gm rice flour
5. 5ml sea-salt
6. 1 spring onion (chopped into very fine pieces)
7. 3 tablespoons of sunflower oil

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1. Wash and peel the potatoes. Boil them until they are well done (or soft). Mash them.

2. Poach the fish.

3. Remove the flesh of the fish from the bones.

4. Add the potatoes and fish. Mix well.

5. Stir in the flour to make a thick mixture.

6. Add the salt, sunflower oil and spring onion.

7. Shape the mixture into balls and flatten them.

8. Bake at 220C for 1/2 hour or until golden brown.

9. Serve with bread or rice.

Bon appétit!

Millet & Fish Congee

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup of Bario rice (washed)
2. 1 cup of millet (washed)
3. 1 red snapper (baked and flesh torn into small pieces)
    * For recipe, click on LINK
4. Sea-salt
5. 1 large carrot (outer layer peeled and diced into small pieces)
6. 1 litre of filtered water

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1. Pour everything into a large pot.

2. Boil on high heat until it starts to bubble.

3. Allow to boil for about 5 minutes before turning to low heat.

4. Boil on low heat for 1 1/2 hours while stirring very frequently.

5. After 1 1/2 hours of cooking is done, allow to sit for 1/2 hour (with lid closed) before serving.

Bon appétit!

Baked Red Snapper

Ingredients:

1. 1 medium sized red snapper
2. Sea-salt
3. Sunflower oil (optional)

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1. Preheat oven at 220C.

2. Wash the red snapper throughly.

3. Pat dry with kitchen towels.

4. Rub sea-salt all over fish.

5. Place in baking dish.

6. If you want the dish to have some extra oil, drizzle some sunflower oil over it. If not, skip this part. I did not use any oil for this dish.

7. Bake for 30 minutes or until thoroughly baked.

8. Serve hot with warm rice and a vegetable dish of your choice.

Bon appétit!

Gone With The Fish

They are a LOT of work.

They are fishy.

They cost money!

And I am talking about fish. As pets!

When Joel was on his summer break, I got him some fish to keep him occupied and to train him to be responsible for other living things. He had wanted a pet (a DOG to be more specific). Of course I balked at the idea. Dogs??!! I'm allergic to anything that has fur. Even after stepping into a pet shop that has furry creatures, (I don't even go near to the furry animals section), my nose will be irritated.

Fish is the best.

That was what I had thought. The fishes must have been laughing their gills out.

You love them, but it is a tedious job caring for them.

They are like little children. It is not EASY taking care of them.

• The water cannot be too cold. They will be very susceptible to parasite infections. 
• They do not know how to stop eating. Thus, you must time their feedings accordingly so that they will not overeat and die of indigestion. 
• You must watch out for ammonia (which is rotten food and their poop). If not they will die.
• You must CLEAN and change water regularly for the fish to be HEALTHY.
• You must not frighten them or shock them. Their immune system will be low and hence, susceptible to diseases. 
• If you notice one of them being ill, separate and quarantine the sick fish!
• Blah blah blah blah blah....

Gosh! It was like having many more kids. Tons of extra kids.

Therapeutic. Calm. Peaceful. (For me that is, WHEN I am gazing at them.)
But when they fall sick ............

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Not a care in the world.
Everyday.
Day in, day out.
They poop.
They eat.
They sleep.
Just swimming here and there.
Oblivious to their surroundings.
Or rather stuck in their four-cornered-peaceful-little-world.

Or not.

Fry Me A River...

... or rather an aquarium in this case!

We had 3 fry which were birthed forth sometime during the middle of the night. And then this morning I witnessed another guppy gave birth to another 3 more!!!! It was so awesome seeing it give birth. Some were then eaten by the male guppies. *sob sob* Such cannibalism!

The very pregnant guppy in the process of giving birth.

Out pops a guppy fry!

I managed to catch 2 fry. They are placed in a different tank to prevent them from being eaten alive!

Fishy Friends

It all started out as a holiday project.

And now, they have become a part of the family.

We even talk to THEM!

Yes, we talk to fishes.

Cute little ones.

Our Clown Loaches

The dominant fish will turn its black stripes to a lighter shade of gray to show its dominance. 

Some of the Cardinal Tetras that we have. The algae eater is in the earthen pot. 

They love to eat vegetables too! Only the organic ones! See how clean they eat! Every single scrap. We have some lean and mean eating machines!

Guppies, Cardinal Tetras and Harlequin Resbora fish. 

It is very therapeutic and helps reduce stress. I can gaze at them for an hour and just feel the stress melt away. As I am allergic to pet hair/fur, this is the best option.

How I love my fishy friends.

The Salmon Wild Rice Dish

Ingredients:

1. 1 large piece of salmon (baked, deboned and shredded to fine pieces)
* Click on LINK for recipe on how to bake the salmon.
2. 1 cup of sushi rice
3. 2 cups of wild rice
4. Poppy Seeds
* Alternatively, you can use sesame seeds if you are able to tolerate.
5. Sea-salt

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1. Combine the sushi rice and wild rice in a large pot. Wash thoroughly.

2. Pour about 2 cups of water and boil for about 15 minutes on high heat and 15 minutes on medium heat. (Or you could just use a rice cooker. It's much easier and hassle free.)

3. Bake the fish which is seasoned with sea-salt.

4. Debone the fish and shred it into fine pieces.

5. Once the rice is done, add it to the shredded fish.

6. Add 1/2 teaspoon of sea-salt and sprinkle some poppy (or sesame) seeds to the dish and mix thoroughly.

7. Serve warm.

Bon appétit!

Cod Fish + Spring Onions Fillets

Ingredients:

1. 1 large thickly sliced cod fish
2. 1 stalk of spring onion (washed and chopped into small pieces)
3. Sea-salt
4. Soft brown sugar
5. 1 egg
6. About 3 to 4 tablespoons of organic all-purpose flour

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1. Preheat oven to 200C.

2. Line a baking pan with baking paper. Season the cod fish with sea-salt.

3. Bake for about 20 minutes.

4. Once the fish is done, debone it.

5. In a mixing bowl, add the deboned fish chunks, spring onions, a sprinkle of sea-salt and soft brown sugar, egg and the organic all-purpose flour.

6. Mix all ingredients thoroughly.

7. Preheat oven to 200C.

8. On a baking tray lined with baking paper, drop tablespoons size of the fish mixture.

9. Bake for about 20 minutes.

10. Allow to cool before serving. You can either serve it with rice or eat it on its own.

Bon appétit!