KY cooks – Steamed Pomphret (CNY reunion dinner)

My third dish for the Chinese New year reunion dinner to greet the Year of Boar is steamed Pomphret (Pomfret) fish. This fish is a little pricey, and especially so during the Chinese festive season, however, it is very difficult to find a better fish as far as steamed fish dishes go.

looking at this is making me hungry again

Ingredients:

• a good size pomphret fish (preferably around 1KG)
• shitake mushroom
• chopped garlic
• finely sliced ginger
• salt
• soya sauce
• pork fat (optional)

Steps:

• clean the fish throughly and rub both sides with salt
• put the sliced mushroom, garlic, and ginger evenly on the fish
• sliced some pork fat (I got them from the roasted pork in the HK kailan dish)
• add some soya sauce to the fish
• steam it for about 15 minutes, and let the fish sit in the steamer for another 5 minutes after switching off the fire
• be very careful not to spill the very hot dish while transferring it from the steamer to dining table

can you spot the secret ingredient?

This dish turned out excellent as expected, the secret ingredient (pork fat) makes the fish even smoother and adds a layer of that Year of Pig aroma that is irreplaceable. The garlic and ginger removes any fishy smell that might be present, and the mushroom gives a different taste and texture to enrich the whole experience.

I think adding a little bit of parsley might give a better presentation, sort of like how I dressed up the fried pomphret. You can try this method with other type of fish too, though the result might be less optimal.

KY cooks – lala miso soup (CNY reunion dinner)

It’s been the second year in the running that I get myself busy and cook the Chinese New Year reunion dinner for my family. It is quite a bit of work compared to pigging ourselves out at some fancy restaurant, but I don’t get many chances of cooking for the family, so why not?

gone with the old, in with the new!

Since my cheap old twin stove has rusted till the point of no return, I decided to get something more hardcore for the kitchen. After scouring around the few electrical appliances stores, I finally get my hands on this hardcore industrial strength Rinnai stove, made in Japan. This baby has a flame thrower ignition sequence, and come complete with thick metal stand that will last me decades. It was RM 185 well spent.

My first dish is the miso soup with Lala (clam).

Ingredients:

• a packet of Lala
• some garlic
• miso paste (or instant miso soup, since I couldn’t find miso paste at Cold Storage)
• a tube of Japanese tofu
• spring onion

Steps:

• clean the Lalas throughly
• mince some garlic and boil them with the Lala
• add miso paste
• add the sliced tofu
• add some chopped spring onion just before serving

Simple isn’t it? Of course, this is only the first of four dishes that I prepared for the night. A little bit of Japanese taste to the traditional Chinese occasion. I’ll blog about the other 3 dishes: Hong Kong Kailan with roasted pork, steamed pomphret, and beef with broccoli in the next few posts.

Gong Xi Fa Chai to you too!