An interesting way to prepare Salmon

It will be easier to remove the skin of the salmon by attaching it under the pot cover and heating it over water, as shown in this video. 

I wonder if it will work just as well by placing it on a steamer try to steam.  

Also check out the tips for cooking restaurant style salmon shared in a short video by Sonny Hurrell on his "That Dude Can Cook" YouTube channel.  If you have the time, watch this video for the full recipe.

Asam Pedas Fish

I have seen my sister cooked asam fish from scratch and it was quite a tedious effort.  First she must prepare the paste by pounding with a pestle, the following ingredients in a mortar.  That is because we did not have an electric grinder:

Garlic
The white part of lemongrass
Shallots
Dried chillies
Belacan or prawn paste (we knew what she was going to cook when we smelled that)

Then she has to prepare the following ingredients to be added to the dish:

Okras
Tomato 
Daun kesum 
Tamarind pulp

You can watch how it is cooked from scratch in this video.  This cook used more flavouring ingredients in her dish.

So, I am glad I found this Asam Pedas Ikan ready made paste from Mak Nonya.  You can learn how to use the paste from their website.  

Asam Pedas Ikan can be cooked stir fried or steamed.  So, what type of fish are suitable for steaming?  I like the suggestions shared at Mira Gas.  The fish should have less bones and do not have a strong fishy odour.  These are what they recommended:

cod fish
grouper
snapper
sea bass
tilapia
halibut
salmon

If you are steaming a whole fish, look out for fish that has clear eyes, firm flesh and red gills.  However, if you are worried about the muddy flavour or fishy odour of other type fish you use, you can remove it by coating the fish well on all sides with any of the following:

-lime juice
-vinegar
-tamarind juice

You can also remove the odour by soaking the fish in diluted saltwater or rice washing water for about 15 minutes before rinsing it with clean water.  I prefer to rub the fish all over with coarse salt and rinse it off after 15 minutes.

This is how the ingredients are prepared to be steamed:

As I did not boil soup for the day I decided cook the dish by stir frying it.  I used siakap by cutting it into three sections.  I made some changes to the standard instructions given.  I sliced my onion thinly and fry it with garlic oil before adding the paste to fry.  As I do not want to break up the flesh of the fish as I stir fry the vegetables, I added it to cook only after I have poured water into the wok.  The fish will be infused by the flavours of the paste as long as it is completely immersed in the sauce as it cooks.  

HOW TO CUT UP A WHOLE CHICKEN

I rarely buy a whole chicken. It is usually fatty and messy to clean up. Cut out discards must be immediately thrown outdoor or it will leave a stink in your kitchen. 

But I would like to share this "How to cut up a whole chicken" guide  from Eating Well. 

You can find many more of such guides that they pinned on Pinterest.

I also like the Chicken Cuts Chart that I found on The Nibble.

There is a link to food glossary which is listed in alphabetical order if you would like to know more about the ingredients you used in your dish.

 

The Laundry Room Tips

A portable laundry rack that runs on wheels is very convenient to have in the house.



It is good for days when it looks like it is going to rain but there are clothes to be washed.  You can push it to the corner where the sun is shining and push it back in when it starts to drizzle.

You can hang many items on this laundry rack as its poles are extendable.



These circular hoop hangers are suitable for hanging heavier clothing such as jeans, pants, thick clothings or sweaters.  There are also useful for hanging bed sheets and pillow cases.



If you hang the bottom of the pants with pegs as shown in the photo, the weight of the pants will pull the creases out as it dries so that there will less creases for you to iron out.



However, instead of using these loop hangers for drying all items in your laundry, it is best that you use the kind that you regularly hang your clothes on in the wardrobe.  These are heavy duty hangers which can be used to hang pants or thicker clothing.  You are likely to get free hangers like the black one if you send your clothes out for laundry service.



The ones below will not take too much space in your wardrobe.  Try not to choose one with smaller hook as it will make hanging it difficult if the poles of your drying rack or wardrobe is of a bigger diameter.



You can remove dried clothes, that do not need ironing, from the laundry rack and store it in your room without the hassle of changing hangers.  Leave the remaining dried clothes on the laundry rack and push it into the room where you do your ironing.

There should also be a fordable umbrella rack for smaller pieces of clothing, such as, inner wear, socks, shorts, mop cloth and small kitchen towels.  One that is strong and large enough that you can hang a few items together is better.



As it is installed with grips at the end of each hanger, you can slip your items into the grips to hold them securely to the rack. An extra clothe peg can be used to prevent the longer pieces, such as,  towels from being blown off by the wind.



Can you count the number of loop hangers you will need if you do not have an umbrella rack like this?  No mad rush to get the clothes in when it rains as you just need to grab this one piece of hanger.

Prevent Long Electric Cord From Entangling

An extra long cord that could stretch from one end of the shop to the other is very useful. The problem with a long cord is that if you not do know how to roll it up properly, it entangles each time you use it So, I experimented and discovered that this is the best way to roll it up. I hope you find this tip useful too.

What are some easy meals I can make for cheap?

What are some easy meals I can make for cheap?  I answered this question on Quora and decided to share it here because there are many useful links in them.

There are many easy meals that you can make cheap if you use less ingredients in the dish. I managed to find many such recipes and saved them on Pinterest.

Recipes - 3 ingredients or less

What is the point of making it cheap but there are leftovers to throw away? So, throw away less food by using leftovers from last dish or learn to cook just enough or learn to do “planned-overs”, that is, cooking in excess so that your can create another dish with them.


"Cooking for One or Two" by Food and Nutrition Specialist, Julie Garden-Robinson, Ph.D., LRD provides a guideline on how to reduce the ingredients in your recipe if you are cooking smaller portions. You will find many tips on using your leftovers at Frugal Leftover Cooking Ideas.

You should also try to figure out ways to use less utensils to cook. If you watch cooking programmes by chefs like Michael Smith on TV, you can pick up useful tips from him. He used vegetables, such as, carrots, potatoes and onions to replace the rack you need for roasting. By placing your meat on top of the vegetables you do not have an oily rack to clean up. Doesn’t that make cooking your meal cost saving too since you are using less water and time for cleaning? You can even clean up the sauce off your pans by using leftover rice or bread.

If you are working in that direction to make your meals cheaper, buy multi-functional cooking wares because useful wares can save you time and money. Learn more cooking techniques that will require you to use less gadgets in you kitchen.

Find ways to use less energy to cook. I use a large soup pot, and place a smaller metal pot inside to cook my rice and another to boil soup. On top of the pot, I can also place a plate of fish or chicken or minced pork to steam. Food keep warm in the steamer so that you do not have to reheat them.



If I use the rice cooker to cook or a pot to boil my soup, I will try to include a dish that requires steaming.



Use leftover leftover sauces and cooking oil in your new dish!



Plan meals for the week so that you can buy your ingredients in bulk which make them cheaper. Stock less perishable food and save by buying what is seasonal where you are.

If you like Chinese cooking, here are some recipes for cheap meals I created for my family. I did some of them in slides so that my children can learn to cook too.

Salad out of Leftovers
Perk It Up Dishes
Food Makeover

Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce


Fast food? Can't beat them? Join them!


And if, like I do, you have picky eater at home to feed, make your dish tastier with this magic sauce.


How cheap can you get if you are able to find ways to make use of food scraps to cook? Check out the food scraps used in making this Vegetable Broth.

When I was young my family used to collect a bag of cake scraps from a confectionery nearby. These are cut offs from the sides of baked flat cake layers. I discovered that if you crumbled the cake and mix it up with frosting, you can make Popsicle like these.

 I think you should not have any problem selling them if you want to. You can learn how to make it at Homemade Cake Pops - Sallys Baking Addiction. If you want more recipes using cake scraps just google “cake scraps”. By doing that I found 15 Incredible Uses for Leftover Cake.