I also came across an Eggplant and Roasted-Pepper Pasta recipe in a newsletter from Mary Stewart. This is how the eggplant is prepared:
-Heat 1/3 cup oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high. -Add eggplants, garlic, and 1 teaspoon salt; stir to combine. -Add 1/3 cup water. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally. -Add more water to cook if needed, until eggplants are very tender but still hold shape. -Should be ready in 10 minutes.
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.
