Stir-fry Fish with Fermented Black Beans

Hi! Here's another quick and simple dish to add to the list. Aahhh.. this is a lazy weekend for me! :D


Stir-fry Fish with Fermented Black Beans
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Ingredients
- 1 Basa fish fillet
- Fermented Black beans (hmm.. this is tricky.. I don't know how to put the measurement for this.. around 20 beans? 1 spoonful? hehe)
- Garlic
- 1 stalk of spring onion

Method
1. Rinse some fermented black beans with water and mash them a little
2. Chop spring onion
3. Cut fish fillet into preferred size
4. Marinate fish with mashed fermented black beans
5. Chop garlic finely
4. Fry garlic in a pan till fragrant
5. Add marinated fish pieces with mashed fermented black beans
8. Stir fry fish pieces till they're cooked
9. Add chopped spring onion and stir through together
10. Serve with rice

Notice that I didn't add any soy sauce or salt to the dish. That's because the fermented black beans I used were quite salty. They gave the fish just the right amount of flavour. ;)

Quote of the day ~ A smile is the best accessory to wear ~

Khmer Fish Curry

This is my first food community project. Every month, Nicole from For the Love of Food has a foodie event called: Taste & Create. Nicole's job is to partner food bloggers and get us to cook something from our partners' blog. It's like picking a menu from a random restaurant but instead, we're our own chefs :) It's a pretty good way to cookcialize.

This month, my partner is Lauren from I'll Eat You. I decided to try her recipe for Khmer Royal Catfish. I was in Cambodia earlier this year to visit schools around Phnom Penh and Siem Reap for disadvantaged kids. I had been working to collect digital cameras to be given away to the students so that they could take pictures of their day-to-day lives. The pictures were to be put into a book and sold to raise funds for the schools to buy computer and such. So off I went solo, to discover the humble people, their lovely manners and generosity (even though they had so little themselves) and their courage to move on from a bitter past (more about my visit here).

The minute I saw Lauren's post I knew I had to give it a go.
Note: I've changed the original recipe according to my taste buds and items I had in the fridge. Go here for the original Lauren's Khmer Royal Catfish recipe.

Khmer Fish Curry (serves 2)
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• 2 tbs vegetable oil
• 1 fish fillets (about 400grams)
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 tbs fish sauce
• 2 tsp sugar
• 4 kaffir lime leaves, de-veined and julienned
• 1/2 cup water

for the paste:

• 2 tbs hot paprika
• 1 1/2 tbs sliced lemongrass
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 medium shallots
• 5 kaffir lime leave, de-veined
• 2 tsp chopped ginger
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1 1/2 tsp shrimp paste
• 1/2 cup water

Method
1. Put all the paste ingredients in a blender or food processor, combine till smooth and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a wok over med-high heat.
3. Fry the fish until golden brown. Set aside, covered, to keep warm.
4. Cook the paste and for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until aroma is released.
5. Add coconut milk, fish sauce and sugar. Cook 5 minutes more, stirring constantly.
6. Remove from the heat and add fish. Let sit for 1 to 2 minutes.
7. Transfer fish and sauce to a platter, garnish with julienned lime leaves. Serve with rice.