Halibut steamed with fresh ginger

Lunches has always been just 2 kids affair. I will eat whatever left (when what I cooked wasn't in the kids' favour) or just something else (when it is simply delicious to them). Like I say I have always been cooking and trying out new dishes. How can I not be sick of cooking the same dishes again and again for 1 year?

Halibut is a kind of fish, easily found in my local supermarket, so very happy with this dish made up of simple ingredients. Furthermore, this dish can amaze the kids with the sizzling sound at the last step of preparation. I purposely called my kids to catch the moment and they went "oooo". OK, they are mountain tortoise lah. :)

Ingredients (serves 4)

2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons dry sherry or shaoxing rice wine
2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 pound halibut fillets, or another meaty fish such as cod or snapper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons shredded fresh ginger
3 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion

Method

1. In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, sherry, and sesame oil, and stir well. Place it by the stove for preparing the sauce right after cooking. Put the vegetable oil in a small saucepan or small skillet and place it by the stove as well. Set a serving plate for the fish by the stove, along with a long-handled spatula or V-shaped metal tongs with which to transfer the fish from its cooking plate to its serving plate, where you will add the seasonings.
2. To use a standard steamer, fill the base of a steamer set or a wok with about 4 inches of water. Place the steamer basket over the water. Set out a plate that will fit inside the steamer basket, on which to place the fish.
3. Arrange the fish skin side down on the plate. (if you have more than one piece, leave a little space between them). Sprinkle the salt lightly over the fish. Scatter the ginger over the fish. Put the plate in position inside the basket or on the rack, and bring the steaming water to a rolling boil over high heat.
4. When the steam is flowing well, adjust the heat to maintain an even steam flow, and cover the steamer basket with its lid. Cook the fish for 10 minutes, or until it is done to your liking at the thickest part of the fish. Turn off the heat and leave the fish in the steamer while you heat the oil.
5. Place the small pan or skillet of oil over medium-high heat. Let it heat up until it is hot but not smoking, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and keep it handy.
6. Carefully transfer the fish to a serving plate, leaving any liquid behind. Quickly pour the soy sauce mixture over the ginger-covered fish, and scatter the green onion on top of the ginger. Slowly pour the hot oil over the top of the fish, expecting a big sizzle and gingery aroma. Serve hot.

Phew! What a big chunk of alphabets, but trust me, after reading a few times and understanding the order of the steps, it is nothing difficult. Actually, along with the steps are just explanation. You do not really have to follow so strictly. For example, you may prepare the sauces while the fish is steaming instead of having them standby around the stove (taking up precious counter top space) before cooking.

This dish is slightly too salty for my family's liking, so I reduced the seasonings when I cooked again. After that the kids love this dish to bits.

Due to infrequent cooking, I am not able to buy any spring onion, so all I had was ginger. I strongly believe that some orange shreds of carrot and spring onion will brighten up my dull looking dish.
Here's my steam halibut.

This recipe is taken from the book "Quick and easy chinese 70 everyday recipes" by Nancie McDermott.

Baked Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken

Although baking is my hobby but being a housewife, cooking is usually one of the default task. Since I cannot bake as often in the past, I try to find recipes that uses the oven.  I am worried that both the oven and my KA will go to waste. :-(

Actually, cooking in the oven saves some effort. I do not have to keep standing by the stove. I just need to do periodic checks on the food in progress. For the past half a year, I have collected quite a number of recipes and also tried on them. Some of them my kids like, some of them my kids do not. I will try to post by the "Last out, First in" method (ie, last to be cooked, first to be blogged. Haha)

I came across this recipe in Pinterest. You can also see it from this link http://www.daydreamkitchen.com/2012/08/baked-garlic-brown-sugar-chicken/.

Both my kids and hubby sang praises to this dish. Maybe it is the first time they try? But I am happy they like it. Here is my half eaten chicken.

I am sad that it doesn't look as brown, but who cares when the family like it. The recipe below is for my easy reference (of course you can refer to it too :) )

Baked Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken

Ingredients

4 boneless skinless chicken breast (I use chicken thigh meat)
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 tablespoon brown sugar.
3 teaspoon olive oil (this ingredient only appear in Pinterest )

Method

1. Preheat oven to 500F and lightly grease a casserole dish.
2. In small saute pan, saute garlic with the oil until tender.
3. Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar.
4. Place chicken breast in a prepared baking dish and cover lightly with the garlic and brown sugar mixture.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Bake uncovered for 15 to 30 minutes.


I hope you will like this simple dish. I think I am going to cook this again next week.

Coming back ...

It has been a long 7 months since I wrote a post. I am finally able to write a simple update now. Although I am not active in my blog, but with the handy handphone, I am able to keep in touch with all my friends in Facebook. They have kept me happy at my sad moments. Thank you very much my friends. I also have friends dropping me messages here but I usually took a long time to reply them as it is not so easy to access my blog through the handphone.

My mum passed away on 25th June. After living on earth for a big part of a life, all it takes was a 3 days funeral and everything became a past. After the funeral, I helped with packing of my mother's room while my brother was still on his no pay leave. It took on and off, a month to really clear up her room. I also cleared my store to house some of the things I inherited. Then comes the kids school tests ... and school holidays ... now it is the last term of the school which means SA2 is coming. In fact next week is the oral exam! Life has been hectic, busy and with the early sleeping time targeted at 12 nightly, it is getting harder to switch on the PC. Imagine I woke up late and two kids will get punished for lateness to school? So I cannot risk that by sleeping late now.

I hope I will slowly get use to updating my blog again, baking again, beading again, and not forgetting to use the bread maker and the sewing machine that I inherited from my mother.

Busy life goes on .... I still have to cook and wash. Been cooking and trying out new dishes which I need to update the recipe here. If not everytime I want to cook something, I have to look through my thousands of photo in my iphone, and some in my ipad, and some in the PC. It is my trend now to snap recipes from library books. Easier and faster than scanning them. Also avoid the situation for borrowing  a whole book when I just need that page. I guess you will see more recipes of dishes than bakes for the near future.

Now it is time to cook lunch for the kids before fetching them home. Morning time are used for housework and afternoon time are rightfully reserved to coach my kids. Bye for now, my friends.

A sad news

Dear friends and readers,

I will be busy with taking care of my mother as she is down with luekemia. I will not be able to handle my hobbies at the moment. Please pardon my absence.

sherlyn