Cooking lesson Pt 3

Fish in swimming position (Above) and below is the fish when cooked

Today is cooking lesson number 3 and I have attempted to learn more complex dishes which involve more skills than just stir fry. Before I go into the recipes proper I shall pen down a few more golden rules of cooking.

1) Cutting
The first toy that a cook must buy is the knife. And it must be a knife that suits the cutting style of the person. Some people like to use the forward slicing motion while others like the backward motion. Some people prefer small knives while others prefer bigger ones or even choppers. So whatever the case the maxim perfect practice makes perfect works here as you really need to train and train to get cutting right.

2) Deep frying
Always makes sure there is enough oil to engulf whatever you are deep frying. Then if the wok is too small make sure u bathe the fish with the hot oil. When putting the fish in the oil make sure u open up the belly and place it in a ‘swimming’ position. Then after the bottom is cooked turn the fish around and cook its spine. And always remember that only certain fishes can cook deep fried. So to divers they identify fish by their latin names, and to cooks we identify it by whether it is to be steamed or fried. Haha. And for myself to remember, stir fry use big wok while deep fry use small wok. Dunno why but it works.

3) Sauces and flavouring
The key is to balance the saltiness and the sweetness of the dish. The best chef would not even need to add sugar or salt to balance the taste but to lousy cooks like me I have to play cheat and add either sugar or salt to balance the taste of dishes.

Ok now to the recipes before I forget them. First up we have the corn soup that my dear loves so much. It is really quite simple.

1) Boil the chicken bone till it is cooked
2) Add 2 x corns, 1 carrot (sliced), red dates, 1 onion bulb (Big)
3) Then as usual let it stew until it is damn nice.
4) Add salt and pepper to taste

Next up is the Pork Ribs with Bitter gourd

1) Marinate the pork ribs with cognac, 1 tablespoon of hoisin sauce, pepper, sesame oil, cornflour (1/2 teaspoon)
2) Next remove the core of the bitter gourd then slice it up into rings.
3) Then throw one teaspoon of salt in it and stir it until the bitter gourd becomes soft
4) Cut up garlic, ginger.
5) Steam the ribs first in the steamer first to soften it
6) Prepare the wok and fry the garlic first (High Fire)
7) Then add in the ribs, stir vigorously and add water when necessary to prevent charring
8) Then add in light sauce, black sauce, black bean sauce, pepper then close with lid (Lower fire abit and allow the ribs to cook) *Cook longer if you want it soft and melt in your mouth feeling)
9) Then add in the bitter gourd and put in stock (whatever stock you have)
10) Lastly if you want crack an egg in it to add texture to the dish and wah lah you are done

Lastly the star player is the sweet and sour fish.
1) Cut up 3 colour bell peppers, 1 carrot, 2 onions, spring onion, Chinese celery, chilli padi, garlic and ginger into one bowl. (*Plus pineapples)
2) Prepare the fish by adding salt to both sides of the fish then flip it round and round
3) Add sesame oil and pepper to taste
4) Pour egg white over the fish then add corn flour to put the make up for the fish. Jus think of ladies putting on foundation before they start their make up.
5) Put sufficient oil to submerge the fish ¾ way
6) Then put the fish in with its belly open (*Need abit of skill and abit of enduring of pain when the oil hits your hands)
7) Constantly bathe the fish and allow it to cook thoroughly
8) The picture above will assist in telling you when the fish is cook. (Ie when it turns brown and crispy)
9) Take the fish out and place it on a kitchen towel. (3xkitchen towel folded into the size of one)
10) For the sauce, add in the veges that you put in 1 – First, the garlic and ginger, then onion, then spring onion + Chinese celery, and lastly the rest of the veges
11) Fry until it is cooked, then add in magi tomato and chili sauce. Then add abit of water to make the sauce thinner.
12) Lastly, add salt and sugar to balance the sauce. Please do taste the sauce before putting it on the fish and you are done.