The Silent Room

Today I thought I’d try something a little different. I was kinda bored after my papers, so I went to the nearby mini-market to get some stuff to cook. Looking between poultry, seafood, and red meat, I opted to make something with fish. So I went ahead and gathered some ingredients to make my lunch. Here’s what I used:

• 1 large mackerel (ikan kembung)
• 1 large onion
• 2 lemongrass stalks
• 1 bulb of garlic
• 1 fistful of ginger
• 1 fresh red chilli
• 1/2 lemon
• Some chinese mustard leaves
• Oyster sauce
• Salt, pepper, 5-spice
• Corn flour

Preparing the Ingredients

Since I’m such a lazy bastard, I asked the mini-mart staff to gut and clean the fish for me. When I got home, all I had to do was make some deep cuts in the fish and rub it clean with some lime juice, tamarind and salt (mum’s kitchen – it always has everything).

Then I chopped up the onions, lemongrass, ginger and chilli into thin slices, crushed the garlic, and quartered the half-lemon. I made sure everything was washed clean beforehand because washing chopped up veggies is such a pain in the ass.

Stir-frying

The first step is to ‘prime’ the ingredients, so to speak. I heated some cooking oil in a small wok, and stir-fried onions, garlic, ginger, chilli and lemongrass – over a large fire. After the aroma has risen enough, I added a few tablespoons of oyster sauce, squeezed 1/8th of a lemon, salt, pepper, 5-spice and stirred a bit more.

Steaming (or rather, boiling)

Then I added 2 cups of water, and mixed in a few tablespoons of corn flour. Then I laid down the fish, mustard leaves, and the remaining lemon slices. I covered the wok and let it boil over a medium heat for about 10 minutes. That should cook the fish and thicken the gravy.

Makan Time

After 10 minutes, I scooped out the fish, lemon, chili and mustard leaves, and poured the gravy over it – leaving the other stuff behind (unless you wanna eat those, too). I served it with white rice (bungkus from the nearby mamak) and it was fantastic.

Extra Notes:

• The best fish to cook this way is white seabass (siakap putih), serving up to 4 adults.
• When laying the fish, make sure it’s sitting on the veggies. Otherwise the fish will stick to the wok.
• You can add more nice things such as bell peppers and mushrooms for extra color and flavor.
• Actually, you’re not supposed to boil the greens because you’ll ruin it. Add it later when you serve.
• Sprinkle some sesame seeds over the fish. The difference will surprise you.
• Feel free to substitute lemon with asam boi or asam keping.