Archive for the ‘FISH – ALL’ Category
Tuna (actually Yellowtail not Tuna)
April 7, 2016 Lee
Leave a comment

 

Tuna (actually Yellowtail not Tuna)

Lee
Tuna is about as popular as chicken. I am not talking the tuna steaks or fillets, think canned tuna. This recipe is about making "homemade tuna" but without the cans and without tuna. In Tesco and fresh markets, yellowtail is very common, inexpensive, and tastes very much like tuna, but normally sold as whole fish. What this recipe is talking about is the smaller, 14-16 inch whole yellowtail fish one can buy in Tesco. This is a base recipe to get the "tuna" into a recipe usable state. There is no set quantities for this, if you have not done this before, this is very easy, just start with one fish and see how that goes. I have made this many times and when I do this again, I will take step by step photos, and revise the recipe to a more friendlier format.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 2 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 52 minutes
Cuisine American
Servings 0

Ingredients
  

  • 1 whole yellowtail fish, average size is about 14-16 inches

Instructions
 

  • Clean the fish by gutting and rinse the cavity, no need to scrub every part as that will not be used or even touched. There is no need to remove the head, fins, or skin, these will not be used.
  • Bring a pot of water to a boil, once boiling add the fish. Cook for about 20 minutes, the meat will start separate from the backbone and will flake easily with a fork.
  • When the fish is cooked through, remove the pot from the heat, cover, and let sit for about 20-30 minutes.
  • Once cooled, remove the fish from the water using a large wire scoop and place on a plate.
  • Using forks, pull back the skin and away from the meat. Then hold the tail and insert a fork near the tail area pointing towards the head and simply separate that side of meat from the backbone, flip over the tuna and do the same thing on the other side, discard the bones, head, and skin. Now you will have 2 nice big pieces of meat.
  • Now you have to remove the ribs, just use a fork and and lift the ribs out of the meat. There are no pin bones in this fish.
  • Now use the forks and chunk up the meat a little or a lot depending on what a recipe calls for. Place in a bowl and cover and refrigerate until used, This should last refrigerated for up 3 days. This makes several cans of tuna.
  • See, that was easy! You have fresh cooked "tuna", material for your compost pile, and no cans involved, all it takes is some time and effort on your part.

Notes

One average size can of tuna is approximately 1/2 cup. Some cans are smaller, some cans are larger, go with 1/2 cup per can, but with tuna, go a little extra as well, no one is going to complain. I have adjusted the tuna recipes on the site to reflect using this recipe as an alternative to canned. Remember the rule, 1/2 cup fresh "tuna" is about 1 can of tuna.
Used in Recipes Listed on this Site:
FISH - ALL,Fish - Tuna,INGREDIENTS
Grilled Tilapia
December 2, 2015 Lee
1 Comment

Grilled Tilapia

Rrayada Thayer, Thailand.
Tilapia is a very common freshwater food fish, it grows rapidly, lots of meat, and only a backbone and rib bones, no Y bones in the meat. This is inexpensive, we normally grill 1 fish per 2 people and have a side of just raw cut cabbage, cucumbers and spring onions and fresh cooked rice. We have made this at the house many many times. This recipe is for 1 whole fish for 2 people, more people, just add more fish, if you are a big fish eater, grill two for 2 people.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Thai
Servings 2 people

Equipment

  • Grill, Charcoal or Gas

Ingredients
  

  • 1 fish large tilapia, whole
  • lemon grass, fresh, several 3 inch pieces, smashed, see Step 2
  • ginger, fresh, and 1 inch piece, sliced thin, see Step 2
  • Kafir lime leaves, fresh, tear into several pieces, see Step 2
  • salt, lot of salt, like a bag of salt, see Step 3

Instructions
 

  • First thing you need to do is clean the fish, NO NEED to scale the fish, the salt will take care of that, just make a slit on the belly of the fish, or side, and remove entrails and wash out with clean water, remove the gills if leaving head on, if you wish to remove the head, no problem, do that now.
  • For the lemon grass, lime leaves, and ginger; if you buy the fish from an open fresh market, many times these will be included with the price of the fish, they are tied together and simply added to the bag with your fish. If you are buying the fish in say, Tesco, then you need these items on hand.
  • Stuff the cavity with the lemon grass, lime leaves, and ginger. Place in a large bowl.
  • Now for the salt, regular table salt is fine, if you can locate sea salt, that is fine, the salt is not for a flavoring of the meat, it is to remove the skin, salt is cheap, let the salt do the work, hence the reason not to scale the fish.
  • With the bag of salt, generously pour that over the fish in the bowl, you want to cover the fish in salt, spread it around with your hands as well, turn the fish over and repeat on the other side, you cannot have too much, you want the fish to be white.
  • With a hot grill, place the fish on the grill and cook about 8-10 minutes or so, then flip the fish over and cook the other side. It will get charred, that is the salt charring.
  • Take fish off from grill and place on a plate, at the table, using 2 forks, simply peel off the skin off and enjoy.

Notes

Tilapia runs about 60 Baht per fish, this is Blue Nile Tilapi. This would be $1 per meal per person for 1 fish, if you like fish and eat a whole one, then $2 per person, either way, a very economical meal.Β 
A note about the lemon grass, use several short pieces or one long, piece, either way smash it up good to let the flavor come out, if using a long piece, as in the photos, tie in a over hand knot after smashing.
* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,5 Ingredients or Less,: THAI,FISH - ALL,Fish - Tilapia,GRILLED / BBQ / SMOKER
Pan Fried Wahoo
November 11, 2015 Lee
1 Comment

Pan Fried Wahoo

Adapted from an internet recipe.
Fresh Wahoo cooked in a griddle pan after a 30 minute marinate in olive oil, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, lime juice, and chilli flakes. Can use a griddle pan or even grill. Wahoo can be caught around the coastal areas of Thailand and is an excellent, firm table fish. This marinade would work well with most firm white fish.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Course Lunch, Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 4 Wahoo steaks
  • Β½ cup olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 2 tablespoons garlic, minced
  • cayenne pepper, to taste
  • pinch red pepper flakes

Instructions
 

  • Make you marinade, mix olive oil, lemon juice, lime juice, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes in a bowl.
  • Rinse your fish and pat dry, place in the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  • Heat griddle pan to medium, you don't really need oil because you can use the oil from the marinade while cooking. If additional oil is needed, use a spoon or two from the left over marinade.
  • Add the fish to the griddle pan, and season with salt and pepper to your liking.
  • Turn the fish steaks over several times for even cooking, and sprinkle the garlic on about halfway through cooking. Total cooking time is 15-20 minutes.
  • Serve with a basic fried rice and vegetable. Healthy and nutritious.

Notes

Probably the easiest way you are going to get a fresh Wahoo is either buying from a local fisherman, which can be very reasonable! Or you can catch yourself when you go out ocean fishing. Wahoo can come close to shore and is also caught well off shore while trolling.
I can only give a price estimate based on what I paid to get a fresh caught Wahoo. One day I was at the ocean surf fishing, caught absolutely nothing (called fishing, not catching, for a reason) and as I packed up fishing kit, a small boat came ashore right in front of me. I was curious so I walked over to see what his catch was, this was a local Thai fisherman. He had a lot of fish, and the one that caught my eye, was a 3 foot (1 meter) Wahoo, still flopping, doesn't get any fresher! So I reach into my pocket and I am counting money and I asked the fisherman, very proud of his catch, how much for the Wahoo. He thought about it for just a few seconds and said 300 Baht, without even hesitation or trying to bargain him down, I pulled out 300 Baht and handed it to him! He was a happy fisherman!!! A 3 foot Wahoo makes a lot of steaks! 300 Baht is about $8.90, I got more than 10 steaks from this fish, so easily less than $1 per meal per person, but this depends on how one obtains the fish. Add a basic fried rice or a potato salad and vegetable on the side, still less than $1.
* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,FISH - ALL,Fish - Wahoo
Sardines in Olive Oil (Slow Cooker)
November 5, 2015 Lee
Leave a comment

Sardines in Olive Oil (Slow Cooker)

Adapted from an internet recipe.
Sardines are any type of small oily fish like sardines, mackerel, herring, or even milkfish, that have been preserved in oil or packed in sauce. I like sardines, I love sardines in olive oil, but I could only find one store that carried them in olive oil (Thai made as well) and was pricey to say the least. So I set out on an internet search and found this recipe, I have made it twice with excellent results.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Passive Time 3 hours
Total Time 6 hours 20 minutes
Course Lunch
Cuisine American
Servings 0

Ingredients
  

  • brine, ΒΌ cup salt in each 2 cups of water
  • 3-4 mackeral, cleaned with heads and tail removed
  • ΒΎ cup olive oil
  • ΒΎ cup water
  • ΒΎ cup pickle juice
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 2 tablespoons black peppercorns

Instructions
 

  • Clean your fish, for both times I made these I used 4 mackerel, remove the head, tail, insides, and clean well on the inside along the backbone. Leave skin on and bones in.
  • I took each fish and cut into 3 pieces, place all in a bowl with a lid.
  • Prepare your brine with ΒΌ cup salt for 2 cups of water. I do this separate so I don't make more brine than what is needed. Make a batch and pour over the fish pieces, make more as needed to cover the fish.
  • Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, I normally refrigerate overnight.
  • Remove the fish from the brine and rinse, place fish pieces in a slow cooker, add the olive oil, water, pickle juice, bay leaves, and peppercorns.
  • Put the slow cooker on Low setting for 3-6 hours, depending on size of fish, 3 hours for small fish, like milkfish, and 6 hours for mackerel. Check the fish about an hour before the time, you are looking for soft fish and soft bones, if the bones are not soft, go another hour and check again, repeat until the bones are soft.
  • When done and the fish and bones are soft, allow to cool and store in the fridge in olive oil.
  • Serve as is with or on a lettuce salad with tomatoes and garlic, or as a sandwich with bread spread with mustard.

Notes

Mackerel will run about 25 baht per fish, if using as a light meal, well under $1 per person. If I use in a sandwich, I use 3 fish pieces, split each in half, lunch for under $1. If I use in a tomato salad, I use 3 pieces and just kind of chop them up, salad for under $1.
Used in Recipes Listed on this Site:
#1 Go-To Recipes,* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,FISH - ALL,Fish - Mackerel,Fish - Sardines,Fish - Slow Cooker,INGREDIENTS