Day 104 : Braised Red Snapper With Bitter Gourd

BRAISED RED SNAPPER 

WITH BITTER GOURD

Today, Bryan is preparing braised fish with bitter gourd. 

I am asking him to do a curry fish dish but he says he wants to "finish up the bitter gourd that's left in the fridge otherwise it's gonna go bad." 

Yeah, he hates it when that happens. He's also boiling lotus soup in the pressure cooker. At the same time, boiling white rice in a second pressure cooker. 

Yes, we have 2 magic cookers. Bryan's mother gave us hers some time ago. It is amazing how easy it is to prepare lotus soup with the pressure cooker. You literally just toss everything in and let the pot transform the ingredients. :D

3 simple steps :

1. Boil the Soup

2. Fry the Fish

3. Braise the Bitter Gourd & Fish

1. Boil the Soup

Here's our pressure cooker. 

Fill half the pot with filtered water.

Toss in dried octopus, chicken carcass 

lotus (sliced), goji seeds and seasalt.
Close lid. Turn on flame.

The soup is ready within 20 -30 minutes.

Garnish with chopped spring onions.

Justine remarks, Hey, traffic lights! :D

The soup is very tasty and absolutely divine.

The Braised Fish Ingredients

 red snapper, bitter gourd (pre-soaked in water), 

ginger, shallots and spring onions.

2. Fry the Fish

Season the fish with seasalt, black pepper 

and arrowroot powder before frying. 

We only need to fry the fish lightly, 

since we are going to braise it in a bit.

Remember the 3 guide rules for frying a fish, 
without having to battle with the splattering oil : 
Hot Pan, Hot Oil and Dry Fish. :D 

The Sauce

In a small bowl, mix some organic taucu miso 

and arrowroot powder with water.

We are about to prepare the bitter gourd.

3. Braise the Bitter Gourd & Fish

Stir-fry the bitter gourd with shallots and garlic 

in sesame seed oil. Add the Fish in.

Pour in the sauce mixture. 

Close lid and allow to simmer.

When ready, garnish with spring onions.

Enjoy the meal!

The Condiment

chilly-garlic in dark shoyu

I'm sorry to say that my camera battery went off, and I wasn't able to snap further photos after the one on the top page. Dinner was awesome. The fish was crispy and sweet, the bitter gourd was not at all bitter. Not even a hint or an edge of bitterness. 

Bryan thinks it's because he soaked them before frying. I think it's because of the braising. The gravy with the chilly condiment was delicious! Don't even get me started on the lotus soup ... Simply tantalising, to say the least!

I had 2 shakes of The Green Drink today. 
No lunch. Only dinner.


To Sum Up
2 shakes & 1 meal
Juice. Fruit. Hemoberry. Water. Coffee.

Time of Posting : 3:08 pm (Friday)

Day 103 : Vegetarian Noodles With Bitter Gourd

STIR-FRIED VEGETARIAN NOODLES 

WITH BITTER GOURD

This evening, I am gonna fry some noodles. Bryan is out. So Justine is helping me in the kitchen. She's frying and I'm tossing stuffs into the pan. My mother has just brought a tray of fish cakes. Perfect. I'm just gonna add them in the noodles. There's only spaghetti noodles in my cabinet. So, am gonna use that. This is a very simple meal to prepare. :D

3 simple steps :

1. Boil & Blanch

2. Add Vegetables

3. Toss & Garnish

1. Boil the noodles

in salted water until al dente.

Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a separate small pot,

blanch the bitter gourd 

in boiling salted water 

to reduce the bitterness.

Drain and set aside.

 The Ingredients:

Mushroom, carrot, bitter gourd, bell peppers, 

spring onions, garlic and chillies.

 2. Saute garlic and chillies in sesame seed oil.

Add the vegetables. Stir-fry. Enjoy the moment. :D

 Mix dark shoyu, oyster sauce, seasalt, pepper 

and arrowroot powder in a bowl of filtered water.

Pour in.

 3. Toss in the noddles. Mix well.

Garnish with whatever You have 

and serve immediately!

 Fish cakes from my mother.

 Here's my dinner. :D

Yum-yum!

 Close-up of Bryan's plate. 

He came back about half an hour later. 

Dinner was still warm so I did not have to re-heat. :D

  I had my one shake of The Green Drink this morning, skipped lunch (intentionally) and had noodles for dinner.

To Sum Up

1 shake & 1 meal

Juice. Fruit. Hemoberry. Mixed Nuts. Water. Coffee. 

Time of Posting : 6:55pm (Thursday)

Day 102 : Fried Rice With Honey Roasted Meat & Egg

 FRIED RICE 

WITH HONEY ROASTED MEAT & EGG

(& LEFTOVER LAMB STEW)

Today, we are going to fry some rice for dinner. There is still quite a bit of lamb stew left from the night before. I have brought out the honey roasted meat from the freezer, the one that Bryan's mother brought when she came to visit. :D

1. Fry the Egg

Remove from the pan and set aside.

2. Saute garlic and the strips of meat.

3. Add leftover brown rice.

Add seasalt and pepper. Add dark shoyu.

Toss in the fried egg.

Garnish with lettuce and spring onions. 

This is Bryan's plate. Mine is at the top of the page. :D

The lamb stew tastes even better today!

There's still some chilly-garlic condiment 

left to spice the meal up. Yummy!

By the way, it only took Bryan 

10 minutes to fry the rice.

I had my one shake of The Green Drink this morning, 

egg sandwich for lunch and fried rice for dinner.

To Sum Up

1 shake & 2 meals

Juice. Fruit. Hemoberry. Water. Milk Tea.

Time of Posting : 6:09 pm (Wed)

Day 101 : Lamb Stew With Pasta (Pressure Cooker)

LAMB STEW with PASTA

(Pressure Cooker)

This evening, we are going to prepare lamb stew with the pressure cooker. In 3 simple steps :-

1. Sear the Lamb

2. Add the Vegetables

3. Boil the Pasta

The Ingredients

onions, garlic, carrots, potatoes, lamb shoulder, 

brown gravy mix, cinnamon stick and star anise

1. The Lamb

Chop the meat into bite size.

Marinate with seasalt, black pepper, 

arrowroot powder and rosemary herbs.

Pressure Cooker : Round 1
 Saute garlic and onions until fragrant.

Sear the meat.

Add the brown gravy mix (with water).

Add mushroom stock (no preservative) and seasalt.

Toss in cinnamon stick and star anise.

Close lid. Turn on flame.

 

The pressure cooker will let us know when it's done.

The red button will drop in about 20 minutes or so

and that's when we open the lid to check. 

At this point, let me assure You, the aroma is intoxicating!

When I sent Bryan a text message to get some large mushrooms, I really did not expect them to be of this gigantic size! King Oyster Mushrooms, they are called apparently. The spoon by the side is a dining spoon. Not a teaspoon. So You'd have an idea of how large these mushrooms are. :D

2. Add Vegetables
Pressure Cooker Round 2

Add the potatoes, carrots, mushrooms and some green olives. 

Close lid. Turn on flame for the second time.

Black olives would have been more ideal for a contrasting color but we only have green ones. Work with what we've got.

Again, the pressure cooker will let us know when it's done. 

Roughly about 15 minutes.  

Dish out the delicious stew and sprinkle some 
spring onions on the top. 

At this point, Bryan says, "The smell is phenomenal, 

if I may say so myself, and I'm definitely saying so ..." 
I'm saying so too ... Ooh, definitely saying so too!

I am taking a close-up shot 

of the lamb stew from THIS angle ...

... THIS angle ...

... and THIS angle! :D
Good, all angles covered.

3. The Pasta

While waiting for the contents to cook in Round 2, 

boil spaghetti noodles in salted water until al dente.

Drain and mix with extra virgin olive oil and a bit butter.

Dish on to individual plates. Wait patiently. :D

Must-Have Condiment

Chopped garlic and chillies.

Add a dash of sesame seed oil and dark shoyu.

Oooohhhh ... Let's drool a bit more, 
and take another snapshot 

one more time, before we serve ...

Justine's plate.

Bryan's plate.

A close-up of my plate 

BEFORE tossing the pasta about.

AFTER tossing ... :D

Oh boy, what an absolutely wonderful dinner. 

I'm sure our neighbours could hear repeated echoes of HmMmm-mMm-mMm throughout dinner. :D My, my, the lamb is absolutely tender and thoroughly juicy and the potatoes literally melts in the mouth. The carrots are sweet and the mushrooms have a springy bite, surprisingly. The gravy on the pasta is, ohh, definitely, definitely, out - of - this - world! Super-duper AWESOME delicious!

Today, I had my one shake of The Green Drink in the morning, noodles for lunch and lamb pasta for dinner.

To Sum Up

1 shake & 2 meals

Juice. Fruit. HemoBerry. Water. Milk Tea.

Time of Posting : 5:27 pm (Tuesday)

Day 1OO : Pan Fried Fish in Marmite Sauce

PAN FRIED FISH in MARMITE SAUCE

(IKAN PARANG / WOLF HERRING)

Today is our 100th day blogging about dinner! 

Justine reminds, Today's also 10-10-10. 

At the time the top photo was uploaded, 

the time stated here on the draft was 10:10 pm.

Oh my, what a special day indeed!

Bryan is preparing dinner this evening. 

We're having fish and vegetables with brown rice. :D

1. The Fish

Season the fish with seasalt, pepper, 

five spice powder and arrowroot powder.

Fry the fish in medium heat.

Perfect!

Remember the 3 commandments 

to observe when frying fish :

Hot pan, hot oil and dry fish.

The arrowroot powder helps to keep the fish dry,

and gives the sides a crispier texture. 

2. The Sauce

In a bowl of hot water, mix a teaspoon of Marmite, 

seasalt, brown sugar, organic dark sauce, 

shoyu and arrowroot powder (thickening agent).

Saute garlic, onions and ginger 

in sesame seed oil until fragrant.

Pour in the Marmite mixture.

Bring to boil. Sauce will thicken.

Pour over the fish. :D

Garnish with spring onions and carrots (strips).

3. The Vegetables

Water-fry broccoli, carrots, french beans and bell peppers.

Add oyster sauce and water.

Toss and stir. Dish out. 

Scatter sunflower seeds.

Oh, dinner is just superb! The fish is super-delicious. Fresh and crispy on the sides. The sauce is so good with the rice as well as the fingers. :D The vegetables are crunchy and wholesome. Absolutely yummy! :D

Day 99 : Spicy Tuna Tomato Pasta

SPICY TUNA TOMATO PASTA

This evening, dinner will be just for two. Justine and myself. Bryan is outstation. I am asking my daughter whether she wants to take a break from her books and try to de-stress and un-wind a bit in the kitchen. She says YES. She's all for it. :D 

So, I'm gonna let her cook tonight. I'll prepare the necessary ingredients for her though. We are going to cook pasta tonight. Quick and easy. No fuss. Plus, we are pasta lovers.We can eat pasta every night. :D We think some of our ancestors may just be from Italy. Grin.

1. The Pasta

Boil the pasta in salted water until half-cooked. 

Drain and set aside.

2. Saute Ingredients

 Saute garlic, onions, ginger and chillies 

in olive oil until fragrant.

ingredients in photo : tuna, chillies, ginger, garlic, onions, egg, spring onions 

3. Add On

Add the chunks of tuna.

Add basil herbs, seasalt and pepper.

Add tomato puree. Add water.

Bryan wasn't around to blend the tomatoes 

so we are using tomato puree straight from a can. 

Add the pasta noodles. 

Mix well and simmer until 

the half-cooked noodles are done.

Squeeze some lemon juice over.

When the noodles are done, turn off the flame.

Add the beaten egg and toss well.

Sprinkle the spring onions, sunflower seeds and a pinch of black sesame seeds over the pasta and add a slice of lemon for a bright garnish. We are having our spaghetti with a side salad topped with mayonnaise and some green olives. 

The spaghetti is absolutely tasty-delicious and we are enjoying our pasta dinner very much. 

Bravo Justine!