Grilled Garoupa

This is variation on a previous post, steamed garoupa and i cooked it at night, thinking I wouldn't be blogging it, but it turned out so well, i really thought i must -- just to remember what i did. The photos were taken this morning, and so the fresh grilled texture of the dish, doesn't really come through -- but here is my method.
I got the garoupa at 9.45am at Fresh Fish (FF) and there were lots. It was not expensive, it usually isn't. It was a medium sized fellow, under a kilo, 600 gms fully cleaned (at FF) descaled and washed (at home). I sliced open the belly, and scored the fish, making sharp, deep cuts through out the sides, and then made a marinade. I had thai in mind, but i think a messed around enough, so that it didn't taste that familiar.

For the marinate i mixed a couple table spoons of fish sauce, 1 of soy sauce, 2 teaspoons of rice vinegar, and enough kithul treacle to balance the sourness. i needed one cube of sugar as well. Just get it delicately balanced, and of course it will be salty. I mixed these in the small attachment to the mixer/blender, and then added a whole blub of garlic, peeled, half an inch of ginger, 1 large shallot (bombay onion), and 3 green chillies. I pureed this, into a fine paste, and put the fish back into the FF sarasara (polybag) it came in, and poured the puree into the bag, mixed it well with the fish, expelled the air, and tied it tight. (Bagging is a technique i learnt from TV shows -- my, its great, the marinade really works harder, since it is pressed so close to the meat, you need less of it, and its inexpensive if you reuse a bag).

A few hours later, we were ready to roll, when the critter who lives by the bar top announced she was very hungry. Out of the bag, into the cast iron skillet with a few drops of sesame oil, and layed out the fish to simmer, while the grill heated up. High heat grilling is key to this dish, so i should say, i use the grill element (1950W) of a medium sized oven, and place the pan about 3-4 inches below the grill. Now i use a skillet that can move from stove top to oven. I can't say how valuable this is -- and i really thank the day i got it! After the pan is hot, and fish is simmering, it went under the grill for 6 mins, and again, after turning the fish, for another 3. The bottom is already warm, so it doesn't need as much time on that side. Be careful not to over cook! Once it was done, i removed the fish carefully on a plate, adding fresh diced baby leeks, and sliced green cillies to the sauce in the skillet, let it braise over high heat for a min. Not too long. Finally pouring it over the plated fish.

I thought this was better that the steamed version, even. Now in most restaurants I've tried garoupa -- its very common in east Asian places -- the options are usually steamed or deep fried. I used to prefer the steamed, because the sauce was lighter; the deep fried version is some times cloyingly sweet. But in this version i made, somehow, perhaps because of the dry high heat of the magic grill -- the delicate flavor of the fish - it is a white, well textured, soft fish - was enhanced, but not over powered by the marinade/sauce. The accents of sour (rice vinegar)/sweet(kithul)/hot (ginger & green chilli)/salt (fish & soy sauce), were like notes of music playing on my tongue. Honest. I was not even that hungry, so i think i trust my judgment.

Steamed Garoupa

Steamed Garoupa
Originally uploaded by pradeep jeganathan.

this is the simplest of dishes, if you can find fresh Garoupa. I've found it at fresh fish from time to time, but perhaps readers would know of other markets where its available.

Have it cleaned in the store, or do so at home, (that is: descaled, gutted, well washed) -- marinade it with a delicate vinegar you like, a little sugar, salt or soy sauce, ground ginger and green chilles (in this version, I used the MD sauce, which is really awesome!).

Then i steamed it, less the five mins on each side. I thought it was great, delicate, yet substantial on the mouth, sweet, sour, and hot, with my flavorings.

A great lunch!

Pan Seared Linna

Ashan de Silva is a flickr buddy, I'm looking forward to meeting. He is a great photographer, and also I think, a cook. he also knows a lot about where to get what, and what's what :) He's been exchanging cooking tips with me for awhile, and some time ago, I asked him if there was a Sri Lankan equivalent of salmon. He suggested I try some Linna, ( Russell's Scad, which I had not even heard of, up until then). And yes, I got it at Fresh Fish; it's a smallish fish, a little bony but manageable. I fixed it several times, and with Ashan and my cooking lady Chandra's help figured out how to take away its rather bitter sheen of taste; lots of washing, and several lime rubs. Once that was done, I marinaded it in olive oil, crushed garlic and salt, scouring the fish on its sides in the usual way. The final touch came from Ashan also, and its really a keeper for any kind of fish. Once the fish is seared on both sides, open it out, and pour boiling hot olive oil, laced with pieces of chillie and perhaps a little more salt. This crisps the insides nicely.
A new dish, that was really a treat.

Thank you, Ashan.

Prawn Soup

This was an experiment that worked.
(If I give the impression that all my cooking experiments work -- I'm misleading you, lots turn out bad; but I don't blog about them! :))

I just imagined this dish, when I was watching TV. It subtle, kinda chinese/thai like, but at the subtle end of things.
Start with 20-5 super fresh prawns, and separate the heads, and shells from the bodies, deveining the bodies. Boil the heads/shells, in a 1 liter of water, reducing the heat so that its just simmer after you see the first bubbles appear. Add a few cloves of garlic, cleaned, and two or three bombay onions (shallots), cubed. Some whole black pepper corns would be nice.
Marinate the prawns in fish sauce & green chili sauce, adding enough for to coat each one. About a tablespoon of fish sauce and perhaps 1.5 of green chili sauce, and 50ml of sweet vermouth. Taste the marinate. Are the tastes balanced? Add a more sugar and/or salt, if needed.

After about 30 mins (of marinating/simmering), add a little vinegar and fish sauce into the simmer prawn shells/heads. Just a splash. Taste. The sour/salt should be a faint mixure in the background, the foreground being a stronger prawn flavor. Puree the whole liquid thing. Yes, the heads, shells and every thing. It will not trouble your mixure/liquidizer/belnder at all. Strain this, into pan, and bring to a simmer. Add the marinated prawns, for 4 mins.
Take off the heat; you are done.

Lunch at Blanco's (Khan Market, Delhi)

Nivi, Adithya and their son Niru took me out to lunch at this lovely restaurant in Delhi, after the conference. Since I was all done with work as such, and it was the weekend to boot, we started with drinks. I had my favorite vodka martini, but nivi's drink looked tempting also :).


then we had appetizers.
in india, my friends never order the mains with the appetizers. they eat what comes, wait, decide if they want more appetizers, and then if they want more drinks, and then order the entree. its like my school friends here in colombo, when they have bites before dinner. but then they like to go to another place for dinner. i like the delhi system, you don't have to move, after you sit down. :)
the appetizers here were great. the asparagus and wasabi mash wraps were a subtle, yet tangy treat, and the shrimp and pork wraps (a new combo for me), with hot sweet sauce went down very well.



note to self: i should try asparagus wraps at home!



my main dish was grilled salmon, with orange sauce. it was very nice, but not as prefect at the appetizers; mainly the orange sauce being slightly too sweet, and not that citrussy. I prefer the orange reductions I've been working on, that mix sweet, citrus and bitter in a balanced way. But still it was a treat to have salmon.



Then in helpless over indulgence, I had the triple chocolate mousse for dessert. I think it hard to make softer mousse, and have them keep, but I do I prefer this. I must work on chocolate mousses, and see what I can do.




what a lovely lunch it was!

Orange Shrimp, with blanched peel

it struck me, some months ago, when i got my basic grilled shrimp right to my satisfaction, that i might want to figure out another way to make shrimp or prawns. so i've been working on an orange variation, which has progressed quite well. i start with a shrimp/prawn sauce, that i've described in a previous post, linked up above. when its plain grilled shrimp i'm making, i some times add some thai fish sauce, or anchovies into the shrimp stock, which is basically made of the shells and tails (either boiled down in water/wine or pressure cooked, pureed, and strained). for the orange variation, i hold the fish sauce/anchovies and add an equal amount of orange juice (sugarless; fresh squeezed would be best, of course), as it reduces. reduce this until its thick. marinate the shrimp in that, with crushed garlic, and chilli pieces for a few hours or over night, in a cold fridge.

slice the peel of an orange -- and its best to pull off the flesh with your hands in a smooth motion, one quarter at time (i prized it out with a knife this time, and it was too thick, but i have done this right before) -- into the thinnest silvers you can manage and adds loads of table salt, (yes loads), and keep it in a separate dish as the shrimp marinades.
when you are ready to cook, grilled the shrimp, still in the marinade, for about 6 mins under a very hot grill, adding olive oil and butter before you start. wash out the salted peel several times, and blanch, (that is boil in water) for 3 mins or so. add fresh squeeze of orange over the shrimp, and then add drained peel as garnish on top.
i didn't even do it right this, and it was still very very good. the value added is worth it; the strong, burst in your mouth citrus of the blanched peel, with the slightly sweet, very savory shrimps, inflected with two flavors of orange, fresh and reduced. I had this is with toasted bread, and a bottle of beer, and I am feeling very good, thankee!

And I fixed this again, in Delhi at the end of Feb, 2009, with Appu & Mary's help.

Roast Seer Fish, in Sweet Turmeric Cream

Roast Seer Fish, in Sweet Turmeric Cream
Originally uploaded by pradeep jeganathan.

I just had lovely fish dish, which I thought to share.
I took a slice of seer, marinated it in a little vinegar, with a sprinkling of salt, lots of crushed (pressed) garlic, and roasted at 500 F for 12 mins, with sliced Bombay onion and a capsicum.
Its served with a thick sweet turmeric sauce; (two heaped spoons of coconut milk power, to 1/4 cup of hot water, two pinches of turmeric, one pinch of salt, a big teaspoon of sugar, and chille pieces) with pickled olives on the side.

Provencal Fish Stew

The fish stews of southern France are legendary. And in a short trip, I am quite certain I didn't have the 'real' one. Still, the basic idea, simmering a variety of fish and shell fish, in stock, herbs, saffron and tomato isn't that complicated. In fact, this was what a fisherman's wife did, with left overs from the catch -- that's way back when, wives cooked. :)
I had one in the old city of Nice, and it was good, with the rouille and croutons. The gravy was thick, thicker than i thought it would be perhaps since it was un strained. And tasted more of a tinge of tomato than saffron. Perhaps it was inauthentic.
I've been trying fish stews myself -- and now I think I shall branch out into a french inspired version with seer, shark, shrimp, and cuttle fish -- simmered in fish head stock, inflected with karavala (dried fish), ginger and green chille, balanced with vinegar and a little sugar. Watch out for it.
Until then...

Fish Stew

Shark isn't the most popular fish in Sri Lanka, I don't think. And in times of trouble, its totally avoided, that I know.
But hey, its has a fleshy taste and chunky texture that I like -- and its half the price of seer. I've trying to work out a really great shark stew, and I've made some progress. Well its basic, but that's what's nice about shark you don't have to do much to it, for the dish to announce its flavor.
What I've been doing -- with modifications -- is stewing fresh shark in a little bit of vinegar and sugar, with quarters of Bombay onions, tomatoes and crushed garlic. Seasoned to taste, of course.

Then I bake this in a closed, heavy, oven proof dish for about 30-40 mins., or 20 in the microwave, which also works well.
This is a low hassle, one dish meal -- let me know if you try it.

Lunch in Amsterdam

A few days ago, I had a lovely lunch at Amsterdam restaurant made possible by a colleague here, Markha. Since I had told her I was keen on food, she went into a lot of trouble to find a place in the Netherlands ‘which takes cooking seriously,’ – as she put it. There are good restaurants here, but also, its true a lot of mediocre ones. De Kas, founded by a Michelin star chef, is an exceptional place, which grows the many vegetables and greens, used in its dishes in an in a old municipal green house, right in the city. In every dish I had there, the greens were so fresh you could smell each one, just would if you were walking in a green house. That was remarkable sensation.

We had the fixed menu, there is only one -- for lunch a least, but it did not leave one wanting more.

there were three starters -- with the roasted fennel bulb, wrapped in ham, and the succulent roasted lobster claws, with the faint bitter after taste with a fleshy sweet sour beetroot accompaniments being quite exceptional its the subtle balance of their flavors. I'm resolved to try this, wrapping and roasting, with banddakka or green beens.

The main course was baked plaice, with a saffron cream sauce that highlighted the deep, mellow taste of the carefully cooked fish.

Marinated Strawberries were central to the trifle inspired dessert, that was topped with a yoghurt ice cream.

If you've been following my blog, you know I've been a little strawberry obsessed, recently. What I got from this De Kas dessert is how well delicate strawberries took to a subtle marinate. I'm going to try that at home.
But it didn't beat what I think of as two of my specials, strawberry curd and strawberry orgasm.

Smoked Eel & Cherry Tomatoes

This is a favorite of mine when in Holland, which it must be said, is not known for its great culinary traditions. But all around Amsterdam, where I am now, various kinds of raw and cured fish can be had, at little stalls. Usually smoked eel is eaten plain -- it is like cold, lightly cooked bacon on the tonge, until you bite in for completely different fishy, eeliness of the thing. its quite terrific plain. (the japanese have it sushi, but i think its cooked or well soaked in soya sauce).
but still there is a film of oil that coats the tonge, and I thought the tart, sweetness of cherry tomatoes might well cut into the oiliness of the eel.

so this time, i went to a super market, and got eel and tomatoes -- and yes, i was right. the juxterposition of tastes and flavors worked as i had thought they might, but also crisp, yet juicy texture of tomatoes contrasted well, with the meatiness of the eel.


i had seconds; and then i slept.

Fish and Tomato Nosauce

This is a dish in progress again. That’s a lot of stuff in progress, but it doesn’t mean its all heading for a big hurrah. Ha, ha.

Well there the main experimental part of this dish is to try to use mousses to transform/supliment flavors that we Sri Lankans, know well – so that they are recalled but not repeated in a dish. Is that a mouthful? Hopefully it’s a tasty one.

When I was a child, growing up in Colombo, we always had issahara kame (dinner eaten in the front of the house/ anglicized food) for dinner (which I guess is/was kind of common, among the middle classes) – and my sister and I would always fight over the tomato sauce. It was MD, cos that was the only one there was, I think, and you had to jam the bottle top in the door, tighten carefully, just in case you crushed the neck, holding the bottle with a kitchen towel before you got it open, and then of course, it would not want to pour out, until it was beaten soundly on its hard glass bottom, for a long time. But it was good, and we would finish our ration of a bottle a week, our mother had us on – well, for she said, its not really food, and you shouldn’t have too much of it – some times by mid week. Oh! Well, I dunno about every one else, I still love tomato sauce. Now that MD just a brand, and there are tons more, they have a ‘traditional’ line. Which is the old fashioned stuff, for people like me, who were raised in the tasty cusp of colonialism and socialism.

In this dish, which like I said before, is part of an effort to recall taste with out repeating it (Why? Why not just repeat? Well, for some thing different, is all!) I use tomato mousse to replace MD tomato sauce. The main dish is grilled seer, with garlic and olive oil, with a sweet sour tomato onion garish, with a side of pickled cumber. That much is straightforward, the tomato mousse is new. I have been working through mousses recently, with straightforward ones in the bag now. But my tomato mouse is complicate cos its got invoke the right taste, with out well, mirroring it. I opted to use tomato paste (that’s very pure, usually, taste wise, just tomatoes and salt) and chili pieces, almost in a 2:1 ratio, but it could have been hotter. I also added ½ teaspoon of geletine to ½ tablespoon of hotwater mixed well, into the paste. It was fine, taste wise, folded into cream that already sweetened (I couldn’t get the other one), but the graininess was annoying. Next time, I will try it with chili power and finally, break down and simply use a sauce.

The rest of the dish was simple; I will post a how-to on the grilled fish stuff later.

PS: In the evening, I re did the tomato mousse; with some left over sauce, tomato paste and chili powder. about a 1/3 each, and added a little less cream, about another 1/3 may be little more. Kept the geletine at the same level. It was stunning, absolutely stunning.

Dosa or Dosai or Thosai

Dosa, Fish Head and Pol Sambol
Originally uploaded by pradeep jeganathan.

SC, the kind critter who cooks my lunch and does other house keeping things in the apartment, made dosai for lunch today. Which I had with fish head curry, and coconut sambol. I was very hungry, but I stopped long enough for a photograph.

when she makes it, and generally, when Dosa is made at home in Sri Lanka, at least in the south, which includes my mother's kitchen, and she is from the north, originally, as they say -- the thing is a soft, thick pancake.

but that's quite different, in size, texture and taste, from the south Indian variety, which I love even more -- crisp, paper thin, rolled up, and eaten with a wet coconut chutney.

Here is one I got from Shanthi Vihar, the restaurant at Thunmulla, in Colombo, served on a banana leaf, with red and green coconut chutney.

Grilled Garlic Shrimp

Grilled Garlic Shrimp
Originally uploaded by pradeep jeganathan.

i've been working on this dish for ever. at least four years. the classic way of doing it gives a sharp, strong flavor that lots of sri lankans like -- (that's garlic, chilli pieces, olive oil and butter) -- but i've been trying to improve on that.
in this variation, i marinated the shrimp in a puree of shrimp (2 to a cup of dry vermouth) boiled down with anchovies (4 small ones to the cup). after letting it sit in the marinade, i added the chilli, butter and for the olive oil, i used what was in the anchovy can.

it was good, but i am not sure its right. (:

Fish (head) Soup, again

Fish head soup, is a great favorite of mine. Perhaps its a gross out for some, but don’t avoid it, until you’ve tried it! I make by boiling the fish head to break it up, then browning it and simmering it for hours, with garlic, a few tomatoes, and black pepper. I add a little karavala (dried fish), washed out first in boiling water, quite early. This gives the soup a really special taste.

I’ve blogged about this before, but this time, after the soup was done, I strained it, and creamed it with coconut milk power, topping it off with blanched pokchoy; so it looked a lot more 'sophisticated.' Ha ha.
No, its not a karavala hodda, but it recalls that – a favorite thing of mine with rice – but is subtler, richer and crunchy on the touch with the greens.

Fish, bean thread and salad

Fish, bean thread and salad
Originally uploaded by pradeep jeganathan.

A simple lunch.

Garlic Shrimp

It wasn’t the perfect dish, but it a start of some thing.
The grilled garlic shrimp, with olive oil and chopped red chilies was alright, but that’s easy.
I added sun dried tomatoes in a shrimp/arrack reduction, with a kithul hakuru/balsamic vinegar balance, but that over powered the shrimp sauce. So I need to re-do that.
The green beans were just blanched in boiling water, and were a very crisp counterpoint to the shrimp. 

Fish Soup and Ingredients

Fish Soup and Ingredients
Originally uploaded by pradeep jeganathan.

and there it is!
for more see:

For Fish Head Soup

For Fish Head Soup
Originally uploaded by pradeep jeganathan.

It turned out very nice; I browned the fish with lots of garlic, and tomatoes, sliced shallots, and then cooked it for hours, on a simmer. My secret ingredient was sautéed dried fish (karavala) – which I think add some thing to the dish.