Recent Posts
Fish Pepper Soup
Fish Pepper Soup
This is one of my favorite African recipes. I make this fish pepper soup fairly often and it is always different, which is great. One thing that changes is the spice powder. The base is always smoked paprika, white pepper, and bouillon. There are multiple additional spices that can be added to the powder including fennel, cumin, coriander, allspice, curry powder, njangsa, alligator pepper, African nutmeg, lemongrass, etc. That is really up to you. The other other thing that changes is whether or not I sauté the rest of the ingredients chopped or turned into a paste in the food processor. If you want your soup chunkier, don’t turn the ingredients into a paste. I like to use king fish for this soup. It’s inexpensive, flavorful, and very meaty for fish. Other fish that you can use include catfish, tilapia, cod, swai, snapper, or mackerel. You can either cut up your fish into smaller pieces if you’re using a fillet. I chose to keep my king fish steaks whole so I can serve 1 per person.Serve the soup with steamed rice or boiled plantains.
Servings: 4
Equipment
- Spice grinder
- food processor
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 lbs king fish steaks
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 1 habanero
- 1 tbsp ginger grated
- 1 stalk celery finely chopped
- 1/2 medium onion diced
- 6 basil leaves chopped
- 2 green onions chopped
- 4 cups water
- 1 bay leaf
- salt to taste
Spice Powder
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp white peppercorns
- 2 tsp chicken bouillon
Optional Spices
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tsp njangsa
Instructions
- Grind the fennel, cumin, njangsa, white and black peppercorns in a spice grinder. Mix them with the smoked paprika, and chicken bouillon. Set aside.
- Blend the onions, garlic, ginger, habanero, green onions, celery, and basil in a food processor until it is almost a paste.
- Heat up cooking oil in a large pot over medium heat. Fry the paste for 5-6 minutes.
- Add the spice powder mix. Fry for a minute.
- Pour in 4 cups of water. Add the bay leaf. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Season with salt.
- Add in the fish steaks. Simmer for another 10 minutes until they are cooked through.
Okonomiyaki Waffle Fries
Okonomiyaki Waffle Fries
Yes, I was under the influence when this creation happened. I had a bag of waffle fries and wanted to do more then dunk them in ketchup or cover them with cheese. While I was staring at the condiments in my refrigerator, I came across my Japanese mayo and okonomiyaki sauce. Ding! Ding! Ding! A light went off.(Yes, my light in my head goes ding ding ding.) I had all of the other ingredient toppings that would go on top of an okonomiyaki. All I have to say is Best Fries Ever!!!
Ingredients
- 1 lb waffle fries baked or fried
Toppings
- 1 large egg fried sunny side up
- 2 strips bacon cooked and crumbled
- Japanese kewpie mayo
- okonomyaki sauce
- bonito flakes
- nori flakes crumbled
- green onions chopped
Instructions
- Top your waffle fries with the fried egg and bacon first. Then squeeze the mayo and okonomiyaki sauce over the fries. Then top it with green onions, bonito flakes, and crushed nori flakes.
Dak Bulgogi
Dak Bulgogi
Dak bulgogi is chicken marinated in a bulgogi marinade that you typically see used with beef. You can use either breast or thighs. Your choice. I used thighs in this recipe. There are a couple of methods you can use for cooking the chicken. Most people don’t have an indoor grill that you’d use to cook the chicken like at a Korean bbq restaurant. You can simply pan fry the chicken with a little vegetable oil. If using this method, cut up the chicken into bite sized pieces before you marinade. The other method of cooking would be to either broil or grill the chicken. If preparing the chicken this way, I recommend keeping the chicken thighs whole. They will only take 7-8 minutes a side.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 6 tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp mirin
- 2 tbsp garlic minced
- 2 tsp ginger minced
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
Instructions
- Mix all of the marinade ingredients together.
- Marinate the chicken thighs for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
- Turn on your oven’s broiler. Place the thighs on a rack on a baking sheet lined in foil.
- Broil for 7-8 minutes a side.
