Tag: fish
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.
Chili Tamarind Salmon Tikka
Chili Tamarind Salmon Tikka
This is the same marinade as the one used in the chili tamarind pork chop recipe, just on salmon. I like to use farm raised Norwegian salmon. It has a nice amount of fat in the flesh and is better for grilling on skewers.
Equipment
- Food processor or immersion blender
Ingredients
- 1 lb salmon fillets cut into thirds
Marinade
- 1/4 medium white onion
- 1 Roma tomato
- 4 garlic cloves
- 3 dried Kashmiri chilies
- 1/4 tsp cumin powder
- 3 tsp tamarind paste
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- salt to taste
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
Instructions
- Soak dried chilies in warm water for 15 minutes.
- Heat up vegetable oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Add in the onions, dried chilies, garlic, and tomatoes.
- Sauté for 7 minutes until everything has a slight char. Let cool.
- Add the sautéed ingredients to a food processor or immersion blender. Purée until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the cumin, tamarind paste, and cayenne pepper along with a tbsp of the water the dried chilies soaked in. Mix that with the chili/tomato purée. Save a 1/4 cup for basting.
- Marinate the salmon for 4 hours, preferably overnight.
- Turn on your oven’s broiler. Skewer up the salmon. Place them on a rack on a baking sheet lined in foil.
- Broil for 3 minutes a side. Brush the top side with the extra marinade. Broil for 3 minutes. Flip the skewer, brush with the marinade, and broil for another 3 minutes.
- Let rest before serving.
Daing na Bangus
Daing na Bangus
Every time I see the word bangus, I giggle and accidentally read Bang Bus.Bangus is also known as milkfish and is eaten for breakfast in the Philippines. You can find bangus deboned at any Asian market for relatively cheap. I payed $3 for mine. They come plain and already marinated. If you buy a plain bangus, marinate it overnight with a 1/4 cup of vinegar and a couple of minced garlic cloves. Then simply fry for 5 minutes each side until crispy. Serve with garlic fried rice and fried eggs.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 marinated baby bangus
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat up cooking oil in a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add the bangus skin side up in the pan.
- Cook for 5 minutes a side.
- Season with salt and pepper. Serve with garlic fried rice and a couple of fried eggs.
