A late Happy New Year to all !! LOL. Took a blogging break during the crossover and am pretty much happy to be back in action once more. Well, you can still find me on IG at @eatwhattonight and Facebook, sharing recipes there and then, when I am really lazy to on the laptop. Especially after facing a day’s work at the computer screen, my evenings are starting to become so precious now.
Nevertheless, this is still a platform where I wanna seriously document down what I’ve tried in the kitchen thus far, as it is far easier to search for any single recipe should I looking for one.
Supposedly to be resting in bed too now, because am down with a bad flu once again. Sigh. It seems that the health is really taking a toll on me in the recent months. Guess I am really getting old !! So I had better make sure my 2018 resolutions have to be accomplished, so that I can live life to the fullest !! LOL.
Ok I know, a whole lot of nonsense babbling there. Let’s come back to the real food stuffs. I don’t is it because I am sick, the craving for food which I shouldn’t be eating now seems to be greater than usual. LOL. So that’s this Szechuan Bean Paste Grilled Fish which I attempted previously after Mom gifted me with the yellow strip fish which is pretty much decent for one to two pax.
I fused it with a blend of Szechuan peppercorns and spicy bean paste and had it grilled on banana leaves. It’s not difficult to imagine, isn’t it ? The aroma of the peppercorns, infused with the spice from the bean paste together with the banana leaves, that’s quite a wholesome grilled thing. In fact, I believe many of us should already know that anything to serve or grill on banana leaves are given that extra aroma as compared to when you are just purely grilling food by itself.
But to ensure the banana leaves doesn’t get burn out easily yet having to ensure the fish gets cook quickly, you need to splatter quite a fair bit of oil which might makes the dish pretty oily. To eliminate that, I pre-steam the fish before having it on the grill for a couple more minutes. The fish gets cooked, the aroma from the grill stays and the banana leaves doesn’t get burn out.
So here’s to sharing this simple and fuss free recipe which I hope I can get to eat this once again when I am recovered !! So shooo away, bad virus !! LOL.
Enjoy !
- 1 fresh whole fish, anything of your choice fit for 1-2 pax (adjust the following accordingly if you are having a bigger fish)
- 1½ tbsp spicy bean paste
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp Szechuan peppercorns, crushed coarsely
- ½ ginger flower, sliced
- 1 thumb size ginger, sliced
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 pc banana leaf
- Make a few slits on the fish on both sides. This is to ensure that the fish gets cooked evenly.
- Steam the fish on high heat for approximately 10 mins.
- Transfer the fish on top of the banana leaf with a plate underneath (in case the leaf breaks).
- Place/rub all the rest of the ingredients except the oil, all over the fish.
- Heat up a grill pan with 2 tbsp of cooking oil. Place the banana leaf with the fish in it and grill on both sides for around 4 minutes.
- Garnish as desired and serve hot with rice.
