Hello!! I’m back from Melbourne and it was a whirlwind trip! Rehearsals, catch ups, filming, studio recording and managed to sneak a few glasses of wine in between. Needless to say, I ate tons of food (which will be blogged about in due time). To those who complain about the miserable cold weather, you might be taking it for granted! I loved the cold, it was a nice break from the constantly scorching hot country.

Naturally, it was a drastic change of 20 degree Celsius upon returning to KL. And the last thing I want to do is eating the same rich food I’ve been indulging in for the past week. Granted, it’s partly because the guilt has kicked in from all that hand to mouth exercise. So I guess this few days I’ll probably be eating light…. well, apart from the Beef Rendang I’m planning to cook for Hari Raya. Hur Hur.

The Teochew style steamed fish today is probably one of the lightest meals I’ve cooked lately. It’s nevertheless a joy to eat. I call it Teochew style because it’s how mummy does it. The traditional recipe that my grandma uses includes salted plum, but we’ve always kept with salted vegetables (kiam chai 咸菜), shiitake mushrooms, ginger, chili, tomatoes and soy sauce.  It’s one of the easiest dish to put together. Taking no more than 15 minutes. If you need to serve a few more people, feel free to use a whole fish. I like using clean tasting white fish. Today I’ve chosen a Halibut fillet, just enough for one.

1 Halibut fillet
4 slices of ginger, cut to thin strips
1 chilli padi, chopped
Half or 1 Tomato, cut into wedges
2 Shiitake Mushrooms, stems removed, sliced thinly
2-3 pieces of salted vegetables, sliced thinly
2 tbsp Shao Xing wine
2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce or a mixture of soy and fish sauce
1 tbsp Sesame Oil
3 tablespoon water
Juice of one calamansi lime
Coriander, to garnish

Line a few strips of ginger on a plate and place the fish fillet on top. Drizzle soy sauce, sesame oil and shao xing wine over the fish. And set aside until ready to cook.

Meanwhile prepare whatever steaming equipment you are going to use and wait for the water to boil.

Once the water is boiled, scatter the rest of the ingredients except for the lime, and steam on high heat for 10 minutes. If you are using a bigger piece of fish or whole fish, naturally you’ll need longer time. Just check that the fish is cooked before you switch off the heat. If you overcook it, the flesh would be tough.

Squeeze lime juice all over, and you are ready to serve! Oh and let’s pretend there’s coriander as garnish as I have probably left my brain somewhere in Melbourne and forgot to add it!

This is perfect with a plate of steamed green vegetables of your choice, and perhaps a light soup. A bowl of brown rice to soak up the umami broth. Yum. Most definitely comforting.

To all Muslim friends, Selamat Hari Raya! Have a lovely long weekend and eat up!