Fish is
nutritious and easy to cook. Chinese, especially, must have a fish
dish during special occasion meals, such as reunion dinner during the
Chinese New Year. Fish, in Chinese is pronounced as "Yu", which means
"abundance". Well, eventhough
preparing a fish dish is simple, you have to know the methods
of preparing the freshest dish possible.
First of all, knowing how to choose a fresh fish is
important. It is easy. Basically, there are 2 easy ways. First, look
at its eyes. Choose the fish with crystal clear eyes instead of blurry
ones. Next, open the fish gill and see if it is bright red. Dark red
or greyish indicates the fish is not fresh. Lastly, just gently press
on the fish body. You would want to choose the fish with a firm body.
Next, you want to make sure the fish is properly cleaned. These days,
you don't really need to clean the fish yourself as you can request
the fish to be cleaned for you. If you are quite turn off by the fishy
smell fishy smell after you have done cleaning the fish. Just remember
to clean your hands with lime juice. Very effective method.
I prefer to prepare the fish steamed simply because
it brings out the freshness of the fish and healthier. White pomfret,
for example, is best eaten steamed. However, sometimes the fishy smell
can put one off. To get rid of the fishy smell, just squeeze some lime
juice and rub it all over the fish. Then, scour the fish with boiling
water. Quicky drain the fish and place it on a plate. Put some
seasoning and
ginger
over the fish and steam it. There are some bigger fish variety
which is great for steaming as well, such as threadfin (ma yau) or
snapper. These fish is usually sold in cut slices. Since the fish is
cut, how do you know if the slice is freshly cut? Easy. Look at the
flesh
of the fish, it should be firm to the touch and has a glazed
surface.
If you prefer to fry a fish, why not try shallow
fry instead of deep fry which consumes more oil? With shallow fry, the
fish
is as tasty and cripsy. Just fry with less oil in a non stick
pan. Pour oil just to cover the surface of pan. Make sure the oil is
hot, so that it will not stick on the pan when turn over to fry the
other side of fish. Fry both sides till golden brown.
Make your Fish More Delicious:
