Sunday. That's the day none of us work and I decided not to spend my free time standing in the kitchen. I would prefer to do some other things other than cooking. I passed the baton to the hubby. Hubby has his own things to do so the baton is passed to mi madre. Last Sunday, we had something very simple. It's just chicken with white fungus soup. These are things you need:
- 1 whole chicken *you don't need a whole chicken if there's only two of you and you definitely do not need a whole chicken if you only like to sink your teeth in the tender thigh meat*
- Garlic *Put how many cloves you like*
- White peppercorns *Just shake it in la*
- 1 clove *serious... 1 will do*
- 2.5 litres *That much water will serve for 6 person, please do your Maths, but should not be lesser than 1 liter or else it will dry up before you even serve*
- 1 head white fungus *Don't like then use 1 will do*
- Carrots *Up to you how much you like, sometimes I use half a carrot and another half I feed them to my rabbits*
- Onion *Whatever size you like, cut into wedges*
- Salt *to taste, obviously*
If you do not want any carb. for your dinner, forget about the noodles you see in my plate. You can change the noodles to something you like. In cooking, one need not follow the recipes to the dot. The seasoning according to recipes will kill off the joy in cooking and eating. Follow your heart with a big dash of common sense :D Well, if you have no sense, then use your sense of humour. If you have no sense of humour, please don't cook.
Making a pot of soup sounds easy at times, jump dump everything in. If you like a less oily soup, I suggest you follow my style.... hehehhehee.... You do not wait for the soup to boil and then throw everything in. Instead you put the chicken in together with the water only then you turn on the stove. Let it simmer at low fire for one hour. Yeah, that's right. One hour. Everything good takes time to produce. Remove the chicken and then only you put in everything else. Oh, please remember to soak the white fungus or else it'll be so hard, you're like biting the whiteboard duster. What? The chicken is tasteless? Always.... always marinade the meat with salt for more tender and juicy texture.
Gentle reminder: If you need some noodles, please prepare them in another different pot. Thank you.
The first time I had a grilled salmon's head was when I got to know my travel buddy in Melbourne. She took me to a Japanese restaurant where we had a whole table of fantastic food. That was my first time having salmon head on a platter. Then when I came back, I had a few heads from Japanese restaurants but it seemed too expensive for just half the head. Last Sunday, mi madre and I walked to Mydin and we had a good time doing our grocery shopping. For the first time, we bought the whole salmon head home and it was only RM12.80... damn cheap~! So, how to grill that head to perfection just like the Japanese restaurants?
- Japanese shoyu *shoyu means soy sauce la... no need to Google liao la*
Yeah, that's all... Wash that head and clean it with some salt. Then wash away the salt. Get your pan ready and throw in some ghee. Go read up on cooking with ghee instead of the usual palm oil or whatever oil. Gently place the head on the pan and have the shoyu raining down. The sizzling sound and the wafting fragrant of the shoyu will make you salivate all over. When it looks almost dry, pour in some water and cover. You do not need a timer for that, just need a lot of common sense. Yes, you might burn the whole head at first try but it's okay. Learning to cook is like learning to walk. After cooking for 13 years, I still almost burn down my whole kitchen last year. It's okay. It's just a salmon head worth RM13. Lift up the cover and let the shoyu rain on the head again then add in some more water. Move the head around or it might get stuck to the bottom of the pan. When it's done, you will know it. I learn this from EQ Hotel. When you go outside to eat, open your eyes and your ears. There's a lot more to learn through observation than reading.
