little bitty girl

I only recently found out that one of my childhood friends (also a favourite cousin) doesn't really eat any greens. How very shocking! I can't ever eat a meal without vegetables and by the end of the week when we run out, I usually complain that I am about to die of scurvy (don't ask me why but that is my favourite thing to say right now).

That's when I go on my anti-scurvy shop; which usually consists of going to the library, going through Kensington market for bread, cheese and fruit and ending in Chinatown for my Asian "weeds." That's what Stefan calls almost all leafy Asian vegetables. In our household, he's in charge of putting all the groceries away. He's always at loss of what to do with all the vegetables bursting out.

In the summer time, near Spadina and Dundas St (the crux of the downtown Chinatown) there are a few makeshift stalls, consisting mainly of elderly Asians. I always try to buy from them because I like to think that I am making a difference in their lives. I think many come with the immigrant dream of gaining a better, more prosperous life and have never really been able to adjust. They've ended up having to supplement their family incomes in their golden years. Stefan always says that we're probably buying items from their home gardens but I figure that since we don't have our own, it's a good way to get home grown veg.

The only problem is that I am not always 100% sure what I am buying, which is actually the main cause of Stefan's complaining about food from Chinatown. The man likes to know what he's eating. The herby leaf thing above, I thought was coriander but it wasn't. It had an almost similar taste but with a slight bite and a lemony aftertaste. The bunched veg was probably part of the bok choy family but very young and tender.

This is what I ended up making with the greens I got from the market.

It's one of my favourite comfort meals to make and I am including a pseudo recipe for my non-veg eating, non-cooking cousin, Jo, in hopes that this will inspire her. Man! I can't believe we ended up growing up with such different skill sets. Jo is an incredible baker and I can't bake a premixed box of cookies. If we were to combine both our strengths together, we would be our mothers.

As you know, I don't usually cook using measurements, blame it on Mama Kang whose cooking philosophy is to test and taste, so hopefully you can still make it from this incomplete recipe.

1 whole fish - cleaned (I used red snapper)
red chilli (sliced thinly)
shallots (sliced thinly)
spring onions (julienned/sliced thinly)
ginger (julienned)
garlic (chopped finely)
coriander (chopped)
soy sauce/tamari
oyster sauce
mirin/rice vinegar
salt
pepper

Heat water in a wok
Wash the fish and score both sides
When the water is boiling, add some salt to water
Put fish on a plate and stick it in a bamboo steamer

The fish should cook in about 15 minutes or when the flesh is opaque.

In the meantime, make a sauce of soy sauce/tamari (3 tbs), oyster sauce (2 tbs), a very small dash of rice wine vinegar, add some salt and pepper. Stir it all up.

Then in a small saucepan, heat about 1 1/2 cups of vegetable oil and a dash of dark sesame oil. When the oil is hot, add the ginger. As it starts to cook, add shallots and when the shallots and ginger are turning crispy, add garlic last. The garlic cooks really quickly. Pay attention as when you get to this point, you can burn the ingredients really quickly. If you're not quite ready with the next step below, I suggest you turn down the heat a little after you add the shallots to buy you more time.

Take the cooked fish and plate it.

1. Drizzle sauce on fish, layer coriander, chili slices, and spring onions, drizzle more sauce, layer herbs.

By this time the contents of your saucepan should all be crispy. Take it off the heat and ladle all the crispy bits onto the fish. Also pour a little of the oil on the fish. The hot oil releases the essence of the herbs you put on. Repeat the first step and voila! you're done.

Use leftover oil and sauce to stir fry veg.

The combination of the flavours of the steam fish with fresh herbs, crispy bits and sauce is divine. It's a good people pleaser dish as it really is so easy once you've done all the prep before.

Jo, now you owe me a baking recipe!