A simple dinner

So, here I have a picture of what a simple dinner in my home would look like. I have Fried Fish, Garlic Prawns, Crispy Skin Pork and some nice green veggies. In this picture, I used Bak Choy which is easily available in any grocer including Coles and Woolworth.

Fried Fish (Pompret)

Many Australians are not familiar with pomprets because they don't swim in our waters. However, this is my favourite fish when I lived in Malaysia and to deny me of this fish is to tell me the world has ended. I have since introduced this fish to some of my friends and they love it. You can purchase Pomprets from Chinese Seafood Shops. Market City has ample of these seafood shops. Eastwood has it's share too. I buy mine from the Asian Grocer in Eastwood at a bargain price. Four medium size pomprets for $13 and when the sale is on, it's 10% off. Woohoo!! :)

The secret in fried fish is in maintaining the tenderness of the fish meat yet achieving the crisp all over the outer part. So here's what I do:

- Clean the insides of the fish

- Cut 2 parallel diagonal lines on both sides of the fish

- Pat dry the fish so it isn't dripping wet (this is prevent the oil from jumping on you when you insert the fish into the pan)

- Marinade the fish with a little bit of salt and pepper (you can afford to be more generous on the pepper)

- If you have a deep pan, the better because the deeper the fish sinks into the oil, the better the fish will cook.

- Fill a deep pan with oil (use Canola, Vegetable or Peanut oil or if you can afford it Olive Oil is fine too)

- Make sure there is sufficient oil.. (enough to immerse the fish into)

- Heat the oil till very hot

- If you are using a not using a non stick pan, sprinkle salt into the pan to prevent fish from sticking onto the pan.

- When the oil is hot enough, insert the fish into the pan and leave for 3 minutes. Then flip the fish around. And leave for another 3 minutes. If the fish is not golden brown, continue to rotate the fish until it's golden brown and looks deliciously crispy.

Remove the fish from the oil. It's okay to leave the oil on the fish when removing from pan because the oil will drip onto the serving plate. Pour some light soy sauce on the fish. It will merge with the oil and form a nice black golden gravy. Make sure you don't overuse the soy sauce otherwise it will be way too salty.

And voila.. Your Fried Fish is ready! you can garnish with some coriander leaves and serve hot with rice! Enjoy!