Sotong Masak Hitam (Squid in Black Ink)

This is 1 very asian, very traditional 'kampung' (village) dish that we adore.
While I'm not a crustacean fan, I love sotong (squids) and cuttlefish; sambal sotong kering, cumi-cumi are my favourites too.

And although I'm very much an urban-city dweller, because I have no kampung (sob sob!), I grew up with kampung food, thanks to my mom. Now, who can resist 'urap' (raw salad), 'ulam' sambal belachan and the likes. I can't! And sotong hitam is another I-can't-resist-dish.

There are many ways of cooking sotong hitam. This is how I do it:

Ingredients:

500g of squid - to keep the ink pouches.

1 tsp fennel seeds - dry roast and crushed
1 tsp whole black pepper - dry roast and crushed
2 stalks of lemon grass - bruised
1 red onion - sliced
1 tbsp of blended red onion
1 inch ginger - grated
2 garlics - grated
2 pieces of sliced dried tamarind (asam keping)
2 tbsps of tomato sauce
A cup of water, thereabout
Salt and sugar to taste.

1. Heat some oil.
2. Fry the sliced onions till translucent, then add the crushed fennel seeds and black pepper.
3. Add lemon grass. When fragrant, add the tbsp of blended onion, grated ginger and grated
garlic.
4. Fry for a while. Then add 2 tbsps of tomato sauce.
5. Add the squids. Followed by a cup of water, tamarind pieces and also the squids' ink.
6. Cook till gravy thickens. You can add a bit more water to dilute it if you think the gravy's too thick for you. .


It's too yummy when served with hot rice.

Chilli Crab

I'm not a crustacean fan but the hubster is. So, I still indulge him but not too much though.

One of his favourites is and I'm sure many out there love this dish too, simply put, it's almost everyone's favourite, THE Chilli Crab.

I first cooked this dish for the hubster-then-bf and our 'kakis' when he and our 'kakis' came to my place during our courtship jalan2-raya days. When was that, again?
I looked through the old photos and the year was there, printed in all of its glory, 1999.

12 years ago that is. *Gulp*. I digress.

Now, back to my crustacean story.

And so he loved it. Our 'kakis' loved it too. He still loves it.

This is another very simple recipe that I've been using for more than a decade long now. Also shows just how much I love this recipe.

Ingredients:
1kg Medium-sized Crabs

To blend together:
A)
3 cloves of garlic
5cm old ginger
3 big red onions
1 stalk of lemongrass

B)
2 tbsp chilli paste - can grind from dried chillis or u can buy the instant chilli paste.
2 tbsp chilli sauce
2tbsp tomato sauce
2 eggs
1 cup of tamarind juice
1 blue ginger (lengkuas)- to crush a bit

Sugar and Salt to taste

Method:
Fry blended ingredients together till fragrant. Then, add chilli paste, tomato sauce and chilli sauce. Add sugar and salt to taste.

Add the crabs, tamarind juice and blue ginger. Leave to boil.

Add in eggs and Stir. Voila! It's Ready!


It IS really very simple. Try it!

Creamy Salsa with Fish

Creamy Salsa with Fish

I had one snapper fillet in the fridge and haven't quite decide what to do with it until nad shared this recipe here

Heat some olive oil and butter and pan-fry fillet lightly.

This cream is a result of heating some olive oil+butter and then sauteeing minced garlic, diced red onion, garlic, cut chilli padi, coriander leaves, crushed black pepper, diced tomatoes, lime juice from 1/2 a lime, cream, some water, pinch of salt and some sugar, in the said order. Cook then pour over pan-fried fillet.

Yummy Yummy!

I love fish too. Since I only had 1 fillet in the fridge then, I had to get another fish fillet because I know I can gobble up one all on my own (and the hubster will have none). I bought another fillet, bocourti fillet. I was totally clueless what type it was and I bought it mainly because it was conveniently packed already, and the available choice at CS that day was between bocourti and snapper. Since snapper's already waiting for me at home, bocourti would add variety. and it was on offer.

I later learnt that bocourti is a type of semi-fatty fish. We had 1 snapper fillet and 1 bocourti fillet with the creamy salsa. I liked the creamy salsa with the bocourti fillet better.

I like this recipe a lot! It's creamy AND spicy, thanks to the stars of the dish, the chilli padi.

Ingredients:
Fish fillet . Pan fried lightly in olive oil and butter. Set aside.

1 large onion, cubed
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
12-15 cherry tomatoes, cut into 4
5 bird's eye chillies,cut.
Lime juice from 1/2 a lime
100ml cream
Some water
Salt
Sugar
Black pepper
Coriander leaves

Directions:
Heat some olive oil+butter and then sautee minced garlic, diced red onion, cut chilli padi coriander leaves. After onions turned translucent, add in crushed black pepper, diced tomatoes, lime juice from 1/2 a lime, cream, some water, pinch of salt and some sugar. Cook then pour over pan-fried fillet.


I am so going to make this creamy salsa often. :)