For the disappointing breakfast and lunch I had yesterday, dinner was compensated with a good dish of curry fish-head. I have become a curry convert, eating at least curry 3 times a week. Fish-heads don't come by as often as chicken or mutton, and since my mum managed to get one yesterday, I opted for curry instead of the more preferred fish head bee hoon. Curry fish head is one the most troublesome dish to prepare, since it involves alot of build-up, and you basically have to cook the dish in parts before 'assembling' the final product, this includes steaming, frying, and stir-frying. Which is why I don't particularly enjoy the thought of cooking fish-head curry too, instead sticking to my more preferred chicken curry or vegetable curry. Nonetheless, since fish-heads are not available everyday, I shall use this opportunity to share abit of curry fish head.
The fish head, known as ang gor li (or directly translated as red marble). I have no idea what it's called in english, well like most other fish you find in the wet market, the uncles or aunties who don't speak a word in english. But heck, what's important is the quality in this fish! Its the most common type of fish used in curry fish head, since its meat is really firm, and doesn't really dissolve when you cook it in curry. However, this fish can also get quite chewy, and its texture actually resembles that of chicken breast meat, which is the yuckiest part of a chicken me thinks. Another popular kind of fish head used for curry is my favourite, the red gouper. Its more expensive and rare, and that explains its absence in today's feature. My mum always buys the best alternative around one okay. Wahaha.
The fish head going into the wok for steaming. Some people like to put their fish heads into the actual curry gravy and cook it thoroughly, so the fish head actually soaks up more of the goodness into its meat. However, I think steaming it first achieves more or less the same effect, and its a more play-safe tactic. You won't want to eat half-cooked fish meat, and you can't even tell if it was fully cooked or not, since you get meat that's covered in rich orange curry. Furthermore, by cooking a raw fishhead in curry directly, there'd be a possibility that too much stiring and turning done on the fish, causing considerable disfiguration on the poor head. Eh the fish has already been decapitated, the least to be done is ensure it still has a complete face before its final journey to the unknown depths of some stomachs right? lol.
The vegetables used in curry fishhead. Well, the thing I love about curry fishhead is the vegetables that are put together with it. I really like long beans, lady's fingers and brinjals. I remember a friend telling me that he hated these vegetables, and I told him I'll never cook fish head curry when he's around, since he probably won't eat anything except the fish. These veges complement the fish nicely, and very often you just need a dish like this for a meal, since you'll find veges and meat in the same dish. You'll have to fry these veges beforehand, so they will turn softer, and spongier in the process, soaking up the curry during the second time they enter the wok, oieshi.
What is curry fishhead/chicken/vegetable/mutton/everything-else without curry powder? Nowadays, we find quite alot of readily-available curry powder in NTUC or your neighbourhood provision shop, but I still like to mix my own, since I like mine spicier. See the 4 different colours? The one on the bottom is a spice mix (has an indian name which I can't recall), the red powder on the top right is chilli powder, it comes in the biggest proportion, since I like it spicy. It may not look a lot, but its actually the most. The rather big chunk on the left is corranider leaf powder. It gives curries the distinctive taste, and is a must have. The little orange pile of powder on it is tumeric powder, this orange stuff is nasty! Extremely strong in flavour, and you can only put a small teaspoon of it, if not your curry dish will reek of strong tumeric. Add water to the mixture, and you get a nice paste ready for use later.
Apart from the mixture, I also add in my own chilli, which my mum uses it in her stall for all dishes that need to taste spicy.
I've seen this chilli for as long as I can remember, its something my mum has been using since she started cooking, and to prepare this chilli, it usually takes around an hour to cook it. I haven't cooked this chilli before, and I only know how to use it. =/ Adding this to the curry is also necessary, gives the dish a much spicier taste.
If the fish and veges were main leads, these items you see above (save my left hand), are the supporting cast. The white thing on the chopping board is diced onions, the yellow thing to the right is chopped garlic, the sticks in the middle is lemon grass, and also the curry leaves and tomatoes. These are the all-important sidekicks to bring out a good dish of curry.
Ok, now having given a introduction (not a very short one) to the ingredients you find in the fish head curry, its time to put everything together.
'Bao Xiang' (or to bring out the flavour through frying) the onions and garlics. Fry them till golden brown, and put in the curry leaves and lemon grass. Leave them in the pan for a good minute or so, after which remove the leaves and the grass. This is to prevent the leaves from dislocating themselves from the stem, and drift around in your curry later. Its the cosmetic effect of your dish, whether its taken out is up to personal preferance. The flavour in the leaves and grass come out easily, so you don't have to put it in for a very long time.
Well, I did say the leaves should be taken out, but while taking pictures, I had to also put in the tomatoes and chilli. Seriously, in cooking, things happen so fast that you usually have no time for anything else. Putting in the tomatoes give it a tinge of sourness. Some people like to add aysam to the fishhead too, to give it a sour/sweet taste. As I've said, I love the curry hot and spicy, and aysam will really nullify the spiceness I prefer. So its no for me. After that, add in the curry paste mixture, and some water, which will form the gravy of the curry later on. After this mixture starts to boil, put in the veges that were fried earlier on, and again, wait for the mixture to boil. When this is done, the dish is almost complete, save for one final special cameo. The coconut milk! Haha, coconut milk gives the curry a nice thick texture, making the gravy very smooth and fragant. However, too much of it makes the dish sweet, since coconut is sweet in nature. My mum likes curry that is thick in coconut, so I'll add a bit more.
This above orangey sauce with a generous lot of longbeans and lady's finger is half of the final product. Now you need to put the fish head and this gravy together. Where else other than the claypot?
TADA, the claypot curry fish head is done. I always liked the way certain dishes are presented, like CLAYPOT curryfishhead, or HOTPLATE toufu, or steamed fish on a steel tray where there's this flame coming from below, and you still see the soup in the fish boiling on the tray! It really makes the dish look fierce, and ups the commerical value of the dish by ALOT. A normal curry fishhead may just cost $8 or maybe $10, but a CLAYPOT curry fishhead can sell for $20 or even $25. It also makes the dish alot more enjoyable, since the claypot keeps the dish hotter for a longer time. However, this claypot isn't exactly big, and you can see it almost overflowing, since there are 2 sides of a fish head in it. I usually put my curry fish head on a normal plate, but since mother was at home to eat, just wanted to make it a bit more special. You have no idea how painful it is to bring the freaking hot claypot from the stove to the dining table!
The final picture may not do too much justice to my curry fish head, since its covered (rather messily) by the vegetables. Looks like its time to work on my photography skills too. Haha. Till next time I cook something interesting again, enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment