Mad About Fish

“Can we have fish n chips for dinner tonight, dear?”

Darling has a fish-crazed syndrome lately.

He has been tucking in fish n chips at his workplace canteen, Fish & Co., foodcourts and coffee shops. Just a couple of days ago, he got me into preparing fish n chips at home.

So far, I’ve done 2 fishy dishes: 1) Baked White Fish & Fingerling Potatoes, 2) Breaded Fish & Chips. So far so good. I’ve also learnt more about the types of delicious white fish available here in Singapore for fish & chips recipes.

Just starting out in the kitchen, the great variety of fish available at the local wet and super-markets can be intimidating to moi. Deciding on which kind of fish to buy is very much a daunting experience. I gave up trying out with the wet market fish mongers. They would stare at me for orders and as darling would have guessed it, I was too slow for their patience.

Shopping at the supermarkets is less frightening – I can take my own sweet time to learn the fish names and note their characteristics. Another thing I like about buying fish in supermarkets is that the prices are all fixed. Some fish stalls at wet markets do not display price tags and I may irritate the fish mongers by asking “eh, how much is the cod today?”, “How much does this fish fillet weigh?”, “hmm, where does the salmon come from?” and “Uncle, do you have halibut?” >> Uncle says, “Huh, I sell fish lah. Where got halibut?”. I may end up buying fish which I don’t want but out of nice-ness and sheer ‘paiseh-ness’. However, I was told that if I PR with the fish monger well enough he may give me his freshest fish. Okay granted, let me pick up the basic confidence about fish first and then work on the PR.

Back to fishy business. Reading ’Japanese Women Don’t Get Old or Fat’ by Naomi Moriyama & William Doyle got me really interested in Japanese food. I’m unsure about the ‘old’-less theory in the book but am convinced of the ‘fat’-less theory.

Anyway, of the seven pillars of Japanese home cooking, fish is one food which the Japanese nation consumes in huge quantities. And out of all kinds of fish, the salmon is king of all. The Japs love salmon and have many methods of cooking it. I love salmon too, especially when it is absolutely fresh and raw dipped in Jap soy sauce and wasabi. I’m in love.:D

Salmon is an excellent source for omega-3 fatty acids and hence very good for health. We get omega-6 fatty acids easily from seeds and grains but we normally do not consume enough seafood to obtain sufficient omega-3. A good ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids helps to prevent cardiovascular diseases, stroke, cancers, etc! The Japs have it all: tonnes of omega-3 from fish and omega-6 from vegetable oils, beans, etc. No wonder they are ranked no. 1 in life expectancy in the world.

Waiting for salmon prices to fall now. Next dish: Salmon Teriyaki Yums!