Fish Pan-Fried with turmeric and dill

A couple of years ago I had the chance to visit Hanoi, Vietnam for work, I was so taken by the oriental beauty of the place, struck by the provencal allure (no fast food centers at that time, not even the perennial McDonalds) and mystified how oriental was infused by colonial french to evolve into one dynamic culture - east meets west of sorts. So much so that I wishfully thought and said, " I won't mind living here you know".  The pagodas were everywhere, an array of colors billowing above your head and truly a shopping haven if you are into chop sticks, bowls and cheong sams. 

Ever heard of be careful what you wish for, it might come true? Fast forward 2008, I was well and truly living in Vietnam! But Ho Chi Minh City this time. My little boy was assigned there for work and when love beckons you, you follow love without any iota of doubt. It was our first home together as husband and wife. Vietnam is a mad mad place to live in. And a place not for the faint hearted indeed. Our Vietnam experience truly deserves a blog entry of its own, so I will segue to this dish entry instead because it reminds me how excellent and exotic the food  repertoire Vietnam has.

If there is one thing I miss about Vietnam?...the food (and the shenanigans it brings from one intake to the another. LOL!)

*Adapted from Luke Nguyen's Vietnam

Ingredients
1kg (2 lb 4 oz) ling fillets (blue marlin would be nice, sword fish is even nicer)
8 spring onions (scallions)
4 garlic cloves
1 tbsp ground turmeric
2 tsp hot curry powder
2 tbsp plain yoghurt ( I didn't have this so I used coconut milk instead)
125ml (4 fl oz/1/2 cup) fish sauce
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 bunch dill
250ml (9 fl oz/1 cup) fish stock
1 lemon
300g (101/2 oz) bean sprouts (I didn't have this either)
125g (41/2 oz) rice vermicelli, cooked ( I was too lazy to cook noodles, I cooked jasmine rice instead)

Preparation
Cut the ling fillet into 4cm (11/2 in) pieces, place in a bowl and set aside.

Put the white heads of the spring onions (reserving the stalks) and garlic in a mortar and pound to a paste. Add the turmeric, curry powder, yoghurt, fish sauce, sugar, 2 tablespoons of the oil and a third of the dill, roughly chopped, to the fish and mix well.

Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Thinly slice 4 of the green spring onion stalks.

Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the remaining oil, then fry the fish fillets on one side for 30 seconds.

Turn the fillets over, add the fish stock and simmer for 3–5 minutes, until the fish is cooked through. Remove the fish and squeeze over the juice from the lemon.

Mix the bean sprouts, sliced spring onion, remaining dill and vermicelli together.

Place into bowls and spoon over the fish fillets and sauce.

Pandan Chiffon Cake

And so the saga continues...

Here it goes again, my loyalty badge showing off in baking chiffon cakes, and to add a bit of oriental twist, Im putting my pandan chiffon cake on a pedestal this time...

According to my good ole friend Mr. Wikipedia, chiffon cake is a very light cake made with vegetable oil, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and flavorings.It is a combination of both batter and foam type cakes. In contrast to butter, the traditional fat used in cake making, it is difficult to beat air into oil, so chiffon cakes, like angel cakes and other foam cakes, achieve a fluffy texture by beating egg whites until stiff, and folding them into the cake batter before baking. Its aeration properties rely on both meringgue and chemical leaveners. Its oil-based batter is initially blended before folding into a whipped egg whites and sugar mixture which is the meringue. Hah! Talking about being academic and all. Told you so, baking is a science, so structure it requires in baking chiffon cakes, then structure we need to use when baking this pandan chiffon cake - oh such airy, fluffy, spongy bed of delectable goodness. As high as the cake reached the sky, higher than anything like it, bigger and bolder, my little boy has actually finished half of the cake all by himself. Need we say more? But please enjoy! :))

* Footnote:  no english translation for Pandan. Mr. Wikipedia said that Pandan (screwpine pandanus) is a type of plant that grows in tropical areas of Asia. Pandan leaves have a sweet, unique flavor that is commmonly used in Southeast-Asian countries to enhance both desserts and savory dishes. The leaves are long and bright green, and when pounded or ground, they lend a sweet taste and aroma to many Thai desserts and some drinks.

Ingredients

(A)

200g flour 

150g sugar

100ml cooking oil 

125ml coconut milk or fresh milk or even water (I used coconut milk)

5 egg yolks

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

a few drops of pandan paste 

a few drops of green colouring 

(B)

7 egg white

1/2 tsp cream of tartar or salt

100g sugar

Method
1. Sift flour, baking powder and soda three times.. set aside
2. Whisk egg yolk with sugar and salt till pale in colour
3. Add in oil and coconut milk and continue to whisk till fluffy
4. Add in pandan paste and green colouring if you're using
5. Fold in sifted flour lightly
6. In another bowl.. whisk egg white till foamy.. add in cream of tartar and continue to whisk till soft peak.. add in sugar in several stages and continue to beat till soft peak.
7. Add the beaten egg white into the egg yolk batter in 3 separate additions, each time folding gently with a spatula until just blended.
8. Pour batter into a 24cm tube pan (do not grease the pan). Tap the pan lightly on the table top to get rid of any trapped air bubbles in the batter.
9. Bake in pre-heated oven at 160 degC for 45 ~ 50mins or until the cake surface turns golden brown, and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
10. Bake for a further 10mins at 175C (use aluminium foil to cover the top so as to prevent it browning too quickly)
11. Remove from the oven and invert the pan immediately. Let cool completely before unmoulding. To remove the cake from the pan, run a thin-bladed knife around the inside of the pan and the center core. Release the cake and run the knife along the base of the pan to remove the cake.