Baked fish with miso and bacon , millet medley

I have begun buying whole fish from Sheng Shiong because they are offering to gut, cut and pack the fish in convenience packs for freezing. I no longer need to 'prep' the fish and make a mess in my kitchen. What's not to like?

Batang was their catch of the day. Besides making fish porridge, I decided to do something more fancy because I had more time at hand today.

With some miso  and a lone lime in the fridge, I decided on a Japanese fusion theme.

For 2:

Fish:

Ingredients: 4 pieces of white fish fillet / miso / lime zest / 4 bacon strips / honey / olive oil

The fish was skinned (better to use a sharp knife) and scored. I slathered miso all over the fillet, esp into the cut portion of the fish fillet. Then I grated some lime zest and mummified the fish with a stip of smoked bacon. 

I applied a decent layer of honey to balance the salt in the fillet package.

For the final touch, I drizzled some olive oil over the wrapped fillet.

To cook, I baked it in my mini pan, in a preheated oven at 200C for 15 minutes. When done, I left it to rest for 5 minutes or so.

Millet medley:

Ingredients : 1 cup millet / 2.5 cups water / handful of finely chopped ham / finely chopped carrots / half a handful of raisins / 1 strip of sundried tomato ( or anything you fancy )

Toast the millet on a heated pot for a couple of minutes, swirling the pot to prevent the millet from burning.

Add water, chopped vegetables.

Bring pot to a boil. Reduce heat immediately to a gentle simmer. 

Cook covered for 20 minutes.

Fluff it with a fork.

Let the millet medley sit ,covered, for another 10 minutes.

Assembly:

Transfer 2 - 3 scopes of the millet to each pan of cooked fish. 

Squeeze the rest of the lime over the fish and millet.

Serve immediately

Shimeji-bean puff miso soup and katsu-oyakodon

A Japanese themed TV dinner from top,clockwise : Edamame,Katsu-oyakudon,shimeji miso soup

Hubby's craving for sashimi weeks ago  snowballed into a collective Japanese food frenzy.

A Japanese wind has been blowing over my household. How else can I explain the non-stop craze for Japanese fare for the last few weeks. It is simply uncharacteristic of this household which goes on ethnic rotation on a weekly basis.

Except for the fresh ingredients, Daiso has supplied me with almost every condiment I need in this full Japanese meal without visiting Meidi-ya or Isetan. I am most thankful to whoever that brought Daiso into Singapore making Japanese food so accessible and affordable ! Hubby may beg to differ because I also bought egg-mold, nori cutters, bento boxes and many others. He still does not know how much the peripheral purchases cost. And I am not telling. Ha!

The greatest beneficiary of this Japanese craze is girl-girl, who can rattle a long list of food names in Japanese though it is not her third language. The love of food breaks all language barriers!

It may seem like a lot of work, especially for two persons,  but everything here can be completed in slightly less than one hour.

Shimeji-bean puff miso soup for 2.

Ingredients :

1 packet Shimeji mushroom, stumps removed

3 long bean puffs, cut to small sections and rinsed in hot water.

1 T miso paste

1/2 cup bonito flakes

2 rice bowls of water

Together with the bonito flakes, bring water to a boil. Strain stock and discard bonito.

Reserve 1/3  cup of hot bonito flavored stock in a separate bowl and dissolve miso paste thoroughly. Set aside. This will be added to the main stock later.

Reserve another 1/3 cup of strained stock for onion  omelet later.

Reheat strained stock, add bean puff and mushroom.

Bring stock to a boil.  Turn off heat.

Stir in prepared bowl of dissolved miso into the main stock pot. Set aside until ready to use.

Japanese rice for 2.

Ingredients :

1 cup Kohuko rice

1.5 cups water for cooking

Rinse rice for about 5  times until water clears. Strain rice on strainer. Leave it to dry for 30 minutes.

Transfer rice to a microwaveable container, add 1.5 cups of water.

Microwave for 11 minutes. Let it stand for another 10 minutes.

Fluff the rice with chopsticks. Cover until ready to serve.

Katsu-oyakodon for 2.

Ingredients :

1/2 chicken, cut to bite size

2 T plain flour,  in plastic bag 1

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 cup Japanese bread crumbs, in plastic bag 2

Heat a pot of canola oil at medium heat.

Place chicken into bag 1 and flour the meat pieces by shaking it vigorously in the bag.

Shake off excess flour from chicken, then dredge chicken in egg.

Transfer to bag 2 and coat the chicken with bread crumbs.

Fry breaded chicken, at medium heat, for about 10 minutes. Meat is cooked when the thickest part of the meat can be pierced through by a toothpick.

Important : Take care to cook chicken thoroughly to prevent salmonella poisoning. Wash all contact surface with boiling water and soap. 

Onion omelet for 2.

Ingredients :

2 eggs, beaten

4 onions, sliced thinly

1/3 bowl of reserved bonito flavored stock.

1 T shoyu

In a heated pan, fry onions until soft but not browned. I prefer it to brown for its smoky flavor.

Stir in shoyu ( light sauce ) into the reserved 1/3 of bonito stock and pour it over the onions in the pan.

Add eggs and cover pot to let eggs cook. Turn off heat.

Assembly :

Scoop rice to the dinner plates. Add chicken pieces and top with  onion omelet.

Present miso soup in a miso bowl.

Serve with edamame or fresh soy pods.

Itadakimasu !