MAKING FISH PASTE

30/7/2019
TUESDAY

Do you know that dogs are very smart and they know when its a weekday and when the weekend comes.  They must be wondering why on earth we did no wake up on a weekday and one of them was "knocking" the grille door at 6.30 am. So it was time to get up before she wake up the neighbours.

Even though the fridge is already bursting with the marketing since Saturday, I decided to go and just get breakfast.  However I was lured by the fishmonger to buy from him a fresh ikan tenggiri.....to make fishballs he told me..

Normally I could just buy ready-made fish paste from the market as I feel its rather messy work to do so at home.  But this time, I decided to record down my method how to make fish paste.

Ask the fishmonger to slit the fish, their knives are much sharper. Tell him for making fishball and they will slit both the fillets still attached to the bone.  So just cut and detach the fillet from the bone.  

Use a metal spoon and scrape as much fish paste from the skin and bone as possible. 

Reserve the head, skins and bones.  Gently wash away any blood vessels etc and cut them into pieces.  These bits and pieces make excellent fish broth, so do not throw them away.  If you do not intend to use them the same day, freeze them.  Otherwise just lightly season with salt and pepper and then fry them till golden brown, add boiling water to the pan to a milky broth. Can add a knob of ginger and sesame oil. Bring to a boil and them let simmer.    

Ok now to make the fish paste. Season the fish with salt to taste.  Have standby a bowl of cornstarch solution and using the blunt end of the cleaver to "chop" the fish into a smooth paste. Add the cornstarch solution now and them to help the paste to become cohesive. 

 

The paste will become smooth  and sticky 

Then its time to gather into a ball and lightly "throw" the paste down 

Continue to gather and "throw" till you feel the paste feels bouncy and smooth. 

The fish paste is then ready. 

I used the fish paste to make another Chan Clan's favourite: "Lo Siew Ping On" translated Safe for the Old and Young ie Steamed fish paste with taufu. Mixed the fish  paste with one (1) piece of soft white taufu and some chopped spring onions..  Season with salt and pepper and steamed for less than 10 minutes (depending how much and how big your plate is) Serve hot with dash of sesame oil and soy sauce. 

I did a 3rd batch of tempeh using the organic black beans with green kernels using the last 7 remaining simpoh air leaves and as you can see I placed the remaining beans in a plastic bag. 

After 24 hours fermentation...