I do believe that when it comes to cooking, all it takes is a bit of imagination and creativity to be able to whip up something that is really nice to eat. I know people with stacks of recipe books but will only end up cooking those few dishes over and over again…and I’ve watched those cooking shows whereby the preparation prior to cooking a dish looked so tedious that I would not even bother to give it a second thought.
Well, it was Friday – my no-meat day, so I had to cook fish for lunch and dinner. Looking into the freezer, I found some of those smaller kind of fish – kembong or a variety in the same family, whatever it is called. Drats!!! They were not cleaned yet – my missus did not as the fishmonger to do that for her when she bought the fish (they would usually do that for customers)…and she did not do it herself before stuffing the whole lot into the freezer. Tsk! Tsk!!!
Well, after cleaning the fish, I stuffed the mid-section of 3 with some home-made freshly-pounded chilli sauce and rubbed the outside with salt. The other three, I stuffed with tom yam paste (bottled) and rubbed the outside with the same. Then I tied pandan (screwpine) leaves all around each fish and used toothpicks to hold the leaves together. Finally, they were ready…
I put them in the oven for about half an hour and then turned off the heat, allowing the fish to continue to cook in the oven for another half an hour. While it was cooking, the whole kitchen was filled with the nice fragrance of pandan and the fish and I was already quite sure at that point in time that it was going to taste good. When I took the fish out to check, they were ready to be served…
They certainly looked quite good, don’t you think?
I tried the one with the tom yam paste and it was really great…
…and the one with the chilli sauce was equally nice too…
The fish went very well with the cincaluk (fermented shrimps) fried rice that I cooked…but that will be in the next post. Make sure you drop by, okay?
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
It seems you and ur missus likes to makan Jacob’s cream crackers too eh? LOL… these looks like my mum’s ikan sumbat. LOL… very nice wan leh…
Those? The old lady bought those. It’s like – There! That’s your breakfast! Eat it or leave it! She can just eat it plain, not me… I will need peanut butter on one slice and butter on the other, sandwich and dunk in my coffee and eat! None of those in the house, I would not touch those crackers… π¦
Jacob cream crackers reminds me of my sick days. My parents and my grandparents used to buy them for me when I got sick and couldn’t eat much thing. LOL… But, even when I’m not sick, I enjoy eating cream crackers…and like you, i dun like to take it plain either. I must put at least butter or planta and take it with my tea. My favourite way to enjoy cream crackers got to be spreading planta on both side, sprinkle some home made serunding and sandwich them. LOL…nice. π
I thought you like to eat Jacob’s… cuz I saw that you have the free plates and bowls… just like me! LOLOL~!
Eyew…Planta! It has a small that I don’t like… I don’t usually eat crackers with sambal or anything else as I like to dunk them in my coffee. Don’t want to have all that in my coffee!
Jacob cream cracker i love to eat with Kopi O
adoi…the grill fish really looks delicious la…used to have grill ikan kembung near my office lat time.
My favourite Malay kampong stall used to sell sardines (and chicken wings) – grilled over a charcoal fire…very nice but RM10.00 each. Just bought once – too expensive and they’ve stopped selling them, anyway. Not very popular, I guess. Cream crackers – I will never eat them plain…even with kopi-o – must have peanut butter plus butter.
Now, THIS is making me homesick ! Tom yam … chilli… gosh. Cincaluk fried rice post next ? Now I’m torn between coming to drool and staying away from the torture ! HAhaha
Hahahahaha!!!! Come at your own risk! But I’m sure it isn’t half as torturing as dropping by your mum’s blog! Yum! Yum! π
LOL! Her mum really can cook leh. I saw the goodies…and you know our kawan keep getting goodies from her mum as well! Tsk tsk tsk~
Yalor…our kawan so lucky! Her mum’s cooking like real pro one… I also malu – cannot compare with hers. *blush…blush…
haha my mom will make sure the fishmonger cleaned the fish before take it home. π harr?? y tom yam n chilli only?? both spicy to me. π¦ anyway, both come out looked good!! =D
Yalor…maybe she was too lazy to wait so did not ask the fishmonger to do it. After all, got Indon maid at home to do that – me! Tsk! Tsk!!! π¦
wow… STP THOSE LOOK GOOD! ngam ngam hor… yes, eat those with sambal belacan or cincaluk will be best! very appetizing too…
Yum! Yum! I was pretty impressed myself. LOL!!! And it tasted real good too…plus it was so very easy to cook (…except for the cleaning the fish part! Grrrrr!!!!)… π
Aiyo….. later Bandung stall no business…how????
LOL!!! Lazy to drive out to go and buy. Ok when I’m coming home from my mum’s place – very convenient to stop along the way. π
nice oh… the fish look delicious to eat.
i think i can finish 2 – 3 fishes… heheehe
chili inside some more ….. yum yum
I had two for lunch…and for dinner, my missus had one only – said she was full, so guess who had three? Hehehehehe!!!! π
Yerr….the fish if cooked this way yummy~meh?
Well…you can always try. But of course, the fish must be fresh. Malacca is by the sea, so I’m sure there will be no problem whatsoever getting fresh fish – unless they are all polluted by oil leaks and spills from ships plying along the straits!
no, end of year i’d drop by for the real stuff wahaha
Hah! Great!!! I love it when I have willing guinea pigs to test my culinary skills! Hahahahahaha!!!! π But they’re very nice – as nice as the grilled imported sardines at Red Carrot that I like a lot…except that one – RM8.50++ per fish – almost RM10.00. π¦
it may sounds weird but i love this dish to be dipped in catsup then match it with fried rice , then tomatoes on the side…. then iced tea fro drink…..
waaaaaaaaaaaahhh… i’m craving again ^_^
I do eat fried fish with ketchup too – something along the same lines as sweet sour fish. Wah…the way you eat it, very western style lah! LOL!!! π Come back tomorrow to see my special fried rice!!! π
Yum yum! *drool drool*
Hah! You’re coming this Friday? But then you have all the must-eat thing son your list – don;t think you will want to eat what I cook anymore! π
Saturday evening flight π Friday still working, cannot lar…
Of course I have must-eat list already…hahaha…I browsed through your blog whole day π I don’t mind a little bit of what you cook lor. By a little bit I mean, really little bit, i.e. 3-4 tablespoonful only so that I have enough stomach space for everything else π
Aiyor…how to cook 3-4 tablespoonful!!! You mean you’re flying in Saturday night? When’s the wedding? Sunday? And you’re flying back on Sunday night? Aiyor…where got time to eat anything like that? π¦
Healthy way to cook fish.
Yes…a lot better than frying! No oil! π
Oh..i love the pandan leaves fragrance…first time i see these fishes being wrapped with pandan leaves…hahaha..so nice.
I was thinking that if they can cook pandan chicken…and the chicken has the pandan fragrance, I can do the same for fish – except that pandan chicken, they deep-fry. Very oily! And they do cook fish, bakar wrapped in banana leaves…so I reckoned I could do that with pandan! Turned out very well so can do again next time! Lots of pandan leaves in my backyard. π
Wow..five fishes for two of you? That’s a lot. LOL
very impressive how you do to the fish, instead of using banana leave you use pandan leave and wrap them, i can imagine the nice smell.
Yummy!
Six! I had two for lunch…and three for dinner, since my missus could only manage one – supposed to be two each. π Well, you can give it a try – I have a whole lot of pandan leaves growing in my backyard, so no problem at all. Can do it again anytime.
Great recipe to share,STP :)! We have very nice looking sardines here but have not bought before,(normally go for rockling/barramundi/perch)not sure how to cook them so this is a thought! We also can buy banana leaves here….Oven temp around 180degrees ok? Mine is gas-operated.
Sardines have the sardine smell – like those in the cans…but I do not mind it, so I quite enjoy sardines. Dunno about the other fish but I bought a mackerel in England and the smell was so strong – not like our tenggiri…more like tongkol, not very nice. You have pandan leaves there? My oven – 250 degrees…but I do not depend on the setting – just switch on the light and look through the glass panel – as long as it looks cooked, ok liao! Hahahahaha!!!! Oh, btw, I turned the fish over halfway…
We hve frozen pandan leaves n not as nice as sibu ones. btw, told my big sis abt yr cincaluk sanchan meat dish n she keen to try too,I can buy cincaluk here from melaka…she is too busy to browse STP’s…i steamed the other day for S. n he loves it,I say STP’s…haha!
Hehehehe!!! If not nice, I would not post in my blog liao! Just throw away quietly and keep very quiet about it! LOL!!! π
Oh home made ikan bakar eh! I stuffed Tom Yam paste into the fish once too for BBQ but it turned out to be too salty and sour! Which Tom Yam paste brand did you use lar?
Gosh! How much did you use? Just a spoonful to stuff the mid-section and then rub the whole fish on the outside…like rubbing salt on fish. Wouldn’t be too sour or salty. Mine’s the Nona Brand…
P.S. Btw, I saw your Seremban pao in Saucer’s blog! Hahahahahaha!!!! *shakes head π
wah can do this the ikan bakar style. But i don’t like these type of fish – too many bones. I am a lil paranoid about fish bones
Ya…I know. Can only serve for sit-down dinners. Maybe one of these days, I’ll try with fish fillet – cut into bite-sizes…and see if they turn out nice or not. That would be more suitable for buffets, plus no bones!
hey bro…u really shud sell this pandan wrapped grilled fish …. i can imagine the taste and smell from here esp the cencaluk ler….
It certainly looked good…and tasted good. Will try and modify – create a pandan fish dish suitable for buffets. Will post, if successful – if not, just keep quiet. Hehehehehe!!!! π
WOW!! you just made the most uninteresting fish look interesting =s
LOL!!! Presentation does make a difference. How was your paper today? Great, I hope… π
had this for dinner – vv nice and my whole house still smell of pandan. TQ STP.
i just rub some salt to the fish..we have vv fresh fish here.
Wah!!! So fast… I just posted and you’ve cooked it already. There! I told you it is really nice – I don’t bluff one. Ya…you’ve very fresh seafood in Bintulu. My BIL always buys for us…but not cheaper there, can be more expensive even but very fresh. Ours here dependent on whether they have any from Mukah that very day – then really very fresh.
looks nice n healthy o maybe i like fish that y saw fish sure nice… π
Ah…so you like seafood…or is it just fish in particular? Very healthy eh? No oil, no fat! π
I like to try out different types of marinates for grilling fish too…..very interesting. Sometimes would discover new flavours. LOL!
I think it would be nice to stuff sambal belacan as well…or sambal hay bee. I wonder if I can tie a stalk of lemon grass with each fish, would that be nicer? Can try next time.
Aiyoyor, grilled fish with tom yam paste and screwpine… man, you really make my tummy rubling! Your grilled fish looked really great!
Have a nice day!
Ya…they do look great, don’t they? Tasted great too… Should give it a try. π
I think it will taste even better if you slit the side of the fish and stuff the paste into it and tie it the same way as u did.
Anyway, it’s a good idea! π thanks for sharing
Ya…they did that at the roadside mamak stalls in Singapore and at the Indonesian nasi padang reataurants. I thought of doing that…but changed my mind. I’m sure it will be nice as the flavour will slim into the fish. Lazy to slit…just stuff inside the mid-section. Btw, your first time here? Welcome and do drop by again! π
the pandan leaves will make the fish sooo fragrant! and yeah… i’ll DROOL by ur next post.. π
Yes, it compliments the sweet taste of the fresh fish. Really nice!