Oxtail Spicy Asam

Lately it is raining in Austin, and it makes me craving something sour and spicy. I remembered my mom used to make this dish called Asam Pedas with whole fish. I decided to try cooking it with oxtail because my significant one cannot fathom devouring a whole fish. He is more of a fillet guy.

For this recipe, I use an ingredient called Asam Keping, it is a sliced and dried fruit called Gelugur. It is know to have a very sour taste and could be bitter if used too much.

Asam Keping

I have not been able to find this anywhere in Texas so I have my mom brought it here when she came to visit. I know my friend told me the Asam Keping can be found in L.A. but I have never tried finding it there. For those that do not have this, can substitute with fresh lime to give the dish a sour profile.

Sorry for the bad quality of photo, my boyfriend forgot to take it using camera and I thought he had taken the picture.

Oxtail Asam Pedas

INGREDIENTS

1lb of Oxtails
2 stalk lemongrass ( only the white part)
2 bay leaves
1 cm galangal
4 lime leaves (tear it before use to release the flavour)
2 pc asam keping (try one first, too much will be bitter)
Salt and pepper to taste
3 Cup Chicken Broth
2 Thai chili (Bird’s eye Chili)

Chili paste (grind to a paste):
7 cloves of garlic
2 pc korean red chili
1cm peeled ginger
1tsp salt

PREPARATION

1. Season the oxtail with salt and pepper. Let it sit for 10 minutes.
2. Preheat your oil in heavy pan or deep fryer. Once it reaches around 325 F, fried all the oxtails until both sides are brown. Take it out and set it aside.
3. In a deep pan,stir fry the chili paste with oil and all the aromatics (lemongrass,galangal,lime leaves).
4. Once the chili paste is throughly stir fried, add in the oxtails.
5. After that, add the chicken stock to the pan, make sure the stock covers all the oxtails. Let it boils for 10min and add in the asam keping and thai chili. I recommend to use only one and see if needs more sourness then add another one.
6. Turn the heat to low and let it simmers for an hour. Add more water or stock as needed.
7. After an hour, the oxtails should have released all the flavor to the stock.The stock should be a little thick from the bones’ collagen. Finally add salt to your taste. Serve this with warm white rish.

Salmon Mentai Baked Cauliflower Rice – Keto

Lately in Indonesia, the Salmon Mentai Baked Rice is trending or we say kekinian. So I thought why not ketofied it for my boyfriend. This dish originally made with white rice seasoned with seaweed powder, topped with sliced salmon and mentaiko mayonnaise. It is finished with blow torch for that smokiness flavor.

For the sauce, you can use any fish roe you want. The one I used in this recipe is Mentaiko or Salted Pollack Roe. The second best option is Tobiko or Flying Fish Roe. I would not recommend using salmon roe because it is too big and will not incorporate well with the mayonnaise. You can also use Masago but it is less flavorful than Mentaiko and Tobiko.

I find adding fried eggs on the cauliflower rice does not only give an extra texture but also help with the greasiness of the mayonnaise.For best flavor, use Japanese Kewpie Mayonnaise. I tried this recipe using regular mayonnaise and Miracle whip but the sauce is too thick and has a very strong eggy smell.

Hopefully y’all find this recipe helpful and happy trying!

Ingredient:

0.25 lb (100g)    Raw Atlantic Salmon (Sliced Thinly)

1 Cup                  Kewpie Mayo

10gr                    Mentaiko

1/2 Packet         Truvia or any sweetener of your choice

1 Tbsp                Chili sauce or Sriracha

2                          Eggs

1 tsp                   Tobiko (optional)

1 Bag                 Frozen Cauliflower Rice (16oz)

1 pack               Dried crispy seaweed

2 Tbsp               Soy sauce

1 Tbsp               Mirin

Parsley for topping (optional)

Blow Torch

Instructions:

1. Marinade the fish: Put the sliced salmon in a bowl with soy sauce and mirin. Let it marinade for at least 10min.
2. Prepare the cauliflower rice : Heat oil in the pan, add the frozen cauliflower rice and cook till dry. Add the crushed crispy seaweed and mix it evenly. Plate it onto the foil pan (3 x 5inch),
3. Pan fry the eggs on a pan until fully cooked. Set it on top of cauliflower rice.
4. Prepare the sauce: Mix the mayonnaise, chili sauce, sweetener and mentaiko on a bowl. Spread it evenly on top of the rice and eggs.
5. Cook the fish : Pan fry the sliced fish for few seconds each side. If you like raw fish, just blow torch the fish slightly on a baking pan. Add it to the sauce and blow torch the top evenly for around 5 minutes.
6. Top the dish with parsley and tobiko for extra pop of colour. Enjoy!

Not Just A Pie In The Sky

Two weeks turns to one month and without further adieu I finally started this blog. As a start, let me introduce myself. I am a dreamer with a simple life that includes my big family, my boyfriend and Copper the corgi. I love cooking, baking, travelling, reviewing restaurant and a lot of other stuff. I have been dreaming of creating a blog ever since I was in high school but  I always made an excuse.

With my boyfriend’s support I decided to start writing this blog. Finally my dream is not a pie in the sky anymore. So why did I start my blog you ask? First of all, I love cooking and often time I get inspiration from other bloggers. So I also want to share my love of cooking and eating 😉  with others. My unemployment period also reinvigorate my passion to start blogging. For people out there that have been in my shoe must understand how depressing it can be when you just get out of college and try to find a job. Instead of letting the situation makes me down I decide to just enjoy and make the best out of it. That is also why cooking is a kind of therapy for me.

Whenever I am inspired by one recipe or food, I can’t stop thinking about it until I start creating the food. In the past I even went out to HEB (Texas’s grocery store) at midnight just so I can start creating right away. Nowadays I try to control the urges 🙂

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Angelina Susan