Still, this time is a part of cleaning out my freezer stuffs. What do you do with your Mahi-Mahi?

I usually do easy-pan grilled with teriyaki sauce or just with salt, pepper and olive oil. You can also put different kind of sauces/marinate such as tandoori or gochujang or kecap manis or whatever you feel like.

Mahi-mahi has a firm white flesh, sweet flavour and less fishy tasting compare to many other fish.

Mahi-mahi until recently, was frequently called a dolphin fish even though they are not related to dolphins and are not mammals. Since many people have negative associations with dolphin deaths associated with fishing, the name mahi-mahi is now more frequently used in stores and restaurants.

If you are an environmental consciousness person, you may need to read the label on the package.  According to wikipedia, the The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) classifies mahi-mahi caught by line/pole in the US as "Eco-Best" in its three-category system, but classifies all mahi-mahi caught by longline as only "Eco-OK" or "Eco-Worst" due to longline "high levels [of] bycatch, injuring or killing seabirds, sea turtles and sharks.

This time, I saw a simple recipe from Flavours magazine spring issue 2010.  I used pomelo or Chinese grapefruit instead of regular pink grapefruit.  I applied scotch bonnet pepper instead of jalapeno.  Other than that I followed other ingredients that the recipe mentioned.

Seared Mahi-mahi with Spicy Pomelo and Orange Salsa
recipe by Brandon Boone of Flavours magazine, modfied by me

Ingredients:
1/2 pomelo (original recipe: 1 grapefruit)
1 orange
1/3 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup diced avocado
1-2 tsp finely minced scotch bonnet pepper
2 tsp lemon (original recipe: 2 tsp lime)
1 tbsp chopped cilantro
5 cherry tomatoes
1 tsp butter
1 tsp olive oil
2 (175 g) mahi-mahi fillets
salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Cut peel and pith pomelo; cut between membranes to release the segments. Do the same with the orange. Cut pomelo segments in fourth and cut orange segments in half.

2. Place 1/2 cup of pomelo and orange segments in a bowl.

3. Combine with avocado, onion, scotch bonnet pepper, lemon juice, cilantro and tomatoes.

4. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover until ready to use.

5. Season both sides of each fillet with alt and pepper. Heat butter and oil in a skillet set over medium-high heat; add fish and cook for about 5 minutes a side. Serve fish with large scoop of salsa and serve immediately.

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Bistik is the Indonesian way for beef steak or biefstuk in Dutch. With the use of potato, mayonaise, bistik's name, this dish is a part of the marriage between Indonesian and Dutch cuisine. However, the Javanese says bestik, so I wrote as the Surakartan custom.

Surakarta (known as Solo) is a city in Central Java province, a place that is very popular with Bestik and Salat Solo. Salat Solo is another food that was influenced by the Dutch.

I followed Haley's recipe.  She came up by adding mustard into the recipe of sweet mayo. When I tried to make the mustard mayo of hers and tasted it, it reminds me of honey mustard that I usually buy here.

In her mustard mayo, she used egg yolk and sugar. I skipped the egg yolk and sugar, instead I added Manitoban honey.

In the sauce, I reduced the amount of kecap manis and ketchup, and skipped the sugar. Also, I made my own substitution of Worcestershire sauce since I forgot that I didn't have anymore in my fridge.

Twisting all the way in order to make the bestik.  The original recipe was called for raw oxtongue.  However, I had a smoked oxtongue, so I didn't follow some of the cooking instruction. Smoked oxtongue isn't available for purchased here. I was asking my uncle in law for help to smoke the oxtongue that I bought.

Additionally, there is the different between bestik and regular steak is the generous amount gravy or sauce for bestik. If you use raw oxtongue, you can make the gravy from boiling the oxtongue. I didn't use raw oxtongue, I got the gravy by making beef broth separately.

Surakartan Smoked Oxtongue Bistik
Bestik Lidah Asap Solo
recipe by Haley Giri, translated by me

Ingredients:
1 smoked oxtongue (1 kg), peel skin off with a sharp knife

Gravy:
1 onion, chopped
4 tbsp margarine (I used a combination of unsalted butter and olive oil)
2 Indonesian bay leaves (Haley didn't add this into gravy)
1 tsp ground white pepper
1 nutmeg, grated
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (my own: soy sauce, tamarind paste, chili powder, cloves, garlic, anchovies which I used fish sauce)
10 tbsp Indonesian sweet soy sauce (I used 1/2 cup)
10 tbsp ketchup (I reduced to 1/2 cup)
1 large tomato, cut into 6 pieces
salt to taste
2300 ml beef broth (I made from beef bones, Indonesian bay leaves and garlic)
2 1/2 tbsp all purpose flour, dissolved with a small amount of beef broth

Complements:
potato, wedged and steamed
baby carrots, steamed
peas, steamed
mustard mayonnaise

Mustard mayonnaise:
2 tbsp margarine (I used unsalted butter)
2 tbsp all purpose flour (I reduced into 1 tbsp)
1 tsp mustard
1 sdm gula (I substituted for Manitoban honey)
salt to taste
1 egg yolk (I skipped this)
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp lime juice (I substituted for lemon juice)

Directions:
Bestik
1. Bring the broth to a boil. Meanwhile, in a pan, stir fry onion with butter and olive oil until wilted. me
2. Transfer onion mixture into the broth pot and combine.
3. Add ground whitepepper, nutmeg, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, Indonesian sweet soy sauce, pieces of tomato.
4. Add flour mixture and salt. If you need sugar, add it at this time as well.
5. Add smoked oxtongue and cook until tender. Remove oxtongue and slice into desirable size.
6. Reduce the heat, transfer sliced oxtongue back to the pot and let them simmer for 15 minutes or until oxtongue absorbs the spices.

Mustard Mayonnaise
1. Heat butter in a pan at medium-high heat. Add flour, stir and mix for about 10 minutes.
2. Add mustard, honey, salt and water. Cook until the flour is not sticky
3. Add lemon juice and stir.

Serving Suggestions:
Place sliced oxtongue on the centre. Add vegetable around the oxtongue. Pour the gravy on and serve with mustard mayo.

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Did you notice that I put the spoon on the left side? It was totally a wrong set. It was supposed to be on the right hand side.

Otak-otak is made from a mixed between fish, and spices. In Indonesia, there are two kinds of otak-otak. Otak-otak bakar or grilled or barbaqued otak-otak, in which the mixture is wrapped inside banana leaves and grill. Another type is otak-otak goreng or fried otak-otak. The fried one is not wrapped inside the leaves.

This dish is served as an appetizer or snack. There are three sauces that I know to eat otak-otak. While I was in South Sumatra, I ate grilled otak-otaks with cuko (Palembangese spicy tmarind sauce). In Jakarta, I ate them with spicy peanut sauce. Another sauce is an Indonesian bottled chili sauce.

Palembang of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Sumatra, Jakarta and Ujung Pandang (formely Makasar) of South Sulawesi are known for their otak-otaks.

Let me explain what otak in bahasa Indonesia and Malaysia is; it means brain, so otak-otak means brains. The name of the dish is derived from the idea that the dish some what resembles brains, being on the soft and squishy side.

In this recipe, I made the fried method one. The popular fish to be used is king mackerel (Indonesian: ikan tenggiri). As you may know, it is a bit pricey in Winnipeg, so I substituted for basa fish (Indonesian: ikan patin siam). Also, I don't have the exact measurement for making cuko, since I was just mixing them together.

Ingredients
250 g boneless skinless white fish fillet (I used basa fish)
100 g tapioca starch
75 ml coconut cream
1 green onion, finely chopped

Spices to grind:
1/4 - 1/2 cup fried shallots
3 cloves garlic
ground white pepper
salt

Cuko:
coconut sugar
garlic, grated
tamarind, soaked in warmed water
chilies, ground
sugar, just to taste
salt
lime
dried shrimp (ebi)

Directions:
Fried Otak-Otak:
1. Process fish and ground spices in a food processor until fine.
2. Transfer into a big bowl, combine green onion.
3. Add tapioca starch and pour coconut cream little by litle in.
4. Shape the mixture into long oval and deep fry in hot oil until cooked and golden brown.

Cuko:
1. Soak coconut sugar into tamarind mixture. Bring to a boil.
2. Add sugar, salt, garlic, and chilies. Turn the heat to low. Let it simmer for 20 minutes
3. Taste it, add fresh squeezed lime.

Topping:
Soak ebi in water. With a mortar and pestle, crush ebi until fine. Toast crushed ebi in a pan.

Serve otak-otak with toasted ground ebi and diced cucumber.

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Do you see the small bowl on the picture? That bowl has water and a slice of lime to rinse off your hand before and after eating. Yes! Traditionally, we use a right hand to eat, no cutlery.

Turmeric and saffron are two ingredients that I know giving yellow colour into the food. Turmeric is more popular among countries that have influenced from India; one of them is Indonesia. I have a package of saffron that I haven't used it at all. I may think to make a Spanish paella one time.

In my kitchen, I have fresh and powdered turmeric. I also have turmeric plants in my balcony to produce the leaves. Whenever the leaves are ready to harvest, I will keep them in the freezer. In Minang/Padang or also known as West Sumatra culinary, the leaves have a big role in its curry base cooking. It's just like curry leaves in Indian and Acehnese food.

In a recipe that I'm going to post here, I will use the rhizome not leaves. About a year ago, Cynthia of Taste Like Home emailed and asked me a recipe of Indonesian Yellow Fried Chicken. She fell in love with this yellow fried chicken after Tuty of Scent of Spice served this dish while Cynthia visited the U.S and Tuty's house.

Tuty and I have different style for the yellow fried chicken. I don't use flour to batter the chicken, but all other methods are the same; we boil the chicken with spices and water until cooked and deep fry afterward.

Deep fry is not the only technique you can use here. I sometimes bake then broil it to give brown nice colour look of the surface at the end. Remember, you still need to boil it with spices until cooked first before you bake and broil it. By baking and broiling it, you will use less oil too.


Ayam Goreng Kuning
- Indonesian Yellow Fried Chicken -
Modified from Lisa of Indonesian Woman in Indian Kitchen

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken, cut into 4 or 6 pieces
2 pieces of lemongrass, take only the white part, and crush it.
2 salam leaves (Indonesian bay leaves)
salt
1 cup of water
oil for deep frying

Grind to:
8 cloves garlic
5 candlenuts (Indonesian: kemiri*)
1 tsp coriander seeds
2 inches (5 cm) long fresh turmeric (1/2 tsp turmeric powder), roasted and peeled
3 inches (7-8 cm) long galangal
2 inches (5 cm) long ginger
1 tsp white pepper

Directions:
1. Grind all the ground spices into a paste.
2. Rub and marinate chicken pieces with the spice paste for about 1-2 hours.
3. In a pot, at medium heat, add marinated chicken pieces along with the paste, salt, lemon grass, salam leaves and water; bring to a boil.
4. Cover the pot with the lid, turn the heat to low and continue cooking until all the water has evaporated .
5. Remove from stove and let it cool.
6. At medium-high heat, add oil in to a wok. Deep fry the cooked chicken until golden yellow.
7. Remove from the wok and pat dry them with a kitchen towel or paper towel to absorb the oil excess.

Traditionally, it is served with fresh vegetables (we call lalapan), sambal terasi (chili relish/paste) and warmed cooked rice.

Note:
- If you can't find any candlenuts, they can be substituted for macadamia nuts.
- If you don't have any salam leaves, don't substitutes for regular leaves, just leave them out.
- You may substitute galangal for powder one as well.

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Udang ala Bie Fong Tong or Deep Fried Shrimp ala Bie Fong Tong.  One of Indonesian bloggers, cik Ine popularized this recipe in 2006.  At that time, I still blogged on multiply where I met her and saw the recipe.  As she mentioned at her blog, this recipe was introduced by chef Pieter of Lai Ching Chinese Restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel in Jakarta.  Original recipe has published on the detikfood.com website.

Thanks to cik Ine for her creativity by adding more fried chopped garlic in it, so I can call this Deep Fried Shrimp with 3-4 Bulbs of Garlic or Super Duper Garlicky Deep Fried Shrimp. Additionally, Anit, my facebook's friend called Anti Vampire Deep Fried Shrimp�.  Ok, the trademark sign was just a joke.

I made this recipe for the first time  in 2006 as well.  I made it again and again whenever I was lazy and got stuck what I supposed to do for cooking the shrimps. You also know that I like to modify the recipe to adjust what I have in the pantry and my taste-buds. In this recipe, I reduce the corn starch and egg.  Plus, I didn't deep fried the chopped garlic instead I baked them in the oven with oil.

Warning: Be ready to use 3-4 bulbs of garlic or buy a jar of fried garlic ready to use at the Asian stores. Super Duper Garlicky!

Udang ala Bie Fong Tong
- Deep Fried ala Bie Fong Tong - Super Duper Garlicky Deep Fried Shrimp -
Recipe by Chef Pieter, modified by Ine Elkaje and me

Ingredients:
454 g (1 lb) black tiger prawn/shrimp, peeled and deveined, but leave the tails on
ground white pepper
seasalt
1 egg, beat until peaks (original recipe called for 2 eggs)
100 g corn starch (original recipe called for 150 g)
2 - 3 bird eyes chillies, finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, bruised, to stir fry
vegetable oil

Sprinkle
200 g or 3-4 bulbs of garlic, chopped
1 green onion, finely sliced

Directions:
Bie Fong Tong style fried garlic for sprinkle
1. Clean and drain off the chopped garlic, sun-dried the garlic to reduce the moist (I used the oven to dry off).
2. Bake the garlic with a small amount of oil or deep fry until crispy and golden brown.
3. Garlic ready to use as Bie Fong Tong seasoning

Deep Fried Shrimp ala Bie Fong Tong
1. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the shrimp, combine.
2. Sprinkle with a small amount of corn starch, combine.
3. Add beaten egg, combine.
4. Coat the shrimp with the rest of cornstrach.
5. Deep-fry the shrimp until golden brown. Set aside.
6. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir fry the bruised garlic and bird eyes chillies until fragrant. Add the deep-fried shrimp, stir. Add fried chopped garlic, green onion, black pepper and salt, stir. Remove from heat and serve.

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