Pan Seared Barramundi with Lemon/Parsley + Asparagus

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Fish in Singapore can be expensive, and there’s nothing more disappointing than paying top dollar for produce that’s mediocre. I recently ordered a bunch of things from The Meat Club , an independent online grocer that gets their produce directly from Australia, working only with quality suppliers with a focus on sustainability and animal welfare. Produce is frozen in Australia and shipped directly to Singapore. They’re known for their beef and pork products, being called the Meat Club and all, so I had little expectations on the fish front. Let me say upfront now that I couldn’t be more wrong. The Barramundi that I had was amazing! So fresh, so flaky, I was blown away by the quality.

I can’t take any credit for the recipe that I adapted from The Meat Club, original recipe here : https://www.themeatclub.com.sg/product/sea-bream-with-lemon-and-parsley/ . What I can say though, is that this recipe is so simple it only takes 15 minutes, but really does pack a punch. Of course when you have good produce, more than half the cooking battle is already won.

Pan Seared Barramundi with Lemon & Parsley, served with Asparagus
Prep time : 5 min
Cooking time : 10 min
Total time : 15 min

You’ll need :

  • 2 pieces of Barramundi ( Any firm white fish could work as well, such as sea bream)
  • 1 lemon
  • Bunch of parsley
  • 3 Chunks of butter
  • Dry white wine (100ml)
  • Bunch of asparagus

Prep :

  1. Slice your lemon in half, and roughly chop up half your parsley
  2. Squeeze half the lemon juice all over the fish, rub over with parsley, and season with salt and pepper

Cook :

  1. Start by sautéing the asparagus with 1 chunk of butter, being liberal with the salt and pepper. Do this on low heat, turning ever so often
  2. While the Asparagus is cooking, get a skillet ( cast iron/carbon steel preferable) and get it searing hot. If you don’t have a proper skillet, try to aim for a non-stick pan
  3. Add a knob of butter and sear your barramundi skin side down for 3 min, then carefully flip over and sear for another 2 minutes . Searing fish is an art and depends very much on the thickness of your fish and how hot your pan is . It comes down to practice but I usually eyeball my fish. When the flesh is no longer translucent and the meat flakes away easily, you’ll know it’s done. For beginner cooks, I’ll advise you to undercook your fish if unsure and use a timer. You can always pop it back on the pan otherwise, and you’ll soon learn from trial and error exactly how long you’ll need to get that perfect doneness. Sometimes I like to undercook my fish slightly, and finish it off in the oven as that’s more forgiving, giving it 2-3 minutes more at 160 degrees celsius.
  4. By now the asparagus should be done, so take it off the heat. It should be dark green and tender but still have a bit of a bite to it.
  5. To make the sauce, melt down your last chunk of butter on low to medium heat, add the other half chopped parsley to it, and when the parsley has been simmering for awhile, add your white wine and reduce down, around 5 minutes.
  6. Serve the fish with asparagus on the side, a wedge of lemon, drizzle the sauce over the fish and you’re done! Enjoy 🙂

xx Kerri

Silky Smooth Chawananmushi Recipe

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I often find myself a bit peckish after dinner and for a great midnight snack I love a good Chawanmushi (steamed egg custard) . I tend to make a few little cups at the start of the week so I have an easy snack on demand !

The key to a delicious Chawanmushi is all in the dashi, which is so easy to make. Link here: How To Make Ichiban Dashi !for the recipe. Otherwise you can substitute with chicken stock as well but I highly recommend making your own dashi!

Silky Smooth Chawanmushi recipe

The recipe gives you a basic Chawanmushi. You can layer on toppings as well, ginkgo nuts, mushrooms and bits of chicken are my go to.

Prep time : 10 min
Cook time : 20 min
Total time : 30 min

Makes enough for 4 small portions

You’ll need :

  • 3 medium to large eggs
  • 500ml dashi
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon Mirin
  • 1 teaspoon Sake
  • 1 teaspoon light soy sauce

Prep :

  1.  Beat your 3 eggs well
  2. Mix in the dashi with the eggs
  3.  Add your salt, soy sauce, mirin and sake
  4. Run the mixture through a sieve to ensure that the egg mixture is smooth
  5. Ladle into ramekin cups or any other small cups that can withstand high heat, try and ensure there are no air bubbles
  6. If you want to add toppings like crab meat, mushrooms, bits of chicken etc you can place them into the egg cups as well (optional)
  7. Cover your cups with lids or use aluminium foil

Cook:

  1. Prep your steamer by making sure the water is on high boil –  I add an inch and a half of water to my steamer and use a wire rack.
  2. Once the steamer is ready, carefully place the egg cups inside and steam on low heat for around 18-22min. Everyone’s stove top and heat distribution works differently. I recommend checking your Chawanmushi from the 18 min mark onwards, and you’ll be able to get your own magic number as to when the Chawanmushi is ready . You’ll know it’s done when you tap the back of a teaspoon lightly against the egg and it bounces back.

Pro tip : I make a few cups and steam them all at once. Once they’ve cooled, I refrigerate them. To enjoy, I just pop them in the steamer on low heat for around 5 min. Keeps well in the fridge for up to 3 days.

xx Kerri

How To Make Ichiban Dashi !

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When it comes to Japanese cooking, Dashi (fish stock) is a must have. It’s frequently used in Japanese cooking as a stock base and provides that umami flavour. Sure you could buy the ready made packets of dashi from your Asian supermarket but home made dashi has a ton more flavour, plus it’s so easy to make, so there’s really no excuse! I use dashi the most for chawanmushi , which is why I typically make a ‘ichiban dashi’ which is the first dashi, using a combination of Kombu and Katsuobushi. You can also make a ‘niban’ (second) dashi, using the leftover ingredients from the first dashi as a base for other Japanese dishes that require a lighter stock base, say miso soup for example. I typically make in huge batches and then freeze them in ice cubes for easy access.

Ichiban Dashi Recipe
Prep time : Minimum 2 hours
Cooking time : 10 min

You’ll need :

  • Kombu ( Kelp)
  • Katsuobushi ( Bonito flakes)

Prep :

  1. Prepare a pot of room temperature water ( filtered if possible).
  2. Cut your Kombu into strips (don’t wash your Kombu, if needed wipe gently. The whitish spots on the Kombu are glutamates which provide flavour.
  3. Soak the strips of Kombu in water for at least an hour and a half ( I sometimes leave it overnight in the fridge but generally 2 hours is good enough).

Cook:

  1. Simmer the pot of water with Kombu inside
  2. JUST before the water comes to a boil, remove the Kombu . This is very important as boiling your Kombu will cause your dashi to become bitter
  3. Add a handful of Katsuobushi, bring to a rolling boil and take off fire.
  4. Sieve out the Katsuobushi, let cool and there you have your dashi! It should be a nice golden colour.

*Pro tip – the ratio of Kombu to water is pretty subjective. The more strips of Kombu the more intense the flavour. I generally add 5 cut pieces to around a litre of water but play around with proportions and taste to find out what works for you!

xx Kerri

Roast Chicken Recipe ( slow cooked Dutch Oven style!)

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Okay so…. this is absolutely one of my favourite things to make. It is SO EASY, so delicious, and almost impossible to get wrong. Sure, you need to allocate some time to get this done right, but there’s very little active cooking involved, just pop it into the oven and off you go with your day. Roasting your chicken in a dutch oven ensures that you get a beautiful juicy roast chicken each time. Yes you’re not going to get the skin all crispy, but trust me this is way better. Slow cooking your chicken this way ensures you get the meat all moist, and all the juices drip into vegetables so you get amazing flavour out of it. I’ve experimented a lot with different herbs and spices, but the recipe below is what I’ve come to love. Given this takes some time, I usually make a larger portion on the weekend, so that I have enough leftovers for a second, (or third!) quick weekday meal.

Roast Chicken Recipe ( Slow cooked Dutch Oven style)

Prep time : 15 minutes
Cooking time : 3-4 hours, depending on size of chicken

You’ll need :

  • 1 whole chicken ( around 1.2-1.5Kg, adjust depending on how many people you’re serving, or how big your appetite is!)
  • 2 x yellow onion
  • 3 x carrots
  • 4 x large potatoes
  • Half a fennel (optional)
  • Half a squash ( optional but this cooks so well with chicken if you can get it)
  • 5 garlic cloves ( more if you love garlic!)
  • Cumin powder
  • Dried Tarragon
  • A few sprigs of Thyme and Rosemary
  • Butter ( 1 inch chunk)


Prep :

  1. Preheat your oven at 160 degrees celsius
  2. Melt down your butter on low heat in a pan and leave aside to cool
  3. Chop up your veggies and set aside
    – Slice your onions into quarters and smash your garlic cloves with the side of your knife ( no need to peel )
    – Cut your carrots into 2-3 pieces, and potatoes and squash into chunks
    – If you have fennel, slice it into thick strips ( save the fronds, the feathery things at the top)
  4. Now, take your melted down butter and massage it all over the chicken. Get it into the crevices, and if you can, slide your fingers between the meat and skin of the chicken and get some butter in there too. ( there’s usually an opening at either end of the chicken where you can, ahem, enter). Then, salt and pepper your chicken, and use a mix of dried tarragon and cumin powder to go all over the skin. Don’t forget to season the cavity of the chicken as well!
  5. Stuff the chicken cavity with one or two chopped up carrots, a quarter onion, 2 garlic cloves, your rosemary and thyme, and the fennel fronds. For the rest of the vegetables, lay it at the bottom of your Dutch oven, and place your chicken on top of it. Cover your Dutch Oven with your lid and ensure the lid is tightly closed.

Cook :

  1. Place your dutch oven in the pre-heated oven and let it cook for 3-4 hours, basting the chicken with its juices every 1.5 hours or so. You’ll know it’s ready when the meat is fall off the bone tender.

And yup, that’s it! Super easy to prep and so delicious. This is a real classic and I make it on the reg at least once a month. You’ll be surprised at how much flavour you get out of this. Any leftovers I save in the fridge and heat up in the oven or on the stove. It gets even more delicious 🙂

*Pro Tip : Once you’ve finished your meal you can also use the chicken carcass to make some stock. Throw all the bones into a pot of water, add two sticks of celery, one chopped up carrot, one onion cut into quarters, some rosemary and thyme, and half a bulb of smashed up garlic. Bring to a boil for 15 minutes. Then turn down the heat , and let it simmer for 3 hours. Strain and discard the vegetables, sieve out any extra oil and you have homemade chicken stock ready for a hotpot meal as a base or whatever else you might need chicken stock for! Freeze in fridge if you’re gonna keep it for longer.

Let me know in the comments how you get on!

xx Kerri

Easy Thai green curry dinner

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On nights when I run out of inspiration, my go to dish is a thai green chicken curry. I first discovered this recipe from Sanne Vloet’s – ‘what I eat in a day video” and have since made so many versions of this dish. I love how its so versatile and incredibly easy to make. You can change up the veg, swap out protein, make a completely vegetarian version, and it’ll still taste super delicious.

Easy Thai Green Curry
Prep time : 5 min
Cooking time : 15 min
Serving size : 2 pax

( If you want to have rice with this, you’ll need to cook the rice in advance)

You’ll need :

  • 2 x chicken breasts or chicken thighs if you prefer (de skinned and deboned)
  • 1 x yellow onion
  • 1 x zuccchini
  • 1 x eggplant
  • 1 x red pepper ( optional, but I like using this for the colours)
  • coconut milk (~ 200ml)
  • Thai Green Curry paste (2 tablespoons)
    I’ve tried a ton of brands but Blue Elephant is my favourite. That said it’s no deal breaker if you can’t find this brand.
    Available on Shopee here

Prep :

  1. Slice the onions, zucchini and eggplant into 1/2 inch slices. You want them thick enough so you get that bite, but thin enough to cook quickly .
  2. Chop up your chicken into bite size pieces – it’s all going into the curry so don’t bother making it look pretty!

Cook :

  1. Start by oiling your pan and heating it up to medium/high heat. Toss in the chicken and a spoonful of the green curry paste. Fry both together until your chicken is almost cooked (~10min)
  2. Add your veg and the rest of the curry paste into the pan. Mix evenly and pour in your coconut milk. Ensure that all the curry paste has dissolved into the coconut milk
  3. Thin out your curry by adding a little water bit by bit, till it reaches your desired consistency. Taste and add more curry paste if needed for an increased spice level. Bring to a low simmer and when your vegetables are cooked to your desired doneness (~5 min), dinner is ready!

Serve over a steaming plate of rice, garnish with fresh basil (if you have some)and enjoy immediately.

*Pro tip :

  • If you can’t finish the green curry paste, portion it out at the start and freeze. It’ll keep longer for when you can make your next green curry meal!

xx Kerri

Looking back at 2020

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Like everyone else, 2020 threw me for a complete loop. Plans I made at the beginning of the year went up in smoke , trips were cancelled, the reservation I finally managed to make at Noma(!!) has been indefinitely postponed, and I ended up leaving London and coming back to Singapore. It’s not all doom and gloom though. 2020 has definitely given me some fresh perspective, as well as time and space to refocus on what’s important to me, and hence why I’m starting this blog. I’m really looking forward to 2021 and the possibilities it can bring. For now though, here’s looking back at what I’ve been up to in the kitchen for the past year!

See you in the new year

xx Kerri