In the Forum, there is a discussion taking place under the topic "Basic Skills" posted by adac asking how to enhance one's knowledge of basic skills.  And whether I can provide guidelines on choosing the right recipes that are suitable for beginners.

I suggested we start by helping her cook for her husband, and she wanted to make a steamed fish, and hence we started our discussions on this subject.

I then asked myself, what else can Ada do with fish?  Maybe V Hui's 酥炸鯪魚肉釀生根 (Crispy Fried Stuffed Wheat Gluten with Minced Dace), I thought. Not only is this an easy dish to prepare, it is also extremely tasty. 

V Hui is an extremely elegant and beautiful lady, and on top of this, her knowledge of cooking is very deep.  She is humble about her skills, always saying that what she does is very simple because she is not a hard-working cook.  But all her dishes are elegant and simple, and I have featured her twice in my first book: Baked Salted Chicken and Roast Pork.  Both recipes are very popular and have received many, many compliments on how easy it is to make those two dishes, the success rate and of course, how delicious they are!

Tomorrow, 21st December 2008, is our Winter Festival, and it is more important than Chinese New Year.  Traditionally fish will be served as one of the many dishes that make up the celebratory dinner.  But is fish an easy dish to prepare?

It hardly occurs to me that I should write about something so basic as how to cook and serve fish as we live on an island and are spoilt for choice given the huge variety of fish -- both salt- and fresh water species -- available all year round.  To my amazement many of my readers ask me about techniques to handle fish, so I have decided to set down the ABCs in the cooking of fish.

With the cold weather we are now facing, it is only natural our attention turns to hot pot........the forever comfort food in times of bitter cold. 

On November 19, Ada posted :Hi Annie & friends,

I am planning to have a hot pot this Friday night.
Usually, I add chicken-stock-in-a-box to clear water, plus parsley + thousand years eggs to make 芫茜皮疍湯. Yet, I believe there is a better way to prepare it.
Then, I will buy the sliced meat from supermarket and veggies from wet market. However, they don't taste as good as the restaurant's hot pot.

I am wondering if you can share your ideas how to turn ordinary hot pot extraordinary.

Thanks,

Ada

Then Polly's reply to Ada on 20th November :Dear Ada

When I prepare for the hot pot soup, I use pork ribs and bones/dry scallop to make the soup base. For the last half hour I add dry shrimp (蝦乾) and turnip or yellow cabbage (黄芽白). This soup tastes really good so we don't have to dip too much soya sauce.
I agree with Annie. You need to use very fresh and best of ingredients for hot pot. Beef is a very important issue for me as my husband, friends and myself are beef maniac.
One of the sauces I like making is to mince garlic and chilli together, then mixed with smashed nan yu (南乳) and lime juice.

Cheers
Polly

And Amy's reply followed the same day 20/11/08:  Dear Ada,

Have you ever try to use soy milk/plain congee as your soup base? Try it and it's really yummy!! Besides soup base, I think dipping sauce is also very important. Most of my friends come over to my place for hot pot because they love my homemade cuttlefish ball and "secret dipping sauce". Here you go the ingredients of my "secret dipply sauce":

light soya sauce 1/2 cup
japanese sesame sauce/paste 1/2 cup (if you use paste, please dillute it with black tea)
a lot of minced garlic (i am a garlic lover)
some finely chopped spring onion
hoi sin sauce 1 tbsp
sugar to taste (you need to add at least 1 tbsp of sugar)
add deep fried garlice at last and chili (optional)

I hope you will love this sauce.................

Cheers,

Then 'wiggy' replied on 21st November : Amy

I also like to make the 'Chicken rice with mushroom and sausages' from 'look and cook' in addition to the hot pot, to round off the meal for some starch.
Really yummy on a cold winter night!
Amy, thanks for sharing your secret sauce, i will be having hot pot soon!
Pamela

Then Jenny Lo's suggestion of a Tom Yum Kun base : Dear all,

If you like the spicy one, try the Tom Yum Soup base. Add lemon grass, lime, chilli, giner , 南姜, lemon leaves, garlic and some coconut milk into your soup. You may add some tomato and mushroom as well.

Amy, I like your sauce. Should be yummy!

Jenny

Now my turn for something extraordinary: A Tamarind fish soup base:  I learnt this delicious dish from the Executive Chef at the Park Hyatt in Ho Chi Minh City during my recent visit.  The original recipe called for a sweet and sour seafood soup. This variation o f the broth is refreshingly light and fragrant with a touch of sourness from the tamarind paste and a hint of sweetness from the pineapple.  I have also changed the recipe into a hot pot, as this dish will be much more dramatic for your guests when you present a whole garoupa in this soup base as a hot pot.

Now we come to the end of our series on Prawns.  You have learnt the basic techniques for cleaning, marinating, storing and cooking prawns.  Bear in mind when you need to fry the prawns with shells on as in the recipe for Spicy Prawns posted by Celina, you need to fry over extremely high heat, in extremely hot oil.  The reverse is true for stir-frying prawns without shell, which should be fried in only lukewarm oil over low heat.

Armed with this knowledge and the basic principles of how to handle prepare prawns for cooking, you can now create your own dishes. Incorporate the techniques you have learned in a classic, everyday dish like fried rice with prawns. 

Or try the Vietnamese Style Chili Prawns recipe in my second book 'Look and Cook with Annie'.  This is a dish that I found delectable and inspiring during a visit to Ho Chi Minh City.  I loved their unique mix of fresh herbs and the way the sweet and salty fish sauce dressing adds an unusual but delightful dimension to this dish.

Also in my second book is the recipe for Bahamas Prawn Playpen, a request for inclusion by my dear friend Linda Cheng.  This dish was extremely popular in the 1980s because of its exotic mix of fruits with curry and seafood.  I understand this is a favourite with my readers; I have received messages from many telling me of the joy this Playpen Prawn has given to their friends and family.  Given the dish's strong and distinctive flavours, rice and salad are the best accompaniments.

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