Mom’s fishy dishes
We were gifted a whole Balai Threadfin by LovingGenerousFriends. Fillets, head, tail, beautifully cleaned, cut up, packaged and delivered to our doorstep. Almost 5kg of fish.
Except I don’t cook fish. Not that I don’t know how (haven’t really tried). I just don’t like handling or eating fish.
So, I did the logical thing: I brought it over to Mom. Dad was delighted as he adores seafood; he was particularly thrilled with the fish head.
Japanese Fish Stew Fish Head Curry Fish Noodles Salted and fried Sweet & Sour
Over a couple of weeks, my mother churned out a variety of fish dishes, of which I had the sweet & sour (which is just about the only way I will eat fish). Younger Daughter & Loving Husband ate much more widely and enjoyed it thoroughly.
This is my contribution to
- Friendly Friday Blog Challenge hosted by Amanda at SomethingToPonderAbout & Sandy at TheSandyChronicles
- What’s on Your Plate Blog Challenge hosted by Deb at WidowBadass
- Becky’s Squares hosted by Becky at LifeOfB
- Friday Foods of the World hosted by Cadyluckleedy at ThatTravelLadyInHerShoes
I miss the usual fishes that I usually eat in the PH. Here in NZ fishes are jumbo and not too appealing for me since we cannot finish it in one day and the taste is nothing compared to SE Asian fishes. So most of the time I only buy salmon and tuna and occasional sardines. Just my opinion.
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All the dishes look delicious. Even the famous Fish Head Curry. I never managed to taste Fish Head Curry, simply because I could never find anyone else who’d eat it with me.
Like you, I don’t like cooking fish … because of the smell.
Unlike you, I LOVE eating it … but in my family no-one else likes eating around fish bones, so any fish I order, will be all mine to eat 🙂
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All look amazing! I suddenly craved fish noodle soup
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Hee hee! Thanks for popping in for a visit & enjoying the food!
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How Versatile your fish dishes are. I tend to cook it simply or have it raw/fresh. Now I know not to serve salmon if you visit for dinner! Beautiful photography of the dishes, Ju-Lyn!
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Thanks Amanda! Calamari would be just fine for me!
My Mom has the magic touch with most food. Funny thing is, she doesn’t particularly enjoy eating – she much prefers feeding Dad and the rest of us!
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How lovely that she cooks for the experience and the kind gesture of offering food to family.
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Feeding others is her Love Language!
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What a beautiful Mum!
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Nope to the fish head! I am not a big fish eater either………growing up in the Midwest, it was mostly meat and potatoes! Every once in a while we had fried perch, and I mostly liked the tartar sauce! I do eat salmon, and shrimp now though, but not much else…….I would like to try your moms dishes! They look yummy! Maybe I just don’t know how to prepare them and don’t have the access to the fresh fish as I would like! Cady
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I hear you, Cady! Fresh fish to start is essential! But the preparation is also key (although Dad would say that with fresh fish, you could just have it steamed or grilled). I mostly just ate the sauce and the vegetables around fish dishes when I was growing up.
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Glad the fish didn’t go to waste!
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Me too! I did think for a split second whether I should keep a few fillets to try making something, but the thought of having to handle the fish was too much for me 🤣
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oh I need to come and stay with your mum. What fabulous dishes, and I love cooking and eating fish so would be so happy 😀
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I think Loving Husband & Younger Daughter would also love to have more fish … but they only get grilled salmon and whatever my Mom cooks for them!
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They’ll have to cook it for themselves!
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That’s a thought!
Although, I don’t eat meat either, and I do try to cook it as best I can for them …
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oh wow you are so generous to do that – you should definitely get them cooking!
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Hee hee! You are probably right there!
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I am with you, Becky! I could easily live on fish every day! I can never have too much!
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Dad is that way too!
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wouldn’t that be fabulous 😀
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Indeed it would.
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Wow, what a feast! Your mum knows what she is doing. And your first photo reminded me of the Taiwan episode of Street Food Around the World on Netflix.
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Hee hee! That’s so funny!
Thanks for enjoying my Mom’s expertise with me!
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I love fish but can’t eat the head. If I have a whole fish on my plate I have to ask the fishseller to cut the head off as I don’t like food that looks at me while I am eating….
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I hear you – there are quite a few Asian dishes served with their heads on … it always freaks me out just a little.
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And the other thing I won’t have on my plate is chicken’s feet
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I am totally with you there with the chicken’s feet. Imagine what they have been scratching around in!
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I just keep imagining the toe-nails! 😬
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Ooo. Yes!!!
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🤣🤣🤣
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Interesting how this puts people off eating a dish. Having said that, I am not a fan of the pig’s heads roasting on the spit, or on a table with an apple?? in them as in some buffets.
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They do say that we are very visual eaters – so I guess this is part of it!
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I think it is part of what makes our mouths water, which gets our digestive juices flowing!
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What a wonderful array of fish dishes!
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Mom’s magic!
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Such a generous gift. Wonderful that your mum is such a good cook and made sure none of it was wasted.
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It was a very unexpected and delightful surprise. And yes, extremely generous. I did the right thing sending it over to Mom.
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😀
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That looks so good, Ju-Lyn.
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Thanks for visiting, Tracy. Which dish do you like best?
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Unfair, Ju-Lyn. They all look delicious.
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Hee hee! Choice isn’t always a good thing, right?
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Not always. 😄
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I like fish head too. 😊
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Wow!
Which is your favourite way to enjoy fish head?
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There’s a local dish “sinigang” — basically a soup or stew that uses tamarind to make it sour and savoury. Excellent for fish head!
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Ooooh, that sounds delicious! I like the idea of tamarind (we use that a lot in our curries too!)
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That fish head looks delectable! Was it cooked Nyonya style?
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I believe so, Monch. I didn’t actually get to view it, except through the photo she sent over 🙂
Dad apparently polished it off!
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Interesting! That reminds me of a dish here in the Philippines called sinigang, which one of the commenters mentioned.
There’s a particular version of that sour broth dish called “sinigang sa miso,” with mustard leaves, tomatoes and fermented soybean. Definitely a delight to eat, if you have the patience to sift through the entire fish head though.
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Sinigang sounds like something Dad would really love (and probably does, because he loves Filipino food). And I love fermented soybean! So I would very much eating everything around the fish head itself! which is what I do when mom makes her fishhead curries! (she keeps all the vegetables & gravy for me)
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I would try everything but the fish head. Not sure I could do that. The dishes all look pretty though and glad your family was able to enjoy it all.
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You are certainly braver than I.
But fish really is not my favourite thing. Although I have to say I really enjoyed the sweet & sour dish my mom made.
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My hubby loves a fish head curry, and he says the best part are the eyes 😱
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Oh my gosh! that’s what my Dad says too! Can you easily get a Fish Head Curry where you are, Alison?
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Probably somewhere! He tends to go out for lunch on his own as I don’t like all the noodles, dim sum and phos he likes!
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You guys are so cute!
Best that way – sometimes we just have to do our own thing … no need to torture Our Other with things we love that they don’t!
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Definitely 😎
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Thanks for joining in the fun, Ju-Lyn! I like fish but I wouldn’t know what to do with a fish head 😁.
Deb
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Thank you for hosting us, Deb! I think many the fish head is enjoyed by quite. few Asian kitchens: Japanese, Indian, Singaporean … I do not belong to the Fishhead Lovers Club, though
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