Foodie Goodie | Salmon Rice Bowl.

Lent officially began two days ago (March 5), on Ash Wednesday. For Catholics, this means forty days of penance which includes abstinence from eating meat on Fridays during that period. And with that, my no-meat Friday begins today, with this fish dish that we'll be having for lunch.

Salmon Rice Bowl

Ingredients:
Long-grained rice, cooked
4 pcs skinless salmon fillets
2 tablespoons ginger, peeled and minced
3 teaspoons sugar
1 piece red chili, chopped
8 whole garlic cloves
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 kirby cucumbers, cut into thin strips
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
salt and pepper

Procedure:
1. Using a mortar, pound the ginger with the sugar, chili, and chopped garlic to a coarse paste.
2. Transfer the paste to a bowl, stir in with 1/4 cup of water, lime juice, and fish sauce. Add the cucumber.
3. Season the salmon with salt and pepper.
4. Heat the oil in a non-stick pan. Add the salmon to the skillet and cook over moderately high heat until lightly browned, about 3 minutes.
5. Turn the salmon and cook over moderate heat until opaque throughout, about 4 minutes.
6. Mound the rice in bowls.
7. Top with the salmon, garlic cloves and ginger-lime sauce with cucumber strips and serve.

As seen on Food and Wine. Shared with Food Friday and Food Trip Friday. 

Wordless Wednesday #49 | Healthy Eating.

Surviving without rice! :)

Seafood for the Holidays!

Since we're on the topic of food and holiday eating, I'm sure most of you already have plans for your family's Christmas dinner. Mum won't be coming home for the holidays this year (it sucks, I know), so we'll be missing her and her signature dishes come Christmas Day.

It's a good thing, though, that my siblings and I know how to cook. My sister, who once owned a small Italian restaurant, can whip up a storm in the kitchen. Pasta dishes are her forte, but she can cook some mean Mediterranean dishes, too. My brother, on the other hand, can cook some simple Filipino dishes (think adobo and sinigang). But wait 'til you taste his tiramisu. They're to die for, I tell you, and this dessert used to be the best-seller in my sister's restaurant.

Now the three of us haven't really finalized our Christmas dinner menu. We'll be having pasta and tiramisu, that's for sure. And there's the traditional holiday ham, which I'm certain most of you will have on your menus, too.

Black Tiger Prawns, peeled, tail on.

I'm thinking of adding seafood to our menu this year, say stuffed crabs or pan-fried tiger prawns. I don't even have to worry about the ingredients or the preparation, since I can do seafood order online, and have these restaurant-quality dishes delivered in time for Christmas dinner. I'm sure my siblings won't have qualms since they love seafood dishes, too.

How 'bout you? What's on your menu?