Time To Get Fishy

In our quest to get healthy in general, and specifically for our wedding, Mr Mel and I are using Dr John Tickell's book 'The Great Australian Diet' as a guide.

In the book Dr John recommends we should all take a leaf out of the Japanese culture and eat more fish. For Mr Mel that's no worries, he is a keen fisherman and loves fish, he'd eat it every night if he could. Whereas I'm a bit more of a problem child!

I do like fish, well some fish!  I grew up in a coastal town on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, crayfish weren't a delicacy, they were something our dad & uncles caught every couple of weeks, we caught yabbies in the dam, and our uncle would bring home a gummy shark every few months.  All of those I love, and as you can probably tell from the list, they're quite mild tasty sea creatures.

The fishy taste is what gets me, I know it will sound childish, but to me some fish smell like Kittie Cat!  Tins of Tuna make me gag. (see childish!).

Over the years I've expanded my repertoire so to speak, I'll now eat:

• Shark - preferably gummy, my fave fish to eat
• Barramundi
• Prawns
• Yabbies
• Crayfish/Lobster
• Swordfish

The problem now is Dr John recommends steering away from the predator fish ie shark, barra, as they can carry more toxins.

On Sunday while we were in Sydney for a family do we went to a fish market and bought prawns, barra, swordfish and salmon. (I'm determined to find a way to like salmon, it's so pretty!)

Last night we had our first fishy dish, a mild one to start with.

Kylie Kwong's Simple Fish Soup

Ingredients

• 1 bunch Bok choy
• 6 cups Chinese fish stock (we used 3 cups fish, 3 cups vegie to not fish me out!)
• 1 tablespoon Ginger julienne
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 400 g firm white-fleshed Fish Fillets cut on the diagonal into 1cm slices
• 75 g fresh oyster mushrooms stems discarded and caps halved
• 1 teaspoon Sesame Oil
• 1½ cups fresh bean sprouts
• ¼ cup coriander sprig
• 2 tablespoons finley sliced spring onions scallions

Method

1. Remove core from bok choy, cut crossways into 4, then wash thoroughly and drain.
2. Bring stock to the boil in a large heavy-based pot.
3. Add ginger, soy sauce and sugar and stir to combine.
4. Reduce heat, add fish and simmer gently for 1 minute.
5. Add mushrooms and simmer for 30 seconds.
6. Toss in bok choy and simmer for a further minute or until fish is just cooked through.
7. Stir in sesame oil and remove pot from stove.
8. Serve in bowls garnished with bean sprouts, coriander and spring onions.

Am pleased to report it was delicious, we added some noodles, and next time will add some chilli flakes for a bit of kick, but as my first fish dish of our new eating plan/lifestyle, it was a winner!
Would also be nice with poached chicken, but I won't tell Mr Mel that!

Thanks Kylie! (photo source)

I'll try to remember to take photos of our next fishy recipe attempts!

Till next time,