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2 great stingray recipes from Southeast Asia

Apr17
2011 2 Comments Written by chefshane

What is stingray?

Stingray are flat, diamond-shaped bottom-dwelling 'fish' with thin skeletons of cartilage rather than bone.
They're related to sharks and often eaten around Asia barbecued with chilli sambal or coated in leaves to protect the fish from burning.
The two stingray recipes below offer completely different flavour profiles and textures – give them a try.

In Asia and Australia stingray is inexpensive and a great fresh seafood ingredient for simmering, stewing and braising.
It doesn't overcook as easily as most fish, and the texture is quite sturdy.
In Europe, stingray is known as skate, and certain varieties are highly sought after, fetching top prices.  
The famous French and British way of preparing skate is with beurre noisette – blackened butter with capers. 

In UK and US there's some concern about overfishing. Skate is a premium table fish.
In Southeast Asia there are many varieties and it wouldn't appear to be under as much pressure, being a secondary catch.
In Vietnam and Thailand it's certainly plentiful and inexpensive.

The one bad thing about stingray is the shelf life.
If you can get this fresh from the market or the seafood supplier, use it the same day, or within 24 hours. If there's any ammonia smell, it's spoiled.

Here are two easy Southeast Asian stingray recipes.

One uses a saucepan – a clear spicy broth from North Thailand. The other is a simple barbecue, stingray wrapped in betel leaf and grilled over charcoal

Stingray recipes

'Gaeng pa' pla kraben recipe – North Thai stingray jungle curry (serves 4-5)

800g Stingray wings
2ltr     Water
5ea.   Fresh red chilli, sliced in half
2 ea.  Lemongrass stalks, lightly crushed (& knotted is good)
6 ea.  Kaffir lime leaves (fresh or frozen is best)
1 tsp  Salt
¼tsp  Sugar
1 tsp  Pork, shrimp, seafood or chicken flavour granules – Knorr, Maggi, Ajinomoto etc
½ tsp MSG (optional, but used in most Asian homes and restaurants)
½ ea  Onion (about 100g)
1 cup Coriander
1 cup Spring onion
2 ea   Fresh Limes (or lemon)

This is a "Gaeng" or 'curry'  from North Thailand, without coconut milk. 
Coconut grows on the coast, so in the South along the Andaman sea coconut is a main ingredient.
Coconuts don't grow as readily in mountainous, inland North Thailand, so up there 'jungle curries' are popular, made with curry paste or aromats, and water or clear stock. The light broth is scented with lemongrass, chilli, salt, kaffir lime leaves, onion.
After the flavours are infused,  stingray pieces are added and simmered more until cooked.
Finish with fresh herbs and it's a delicious, light authentic Thai soup to brag about.

stingray recipes 1

  1. Cut the stingray into chunks and rinse in cold water
  2. Put in to a steel saucpan and add the water.
  3. Throw in the chillies sliced in half, crushed lemongrass and torn kaffir lime leaves.
  4. Season to taste with salt, a pinch of sugar, pork or chicken powder.
  5. Let it simmer a little. About 5 minutes.

stingray recipes 2
Add the onion, (sliced) and the stingray.
Simmer another 5-7 minutes until cooked through nicely.stingray recipes 3

Chop your clean fresh spring onion and coriander freshly.
Add them into the 'Gaeng' and adjust final seasoning to taste – get a nice balance.
Serve in bowls, then squeeze freshly cut lime or lemon into the bowl. Serve with steamed rice or sticky rice.

stingray recipes 4

stingray recipes 5

Stingray barbecued Vietnamese style in la lot leaf               Ca duoi nuong la lot

This is a very quick and exceptionally delicious Vietnamese style of cooking stingray.
Around Danang City in central Vietnam, most of the seafood vendors near the beach offer whole stingray wrapped in betel leaf and grilled to perfection. 

The betel leaf becomes aromatic when grilled and adds a magnificent extra dimension to the already delicate, juicy fish flesh.
So simple and delicious, it really is a 'must try' dish

Ingredients

1 stingray – about 800g – 1kg
20  La lot leaves (betel leaves, or pepper vine leaves)
Marinade of turmeric, garlic, oyster sauce, black pepper and oil (see below)
Chopsticks/skewers for bite sized, or a wire grilling rack for whole stingray

Vietnamese stingray marinade

  • 4g / 1tsp turmeric root, crushed
  • 4g/ 1 tsp garlic
  • 20g / 1 tbsp oyster sauce (choose the thicker, richer premium varieties)
  • 1g black peppercorns, freshly ground (to taste)
  • 15ml / 1 dsp vegetable oil
  1. Cut the stingray into bite-sized chunks before marinating, OR marinate the whole stingray and wrap it whole.
  2. If cooking whole, use a wire grill holder to sandwich the whole stingray and hold the leaves on as it grills.The leaves will stick to the stingray and become charred and delicious
  3. If using bite sized pieces, wrap each marinated piece in a betel leaf, then hold in split chopsticks, or sewers / toothpicks

stingray recipes 6

stingray recipes grilled in la lot

stingray bbq in la lot leaf

Last but not least, simply barbecued with shallot oil, topped with coriander, crispy shallots and chilli.
This was also a common local Danang beachfront eatery style

Hungry for more stingray recipes?

Here's a video from The Staff Canteen of Shane Osborn doing skate in beurre noisette with suckling pig belly

Here's some BBC skate recipes from their usual lineup of celebrity chefs

Here's a nice recipe for sambal stingray from kitchentigress

And finally, stingray features in the five things to eat in Malaysia post, by the always engaging RasaMalaysia site

What's your favourite stingray recipe or skate recipe link?
Do you have a better way to do it? Have you tried these methods before? I'm all ears. Please let me know in the comments 

Posted in Fish & Seafood, Gluten free, Thailand, Vietnam - Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How to make a tasty Khao Tom rice soup for breakfast

Jul20
2010 2 Comments Written by chefshane

Asian breakfasts can be a bit hit and miss. 

Rice soup is generally bland, confusing & terrible. Just rice, and water.
Then you get tortured in your  'pre-coffee' mode by having to choose from a startling array of inappropriate looking ingredients and unfamiliar garnishes to dump into it.

It's sort of like learning to fly a plane by……..sitting in the pilot seat and lashing out blindly at the control panel.
It doesn't have to be like that.
You can actually make it 'ready to eat', and serve it fully garnished.

Japanese Chinese, Thais and other SE Asian nations have their own preferences and the tasteless basic soup is served with lots of options so as not to offend anyone.

Not by me. I have no issues with offending people – I'm a chef!
Bring it on.
I just want to keep MY tribe of punters happy, I don't care about the complaining masses that are eating elsewhere. This is all about pleasing the taste-buds here and now – not diluting and generalising to please everybody.

Here's a easy to follow 'khao tom' recipe that will have you smacking your lips.

Easy Khao Tom recipe (Thai rice soup) 

  • 1000ml Water or stock  
  • 150g Steamed rice (a level cup – or maybe a little less)
  • 110g Minced pork, chicken, or prawns (quarter pound)
  • 12g /1 dsp Knorr, Maggi, Ros dee stock granules (to match the meat, veg or seafood ingredient)
  • Salt to taste

Garnish for the top when serving

  1. Put the cold or warm water in a saucepan with the cooked (steamed jasmine) rice.
  2. Add the pork mince or chicken mince. (If using seafood, DO NOT add until the end)
  3. Stir well or whisk, to break up the mince into small bits.
  4. Not too chunky.
  5. Add some stock powder and a little salt
  6. Simmer for about 30 minutes until the rice has started to become soft and beginning to break up.taste it, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

If using prawns or seafood instead of pork or chicken mince, add last.
They only need a couple of minutes cooking. 
If you cook seafood too long it gets dry and floury. You can mince or chop the prawns, or just take the veins and shell off.

Khao Tom rice soup

Khao tom

That's it. Serve in a bowl, and top with fried garlic and fresh chopped coriander. Easy, tasty, light and delicious Other cool things to put on top or inside:

  • Salted duck egg, in quarters.
  • Fresh egg stirred in last 1 minute of cooking
  • Pork crackling
  • Crunchy fried chicken skin
  • Fried lemongrass
  • Fried shallots
  • Chopped spring onions
  • Dried roasted chilli or chill in in vinegar
  • A spoon – for getting in IN YER BELLY!

This is a basic but tasty recipe.

I know, because I just made this one and finished it for breakfast.

Do you have any favourite garnishes for your rice soup or congee?
Please share some tips from your local recipe, or tell me how you prefer yours.

Posted in Gluten free, Healthy & Low fat, Quick & easy, Thailand - Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cooking with baby watermelon

Jul05
2010 Leave a Comment Written by chefshane

Baby watermelon with pork rib and roasted chilli broth
Good morning from the midst of booming thunder and a tropical deluge that is pelting downtown Bangkok!
I am here for ‘one show only’ and I am still full of things to share from Chiang Rai.
This is an unusual but really quite ‘normal’ offering today. I’m using watermelon – while it is immature and green. We call it “Tang Thai” – “Tang mo” being watermelon, and Tang Thai being the Thai watermelon.
Never mind. Unlike chefs, baked items and the Dubai workforce, all watermelons are created equal. You can also use ‘normal’ non-Thai watermelons. But here is the catch – they have to be babies.

Yep – once again, I’m a babykiller.
I’m talking green, young, hard-as-a-rock baby melons that are nowhere near ready – seeds undeveloped and flesh inside looking just like a fat zucchini.



Over here, the baby watermelons are used a few ways.
Simply sliced, and eaten raw on the side of nam prik dips and ‘larb’ salads is one way. The appearance, taste and texture is almost like raw zucchini.
The other way is in a simple ‘Gaeng’ or ‘curry.
In most of Thailand ‘Gaeng” is a coconut milk based curry with freshly smashed Thai curry paste. Tasty but fattening, and excellent at clogging the arteries and sometimes the access to the bathroom too.
In the North, “gaeng” is pretty much anything simmered in a spiced broth and served like a soup. It is always healthy, light and tasty.
The broth can be simple – garlic, chilli, kaffir lime and salt…….up to a complex combination of complementary ingredients.
This recipe is light, simple, healthy and delicious,, and has no fat,  so I’m sharing.
If you cannot find baby watermelons or grow them, then you can use potato for this dish.

Ingredients
baby watermelon, peeled and cubed (no seeds)
garlic
toasted dry red chilli flakes
salt (or a potassium salt substitute if watching your blood pressure)
kaffir lime leaves
knorr stock cubes (*optional – but see – I can be simple and easy to follow)
pork on the bone (any – but young pork spare-ribs would be great)
fresh coriander (or you could use sweet basil leaves if you prefer)

  1. Pound the roasted dry red chilli with salt and garlic.
  2. Put on a pot with cold water in
  3. Add pork to the pot. In the North it is just put in on the bone. For ease of eating or a bit more sophistication, add bones seperately so they can be taken out, or use baby pork spareribs
  4. Add the diced baby watermelon and the kaffir lime leaves.
  5. Simmer gently for 20-30 minutes, or until the watermelon is soft and juicy – like well cooked potato.
  6. Check the seasoning – adjust salt and add a touch of sugar if it needs more body. NOT sweet – just a pinch to balance the salt.
  7. To finish, take off the heat, add the coriander (or basil) and serve.


This recipe is pretty healthy. It is chock full of antioxidants. Studies have shown that baby watermelon is more beneficial to eyesight than carrots.
The wee critter also has 20% of ‘good’ carbs, and is good for blood pressure due to high potassium, magnesium & content.
Oh – and a high count of Vitamins C & D just to close the sale. It even sounds interesting on the menu.
The mouth feel is starchy just like potato, or sort of like a marrow that actually tastes good.
The recipe pictured is home style Northern Thai – but it can certainly be ‘revised’ into something more sophisticated.
I give you not a recipe – but the gift of baby watermelon as an ingredient to simmer like potatoes and funky-up your food offerings.
Anyone who cares to take off with this idea, let me know what you are doing. I’m all ears!

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Posted in Healthy & Low fat, Quick & easy - Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

A simple tasty Thai soup with fish

Jul01
2010 Leave a Comment Written by chefshane

Fish and tomato soup with kaffir lime, cilantro, prickly ash (gaeng som pla makan) serves 2-4 depending on demeanour, girth and appetite.
Forget the complexities of Tom Yum and Tom kha – they are done to death and you’ll never make your critics happy.
The newbies will love it – but everybody else has their own favourite taste memory. Each has a thousand different incarnations depending on background, cook and diner preference. Plus – it’s so common everywhere, it won’t be a ‘first impression’
Apologies to accomplished Thai chefs: This doesn’t apply to you. Your tom yum is probably mouthwatering. But add this to your repertoire and watch us silly Farangs start drooling and kowtowing.

In the culinary world, simplicity and freshness aces complexity. As easy as that. (Those words will come back to haunt me because of my frog recipe, I’m sure)
This catfish soup has everything.
Incredible taste, fresh local ingredients, and such simplicity that it is almost fool-proof. I have to say that this soup has taken over my “favourite” status from the roasted chilli and kaffir lime “Tom Saap” pork rib soup that I wrote about last year.

First – get a fish.
Here in North Thailand we are using catfish or similar freshwater fish.
In the South they would rather eat bony sea sprats from the ocean than plump tasty river fish. It’s a fresh locally available food thing. What they are used to. You try it too! get a fresh local fish from where you live, not a frozen one or an import. ”Your favourite fish” can be inserted without incident.
Do NOT drive all over town to the Asian shops looking for a place that has north Thai catfish :-)
You will also need “Ma-kwem” – or prickly ash berries. <cue sad disappointed stare>
Fortunately, Robyn from the eatingasia blog wrote me to say that this can be substituted with Sichuan pepper and a little grated orange peel (No white pith from the orange though – it is bitter!)
Here is the recipe. Serve with rice, or sticky rice – or just a spoon and bib.

Ingredients:


  • 500g / 1 each Freshwater catfish (or your favourite whole fish)
  • 1-2 Tomato – ripe, red.
  • 100g / 1 ea Onion (or red shallots if you can get them)
  • 30g / 6 cloves Garlic
  • 15g / 6 ea Chilli, fresh, red Thai (to taste)
  • 800ml / 3-4 cups Water
  • Salt, Sugar, optional MSG if you like it. (Sugar, salt to taste. Everyone’s is different, so balance these flavours yourself) As a rule – salt to taste, and just put a hint of sugar.
  • 1 tsp Dried prickly ash berry – ground (or can substitute with Sichuan pepper pounded with a little orange zest if you cannot get prickly ash)
  • 10-12 leaves long cilantro (sawtooth / flat coriander) – or fresh coriander
  • 4 each Spring onion
  • 2 each Kaffir lime – juice. (you can substitute lime juice & lime leaf)


Method




  1. Cut the fish roughly into large chunks. It is best cooked on the bone to flavour the soup. If you have roe – use that too – but don’t chop.
    A workaround, (to avoid picking at bones when you eat it) is to fillet the fish, pinbone it, then make a stock by simmering the bones very gently in water for 10-12 minutes only. DON’T BOIL.
    Then use the stock instead of water in step 5
  2. Chop the 3/4 of the garlic and all the chilli. Pound it in a mortar and pestle. OR just chop it a bit more.
  3. Slice the onion (with the grain – not into rings)
  4. Cut the tomato as you wish. Wedges or julienne both work fine. Cut the core out though, and don’t use it
  5. Bring the water to a gentle simmer in a pot.
  6. Add in the chilli and garlic
  7. Add the fish.
  8. Reduce to a gentle simmer. Cook gently until the fish is just cooked through (5-10 minutes) DON’T BOIL!
  9. Season soup with the salt. Taste it. Add a little sugar – this will deepen the flavour
  10. Pound / grind the prickly ash with the remaining 1/4 of garlic that you kept from earlier.
  11. Remove from heat, add in the prickly ash / Sichuan pepper, squeeze the kaffir limes in and tear some cilantro leaves into the soup
  12. Serve immediately and bliss out. Every spoonful is good for you – but tastes good enough to be a mortal sin.
    The flavour and ‘awesomeness’ comes from the prickly ash or “ma-kwem”/ “Ma-kan”. Get some!
    Make sure you add the Schezuan pepper & orange skin if you don’t have it, or you just get a boiled fish soup.
Do a “Dexter” on your fish. It should be scaled and gutted first, either by you, or Khun Fishmonger.
Add fish, tomato and onion into the water – which has the garlic and chilli floating around in it as discussed.
A couple of torn up kaffir lime leaves never hurts.

Make it a gentle simmer. No – scratch that – Make it an almost IMPERCEPTIBLE simmer. Boiling destroys fish. And eggs. And chicken. And it toughens meat. Boiling should only be used for politicians and naughty children that scream loudly in trains all the way from Sydney to Gosford.

It’s a chef thing. If you learn not to boil things with protein in them, you are halfway to culinary achievement.
Hint: If it looks like a jacuzzi – turn it down. A LOT!
Smash the prickly ash with a little garlic. When the fish is cooked, add it into the soup, remove from the heat, squeeze the kaffir lime juice in, and stir in the cilantro. Yum!
Voila. Flirty feeds – done dirt cheap!
Don’t like the presentation? Neither do I. Just make sure if using fish fillet, that a fish stock is used as the base, or add the head and bones then take them out before serving so it is full of flavour.
Yes – we can make this into a five star dish with funky presentation, retaining the flavours of the North – but that is a story for another day. Enjoy.

Fishing for Catfish: The Complete Guide for Catching Big Channells, Blues and Faltheads (The Freshwater Angler) Cuisinart Chef's Classic Stainless 1-1/2-Quart Saucepan with Cover Lime - Kaffir Tree

Posted in Fish & Seafood, Healthy & Low fat, Quick & easy - Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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