Peppery Grilled Catfish Stew

Peppery Grilled Catfish Stew

Lemon, Lemongrass, garlic, and black pepper always play their part to flavor the good fish stew. We are used to eating fish dishes that our mom cooked in several different ways as for our dinner or lunch. This year, as I am in my original home country for the annual get together, I got a chance to see the progress of the development that indicates Yangon is improving.

To cite a few, the traffic is flowing smoothly unless if it is office hours ( peak hours 7:30 am-10:00 am). Some young women are working as professionals who are the support system of a developed country, some ethical drivers are showing some kindness by generously giving the way, some people are looking for the trash bin to throw the trash instead of throwing it on the road. Some authorities are also campaigning not to throw the trash and not to spit on the road.

Also noticed that our country's rich cultural heritage, reflected by the different variety of art and creativity since ancient time is maintained. To raise the Education level, some families working to discard the old way of teaching, and to adopt the multimedia tools that can reach out to many. Our country is really striving for developed and real democratic country status

Oh.. I am so excited to tell the story about the improvements in my motherland. But...

Let's talk about food. My sister's friend wanted to cook like mom's catfish recipe that she tasted once from my sis's lunch box. Our mother said that cooking is sometimes tricky. You cook with your eyes, you cook with your nose above all you cook with love with all your heart. What a wonderful concept of how to cook food. I love my mom's words since they remind me as of sweet memories. This Asian grilled catfish stew recipe is adapted from my paternal grandma's recipe. My mom used to mentions about how good my grandma's food was and how she enjoyed it when she worked as a young teacher. That was the time before I was even born. This peppery fish stew is also one of a kind too.

Peppery Grilled Catfish Stew ( 2-3 Serving)

Ingredients

2 Lb       Whole catfish ( 2-3 counts)
1/2 cups Chopped onion
1/4 cups Chopped garlic
1 tbsp     finely chopped ginger
1 tbsp     freshly roasted ground pepper
1.5 Tbsp  Chili Powder
1 Tbsp     Fish sauce
1 tsp       Turmeric powder
1 Stalk     Lemongrass
1/4 cup    Canola oil

Instructions

1.  Grill the whole catfish on the grill or wood fire with medium heat till it's skin start cooking as skin in its own oil. About 5-10 minutes. Then let it cool.
2. Wash all the blacken stuff from the fish because of grilling burnt skin. Then Cut the grilled fish into bite-size pieces.
3. Season the fish pieces with turmeric powder, salt, and pepper together with 1 tsp fish sauce.
4. In the nonstick pan, add oil and stir fry the chopped onion, ginger and garlic together with chili powder.
5. When all the ingredients are fragrant, add seasoned fish pieces into the pan together with a pounded lemongrass stalk.
6. Add the rest of the fish sauce and cook till all the water has evaporated. Then stir gently to season well with the fish and chili stir fry.
7. Cook the fish start sticking to the pan and start smoking fragrant.
8. Add 1.5 cups of water and cover and cook with medium-high heat.
9. when the pan starts boiling, turn down the heat to simmer.
10. When the water is evaporated halfway, turn off the heat. It is ready to serve with hot Jasmine rice.