Malaysian Curry Fish

The dish goes really well with a bowl of steamed rice. You can substitute with any kinds of fish fillet you like. This brand of curry paste, available at Asian grocers, is quite hot, great for spicy food lovers. If you like less hot, you can add more water or coconut milk to adjust to your liking.

Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Yield: 2 to 3 serves

Ingredients:

• 200 gm white fish fillet (cod or snapper), chopped in pieces
• salt, to taste
• white pepper, to taste
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 potato, roughly chopped
• 1 carrot, roughly chopped
• 250 ml Ayam curry paste, 1 can
• 200 ml water
• 6 tofu puffs
• 150 gm green beans
• 300 ml coconut milk
• 5 medium prawns / shrimps, optional
• 2 tsp sugar
• salt, to taste
• coriander, for garnish

Method:

1. Rinse the fish fillet and wipe dry with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a pot over medium heat. Saute onion until slightly softened. Add garlic and cook until aromatic. Make sure not to burn the garlic. Toss in the potato and carrot. Stir to combine.
3. Pour the curry paste and water. Increase the heat and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until the vegetables turn soft, about 10 minutes.
4. In the meantime, rinse the prawns. Remove the head, devein and shell, keeping the tails intact. Use a pot of salted boiling water to briefly cook the green beans for about 2 minutes. Drain out and soak the beans in cold water. Drain well again. Set aside. Toss the tofu puffs in the boiling water in order to remove the excess oil. Drain up and set aside.
5. Add the tofu puffs and green beans in the curry sauce. Cook over high heat. When it boils again, add coconut milk. Bring it to boil. Add the fish and shrimp. Cook until their colours changed into opaque. Season with salt and sugar. Transfer into a serving bowl and garnish with coriander. Serve immediately.

©2026 Christine's Recipes - https://en.christinesrecipes.com/

Stir-Fried Clams with Black Bean Sauce (豉椒炒蜆)

Prep time: 10 mins (plus soaking clam time)
Cook time: 10 mins
Yield: 2 to 3 serves

Ingredients:

• 1 kg clams
• 2 tsp minced shallots
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 Tbsp fermented black soybeans (aka douchi 豆豉)
• 1 Tbsp shredded ginger
• 3 to 4 spring onion, shredded
• 1 Tbsp white rice cooking wine
• 1 red chilli, roughly chopped
• cilantro, for garnish

Sauce:

• 120 ml water
• 2 tsp oyster sauce
• ½ tsp sugar
• 1 tsp light soy sauce
• ½ tsp dark soy sauce
• white pepper, to taste
• 1 tsp chilli oil, optional

Thickening:

• 1 tsp corn flour / corn starch
• 2 Tbsp water

Method:

1. Soak the clams in salted water for 2 to 3 hours and let them release sands inside. Rinse thoroughly. Briefly blanch in boiling water until they are slightly open. Immediately drain them in a colander. Set aside.
2. Rinse the fermented black soybeans and drain well. Use a large spoon to press them into a paste. You might like to reserve some in whole shape to enhance the presentation.
3. Heat oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Saute the shallot, garlic, fermented black soybeans, ginger and half of the spring onion, until aromatic.
4. Toss the clams into the wok. Increase heat to high and stir fry until aromatic. Sprinkle wine around the edge of wok. Add the sauce, red chilli. Quickly stir to combine. Cook for a few seconds. Add the rest of spring onion. Stir in the thickening and cook to preferred consistency. Garnish with cilantro. Serve immediately.

Notes：

• Don’t ever cook the clams too long while blanching, as they have to be stir fried later on and you don’t want the meat turn rubbery.
• Discard any unopened clams because they are dead already.
• If you like a stronger kick of chilli, you might like to sauté the red chilli with fermented black soybeans. Or add more chilli oil if you like.
• If you have smaller kids, you might skip the red chilli.

©2026 Christine's Recipes - https://en.christinesrecipes.com/

Ginger and Scallion Crab with Noodles (薑蔥炒蟹)

You can skip the noodle cooking parts if you only want a stir fried crab dish. It's equally delicious.

Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Yield: 2 to 3 serves

Ingredients:

• 1.2 kg mud crab
• 3 Tbsp potato starch
• 1 tsp chicken powder
• 20 gm ginger, shredded
• 3 to 4 spring onion, roughly chopped
• 165 gm e-fu noodles (伊麵)
• 2 tsp Shaoxing wine
• 150 ml chicken stock

Sauce:

• 2 Tbsp water
• 2 tsp light soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp oyster sauce
• ½ tsp sugar

Method:

1. Mix potato starch with chicken powder well. Set aside.
2. Rinse the crab well and chop into pieces. Wipe dry with kitchen papers. Lightly coat with potato starch mixture.
3. Heat oil, about ½ inch depth in a wok over medium heat. Test the oil with a pair of wet chopsticks. If many bubbles arise, it means the oil is hot enough. Carefully place the crab pieces in batches and shallow fry until the outside turn orange (Remark: You don’t need to cook through the crab at this stage.) Drain well on kitchen papers to absorb excess oil. Set aside.
4. Blanch the noodles in boiling water, according to the instructions on packaging. Stir to loosen the noodles. Drain out and rinse in cold water. Drain well and set aside.
5. Drain and discard the oil leaving about 2 tablespoons of oil in the wok. Saute half of the ginger and spring onion. Add the noodles and stir to combine and evenly heat. Transfer onto a plate, cover to keep warm.
6. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to sauté the rest of the ginger and spring onion until aromatic. Toss back the crab pieces in the wok. Sprinkle wine. Quickly stir to combine. Add chicken stock and sauce. Cook until the crab pieces are cooked through. Place on top of the noodles. Serve immediately.

Notes：

• The chefs at Chinese restaurants use to deep fry crab briefly before stir-frying with other ingredients. As a home cook, I’d like to use less oil and use shallow frying instead. By doing this, the flavour of the crab will be enhanced and won’t lease too much water in the process of stir frying as a result of thinning the sauce.
• Potato starch can help holding all the delicious sauce on the surface of crab, available at Asian stores.
• Mud crabs are meaty and often used to make this noodle dish traditionally. If you can’t find any live mud crabs, you might like to use other kinds of crabs instead, like blue swimmer crabs.
• To get the best results, stir fry the e-fu noodles beforehand as the noodles will take up the aroma of ginger and spring onion.

©2026 Christine's Recipes - https://en.christinesrecipes.com/

Singaporean Chilli Crab Recipe (with Lemongrass and Ginger Book Review)

Adapted from Lemongrass and Ginger, p.109
by Christine's Recipes
Prep time: 45 mins
Cook time: 25 mins
Yield: 4 serves

Ingredients:

• 1.5kg / 3lb 5oz uncooked brown or blue swimmer crabs, or crab claws, scrubbed (I used mud crab.)
• 3 Tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 recipe quantity chilli crab spice paste (see below)
• 2 Tbsp tomato ketchup
• 2 Tbsp chilli sauce
• 2 Tbsp clear honey
• 3 Tbsp light soy sauce
• boiled long-grain rice, to serve

Method:

1. To prepare each crab, pull off the triangular bony tail flap and discard. Press your thumb under the rear end of the crab and lift the body away from the back shell. Discard the shell and remove and discard the stomach bag and the gills at the sides of the body. Rinse the crab flesh and claws under running cold water and pat dry with kitchen paper. Pull the 2 front claws from the bodies and then, using the back of a knife or a mallet, slightly crack the shell of each claw. Cut the crabs into quarters with a large-bladed knife. If using crab claws only, rinse under running cold water and crack the claws slightly using a large-bladed knife.
2. Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan over a high heat. Add the spice paste and cook gently, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes until fragrant and the oil starts to rise to the surface.
3. Meanwhile, combine the tomato ketchup, chilli sauce, honey and soy sauce in a small bowl. Add the sauce mixture to the wok or pan, then pour in 9-ml/3fl oz/generous 1/3 cup water and bring to the boil.
4. Tip in the crab pieces and push around the wok or pan until well coated with the sauce. Cover, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 8-10 minutes until the crab pieces turn bright orange and are cooked through. Serve immediately with boiled rice.

Chilli Crab spice paste
Ingredients:

• 2 dried chillies
• 5 red chillies, deseeded and roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 6 shallots, roughly chopped
• 5cm/2in piece of root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 tsp roasted shrimp paste (I used bottled smooth shrimp paste)

Method:

1. Soak the dried chillies in hot water for 10 minutes, then drain, deseed and roughly chop.
2. Put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend a smooth paste. (I used a pestle and mortar to ground all ingredients into paste.)

©2026 Christine's Recipes - https://en.christinesrecipes.com/

Japanese Salmon Soba Noodles

This noodle dish is very versatile, suitable for lunch or dinner, throughout the year.

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Yield: 2 serves

Ingredients:

• 2 x 140 gm salmon steaks
• a pinch salt
• pepper, to taste
• 180 gm soba noodles
• baby bok choy, to serve
• wakame / seaweed salad, to sever

Sauce ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp mirin
• 3 Tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil

Method:

1. Rinse salmon and wipe dry. Use tweezers or pliers to remove the pin bones. Season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a frying pan. Cook the salmon steaks over medium high heat with skin side first, until both sides are brown or cooked to your liking.
2. In the meantime, heat a large pot of boiling water. Cook the noodles in boiling water according to the packet instructions, adding the bok choy for the last 2 minutes. Drain and refresh under cold water. Set aside.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a small sauce pan. Saute garlic and ginger until aromatic. Place the rest of the sauce ingredients and cook until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat.
4. Divide the noodles among two serving plates, with salmon steaks, drizzle sauce on surface, topped with wakam. Serve with bok choy.
5. Notes：
6. Wakame / seaweed salad is available from Asian grocers.
7. Mirin is a kind of rice wine similar to sake, available from Asian grocery stores.

©2026 Christine's Recipes - https://en.christinesrecipes.com/

Creamy Fish Vegetable Soup

Use any white fish fillet you like, for example cod, snapper or ling filet. Whipping cream (pouring cream) is available at supermarkets. Thickened cream is good. But if using light cream, it easily becomes curdle when it boils. Make sure not to boil the soup after adding the cream.

Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Yield: 2 to 3 serves

Ingredients:

• 200 gm white fish fillet
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 thumb-sized cube butter
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 2 streaks bacon, diced
• 1 potato, diced
• 1 to 2 stalks celery, diced
• 80 ml dry white wine, optional
• 2 Tbsp plain flour
• 3 cups fish stock (or chicken stock or water)
• 120 ml whipping cream
• 1 tsp dried thyme

Method:

1. Rinse the fish and wipe dry with kitchen papers. Cut into chunks. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Heat vegetable oil and butter in a large pot over medium heat until the butter is melted. Saute garlic and onion until the onion is translucent. Add bacon, carrot and potato. Cook for a while. Pour wine over the vegetables. Increase heat to high. Continue to cook until the sauce reduced by half. Add celery and thyme. Sprinkle flour and stir to combine well. Pour stock. Bring it to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and cook until the potato is softened, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add fish and cook until turned opaque. Stir in cream and cook until close to boil. Remove from the heat. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with crusty bread or garlic bread.

©2026 Christine's Recipes - https://en.christinesrecipes.com/

Paella (Simple One-Pan Rice)

Traditionally, saffron threads are used as a key ingredient that helps add fragrance and a beautiful colour to the rice. Simply soak a few saffron threads in a few tablespoons of hot water (or hot chicken broth). Then put it into the rice to cook with the chicken broth in step 4. If not using Aboriso rice, you can replace it with short-grain rice. Due to different absorption of different rice and different power levels of utensils used, please adjust the amount of chicken broth accordingly.

Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 35 mins
Yield: 3 to 4 serves

Ingredients:

• 1 (about 125 gm) chorizo, roughly chopped
• 120 gm chicken breast, diced
• 1 onion, onion, diced
• 1 red capsicum, diced
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp cayenne powder
• 1 tsp ground paprika
• 200 gm Aboriso rice
• 4½ cups salt-reduced chicken broth, heated in a separate bowl
• 1 bay leaf
• 8 medium prawns / shrimps, shelled and deveined
• 100 gm fish meat, diced
• 1 calamari / squid, sliced into rings
• 8 mussels
• 8 cherry tomatoes, cut into halves
• parsley, for garnish
• lemon wedges, to serve

Method:

1. Season chicken, fish and prawns with salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large frying pan. Cook chorizo over medium heat until lightly brown. Add chicken and cook until the surface turns white, no need to be cooked through at this stage. Set aside.
3. Add a little oil to sauté onion until translucent. Add capsicum. Stir to combine and push vegetables to the sides of your pan. Add garlic in the middle and cook until fragrant, yet don’t burn it. Add turmeric powder, cayenne powder and ground paprika and cook until aromatic.
4. Add rice and stir to combine. Pour chicken broth into the pan. Add bay leaf. Toss back the chorizo and chicken. Bring it to a boil. Simmer for about 15 minutes with cover until the rice is almost done.
5. Add prawns, fish, calamari and mussels. Cook for another 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook for another 2 minutes. Sprinkle parsley on top. Serve immediately with lemon wedges and salad.

©2026 Christine's Recipes - https://en.christinesrecipes.com/

Pan Fried Scallops with XO Sauce

This dish is simple, quick and very delicious. It's suitable for matching with a wide variety of vegetables.

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Yield: 2 to 3 serves

Ingredients:

• 6 scallops (fresh or frozen), about 160 gm
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• 1/2 tsp Shaoxing wine
• 160 gm green beans
• 1 stalk celery, about 90 gm
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• 4 Tbsp salt-reduced chicken stock
• 2 Tbsp Lee Kum Kee XO sauce
• red chilli, finely chopped, for garnish, optional
• Thickening:
• 1/2 tsp corn flour / corn starch
• 2 Tbsp water
• sugar, to taste
• salt, to taste

Method:

1. Blanch scallops in boiling water for about 1 to 2 minutes. Don’t over cook them. Immediately drain up and wipe dry with kitchen papers. Season with salt, pepper and a dash of wine. Set aside.
2. Trim the green beans. Remove the tissue of celery. Rinse the vegetables and drain well. Cut into long strips. Set aside.
3. Blanch the green beans in boiling water for about 3 minutes. Drain and immediately soak in cold water until cold to touch. Then drain well. Set aside.
4. Heat oil in a wok or frying pan. Pan fry scallops over medium-high heat, until both sides are lightly brown, each side for about 2 minutes. Set aside.
5. Heat oil and sauté garlic over medium heat until fragrant. Make sure not to burn the garlic. Add the green beans and celery. Quickly stir fry. Pour chicken stock and combine well. Cook until the beans start to turn soft. Add XO sauce and scallops. Stir to combine well. Cook for another 1 minute. Add thickening and cook to preferred consistency. Serve immediately.

Notes:

• If using frozen scallops, make sure the scallops are completely thawed in fridge or at room temperature before cooking.
• By blanching the thawed scallops, it helps remove the frozen smell as well. Don't ever over cook the scallops. The texture becomes tough otherwise.

©2026 Christine's Recipes - https://en.christinesrecipes.com/

Pan Fried Fish Fillet (Hong Kong Style)

This is one of my favourite homey dishes often cooked by my mother. I always feel that she’s the best in cooking it. The fish fillet is pan fried perfectly and the sauce is just balanced. It is suitable for kids and seniors, and meat lovers of course, excellent with hot steamed rice.

Pan Fried Fish Fillet (Printable recipe)
By Christine's Recipes
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Yield: 3 to 4 serves

Ingredients:

• 1 piece fish fillet (mackerel or other white fish)
• 1 tsp shallot, minced
• 2 to 3 slices ginger, shredded
• 1 stalk spring onion, diced or shredded

Ingredients:

• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• 1/2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• cornflour/corn starch, for coating fish fillet

Sauce:

• 1½ tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tsp sugar
• 6 tbsp water
• sesame oil,to taste
• pepper,to taste

Thickening:

• 1 tsp cornflour
• 2 tbsp water

Method:

• Rinse fish and wipe dry with kitchen papers. Season with salt, pepper and wine. Let sit for 10 minutes. Lightly coat with cornflour. Set aside.
• Heat oil in a non-stick frying pan. Pan fry the fish over medium-high heat until both sides are golden brown and cooked through. Remove from the pan, cover to keep warm.
• Add some more oil in the pan. Saute shallot, ginger and white spring onion dices. Pour in the sauce. Bring it to boil. Add thickening and cook to preferred consistency. Pour the sauce over the fish. Garnish with spring onion. Serve immediately.

Note:

• You might use any favourite white fish fillets.

©2026 Christine's Recipes - https://en.christinesrecipes.com/

Grilled Sanma (Japanese Style)

Whenever we have fish on our dinner table, I’d feel it’s a very satisfying and rich supper, no matter what kind of fish we have. This dish is a super easy and quick one, yet delicious enough. Sanma is commonly used in Japanese cuisine. To make this dish, all you need is an oven/grill. I used my toaster oven that is pretty quick to grill a small amount of meat. If you don’t have an oven at home, you can pan fry it oven medium-high heat. Both of the fish skin and bones are very crispy. You can eat the whole fish literally, given that you’re skillful and experienced in eating small fish with bones.

Grilled Sanma (Printable recipe)
By Christine's Recipes
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Yield: 2 to 3 serves

The S&B assorted chili pepper contains 7 flavours:　
chili pepper, orange peel, black sesame seed, white sesame seed, Japanese pepper, ginger, seaweed.

Ingredients:

• 300 gm sanma (サンマ / 秋刀魚)
• sea salt, to taste
• freshly grated black pepper, to taste
• S&B assorted chili pepper, to taste

Method:

• Gut the sanma and clean well. Rinse, then wipe dry with kitchen papers. Generously sprinkle and rub with sea salt and pepper on both sides and inside. Season with assorted chili pepper.
• Preheat a toaster oven at 160C/320F. Line a baking tray with aluminum foil or baking paper, greased with a bit of oil.
• Place the fish on the lined baking tray. Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until cooked through and the fish skin becomes lightly brown. Serve immediately. Sprinkle more assorted chili pepper if you like. The fish goes very well with soy sauce, or Worcestershire sauce. Enjoy!

Notes:

• You can grill the fish in a conventional oven at 200C/395F.
• Or fry the fish in a frying pan.
• Needless to add too much oil, as the fish would release oil while baking/grilling.

©2026 Christine's Recipes - https://en.christinesrecipes.com/

Stir-fried Gai Lan with Fish Cake & Lap Cheong

Chinese broccoli (aka, Gai lan) is widely used in Chinese cuisine, especially Cantonese dishes. Its name in Chinese, (芥蘭 Gai lan) literally means "mustard orchid", and belongs to the same plant family as broccoli and kale. It's high in beta-carotene, and contains folate, vitamin E, iron and calcium.

The most popular way of cooking gai lan is stir-fried with ginger or garlic, or just boiled with water, then served with oyster sauce. Their thick stems are edible, but take longer time to be cooked as compared with their dark green leaves. Sometimes, you might find it’s got a bit bitter in taste. My mum used to add a hint of sugar to balance their mild bitterness and bring out the best of this lovely vegetable. If you’re fed up with the usual way of blanching gai lan or stir-fried it with garlic, here’s my mum’s favourite cooking way. She liked to stir fry it with fish cake or/and Lap Cheong (臘腸 Chinese sausage). This dish is tasty, full of flavours, that the gai lan turns out to be the most enjoyable part, as it absorbs the oil of lap cheong and natural sweetness of fish. My kid likes this vegetable the most when it’s cooked in this way.

Stir-fried Gai Lan with Fish Cake & Lap Cheong (Printable recipe)

By Christine's Recipes
Prep time: 25 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Yield: serves 3 to 4

Ingredients:

• 200 gm Gai Lan (Chinese broccoli)
• 200 gm white fish meat (e.g. Mackeral)
• 4 to 5 shiitake mushrooms, soaked until soft, diced
• 1 lap cheong
• scallion, to taste
• 3 to 4 slices ginger
• 2 tsp Shaoxing wine
• salt, to taste
• sugar, to taste
• 4 Tbsp chicken stock

Marinade:

• 1 tsp light soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp cornflour
• pepper, to taste

Thickening:

• 2 tsp cornflour
• 2 Tbsp water

Method:

• Rinse and wipe dry gai lan. Cut into 1½ to 2 inches long sections. Separate stems and leaves. Set aside.
• Blanch lap cheong in boiling water and remove grease and impurities outside if any. Cut into two halves. Dice one half and slice another half.
• Chunk fish meat and place into a food processor. Pulse until smooth. Transfer into a large bowl. Add shiitake mushrooms, diced lap cheong, scallion and marinade. Use chopsticks to blend towards only one direction, either clockwise or anti-clockwise until elastic, about 10 to 15 minutes.
• Heat oil in a frying pan. Place fish paste and lightly press to flatten. Cook over medium-low heat until both sides are golden brown. Remove from pan, let cool a bit. Cut into smaller pieces. Set aside.
• Add oil in the pan, sauté ginger until fragrant. Toss in the stems of gai lan. Increase heat, and stir fry until they soften. Add leaves, quickly stir fry. Sprinkle wine, pour in chicken stock. Season with salt and sugar. Toss back fish cake and lap cheong slices. Add thickening, cook to preferred consistency. Served hot with steamed rice.
  

©2026 Christine's Recipes - https://en.christinesrecipes.com/

Steamed Golden Fish Cakes with Oyster Sauce + Hong Kong Trip Snapshot

Lee Kum Kee held a cooking competition for bloggers in April. To my knowledge, it’s the first one ever run in Hong Kong before. I felt honoured to be invited and created a demo recipe for their official site. Healthy, creative and fusion were the requirements and themes for every entry. So here you go, I translated my demo recipe into English to share the joy of participating something significant in food blogging.

What else could be more healthier than a steamed fish dish? Believed that this dish had nailed the competition themes, off I went to submit my recipe and posted on my chinese food blog. By adding a bit of vietnamese condiment, fish sauce, into the fish paste, I planned to bring in a kind of cross-over-taste in Chinese traditional seasoning. Besides all the cooking, I was able to know and connect more Hong Kong food bloggers through this event, as well as expand my blogging horizon a bit.

As a side note, I was invited to visit the LKK headquarter during my trip back to Hong Kong last month.

Amazed by their warm welcome message！

Very impressed by their giant, modern kitchen. I could imagine how excited the contestants would have felt while cooking their invention dishes in this splendid kitchen.

A peek view of LKK giant kitchen - taken by my ipad2

Prepare 8 chinese tablespoons or cook in batches.
Steamed Golden Fish Cakes with Oyster Sauce (Printable recipe)

By Christine's Recipes
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Yield: Makes 8 golden fish cakes

Ingredients:

• 200 gm white fish meat (e.g. mackerel)
• 1 shiitake mushroom, soaked until soft, finely diced
• 8 thin strips of carrot
• 8 leaves of baby bok choy

Marinade:

• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• pepper, to taste
• 1 Tbsp freshly grated carrot juice

Sauce:

• 3 tsp Lee Kum Kee premium oyster sauce
• 1 tsp Lee Kum Kee light soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp Lee Kum Kee dark soy sauce
• Lee Kum Kee sesame oil, to taste
• 2½ Tbsp water

Thickening:

• 1 Tbsp water
• 1/2 tsp corn flour

Method:

• Place the fish in a food processor and process until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl. Mix in marinade. Use chopsticks and blend towards only one direction, either clockwise or anti-clockwise, for about 10 minutes. (Note: Beating fish meat towards only one direction will help you produce elastic fish meat.)
• Damp 8 chinese tablespoon (as picture shown above) with a bit of water. Divide fish paste into the tablespoons and make 8 oval shapes. On each fish paste portion, carefully place two diced mushrooms as fish eyes, one tiny strip of carrot as fish mouth. Steam in a wok over high heat, about 5 minutes, or until cooked through. Run a sharp knife around each tablespoon and remove the fish cakes. Arrange on a large serving plate.
• While steaming the fish cakes, use a small saucepan, cook the sauce over medium heat. When it boils, add the thickening and cook to preferred consistency. Set aside.
• Add a dash of oil in boiling water in the wok, briefly cook the baby bok choy until soft and turns green. Don’t overcook them. Drain them, and cut away the stalks. Place each leaf next to each fish cake as its tail. Serve hot with the sauce.

Notes:

• Carrot is a healthy ingredient. Utilize its natural golden orange colour to replicate the look and colour of a golden fish in order to enhance the appetite.
• When it comes to making this fish cake, only use fish meat, without any fish skin, as you don’t want the fish cakes get some black spot inside.
• It’s much more easier to get the colour you like if you add carrot juice bit by bit, and stir at the same time.
• When shaping the fish cake, you might find the fish paste a bit sticky or messy. No worries. To make it workable, damp your hands with a bit of water, you'll find shaping a fish cake is a piece of cake.
• Cook the bok choy with stalks intacted, it helps to drain out easily without tearing off the delicate leaves. The stalks can be eaten with sauce anyway, you won’t waste anything.
• When serving this dish, the sauce can be transferred into a small sauce pot.
• The intensity of saltiness of different brands of fish sauce is different. Adjust the amount of it accordingly.

©2026 Christine's Recipes - https://en.christinesrecipes.com/

Crab Meat with E-Fu Noodles in Oyster Sauce (蟹肉伊麵)

E-fu noodles (aka Yi mein in Cantonese, 伊麵), are often consumed on birthday celebrations in Hong Kong, thus they are also named as "Longevity (long) life" noodles (Sau mein 壽麵). They are flat egg-noodles, made by wheat flour. You might easily find them from any Asian stores, that are deep-fried first before packed in a plastic bag for sale. When it comes to cooking e-fu noodles, all you need is to blanch them in boiling water to get rid of any excess oil, and then cook briefly in simmering liquid. Its colour of golden yellow is very attractive, along with its chewy and elastic texture make them stand out of the crowd. Generally speaking, Chinese people categorize e-fu noodles as a kind of only-have-it-on-special occasions one.

Crab Meat with E-Fu Noodles in Oyster Sauce (Printable recipe)
By Christine's Recipes
Prep time: 40 mins
Cook time: 30 mins
Yield: 2 to 3serves

Ingredients:

• 120 grams crab meat (2 crabs, steamed and shelled)
• 1 pack E-Fu noodles (伊麵), about 220 gm
• 1 shallot, minced
• 2 stalks scallion, cut into sections
• ginger, julienned, to taste
• sesame oil, to taste, optional

Seasonings:

• 250 ml salt-reduced chicken stock (homemade or bought)
• 1½ Tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp light soy sauce
• 2 tsp dark soy sauce
• ½ tsp sugar

Sauce:

• 200 ml salt-reduced chicken stock
• thickening (1 tsp cornflour + 1 Tbsp water), mixed well
• 1 egg white, lightly whisked

Method:

1. Cook e-fu noodles in boiling water until softened, about 3 minutes. Drain well, immediately rinse with running cold water. Drain well again. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a wok or a large pan. Saute the shallot until aromatic over medium-high heat. Add the ginger and scallion. Pour in the seasonings, bring it to a boil. Add the noodles. Decrease heat and simmer until noodles absorb the flavours, for about 5 to 8 minutes. Season with sesame oil. Transfer to 2 to 3 serving plates. Cover to keep warm. Set aside.
3. Use the same wok. Pour in 200 ml of chicken stock. Cook until it boils over high heat. Toss in crab meat. When it boils again, stir in the thickening and cook to preferred consistency. Add the egg white and lightly stir with a fork. Once the egg white turns white, quickly dish up. Ladle over the noodles or transfer into the cooked crab shells. Serve hot.

Notes:

• You might choose mud crabs or sand crabs, as long as they are fresh and you like them. Put a few extra slices of ginger and 1 to 2 stalks of scallion to steam with the crabs, to get rid of any fishy smell if they have any. Young kids will love this dish as they don’t have any trouble in removing the crab shells.
• Or you might like to use frozen crab meat if it comes in handy to you.
• You can substitute the crab meat with any other meats you like, or simply omit it. Or add more favourite vegetables. The oyster sauce goes with the noodles really well.
• As e-fu noodles are highly absorbent, they tend to soak up a lot of the moisture when wet ingredients are added, so they would take on all the flavors in the sauce. When it comes to cooking this kind of noodles, don’t let the noodles sit too long before serving. They become dry and too salty otherwise.

©2026 Christine's Recipes - https://en.christinesrecipes.com/

Baked Miso Salmon

Salmon is on top of my favourite seafood list. It’s full of flavours and nutrients. I don’t need to worry about the calories or cholesterol intake, eat as many as I like, enjoy more frequently as I crave. The Asian flavoured salmon is my family’s choice just after salmon sashimi. As a home cook, I love to bake salmon steak, with a bit of white miso paste by adding a subtle sweet flavour. This dish is simple and easy.

Baked Miso Salmon (Printable recipe)

Ingredients:

• 1 salmon steak with skin on, about 200 gm

Marinade:

• 1 Tbsp white miso paste
• 1 Tbsp mirin
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp freshly grated ginger sauce

Method:

1. Rinse the salmon and pat dry with kitchen papers. Scale and Debone. Mix with marinade well. Cover and put in fridge for at least 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 200C (395F).
3. Remove the salmon from fridge and place at room temperature for 5 minutes. Use a spoon to scrape away the marinade. Add 2 tablespoons of water to marinade and combine for later use.
4. Heat oil in grill pan over high heat. Place the salmon on pan, the meat side first. Cook about 3 minutes until grill marks appear. Carefully turn and cook the skin side for 2 minutes. Transfer to the oven. (Note: if your grill pan is not oven friendly, transfer the salmon into a baking tray.) Bake for about 8 minutes, or almost cooked. Open the oven door, carefully pour the marinade mixture onto the surface of the salmon, continue to cook for another 5 minutes, or to your preferred doneness.

Notes:

• As the marinade contains sugar, make sure not to burn the sauce while cooking. You’d taste bitterness otherwise.
• The cooking time depends on how thick your salmon is, and how well you like your salmon.
• If you don’t want to use oven, you can just grill or BBQ the salmon. Cook the marinade mixture separately. When you are ready to serve the salmon, top with the sauce.

Other salmon/miso paste recipes on the web:

• Grilled Miso Salmon from NoobCook
• Grilled Fish Fillets with Japanese Sake and Miso Paste from Taste Hong Kong
• Baked Salmon from Tasty Kitchen of The Pioneer Woman

©2026 Christine's Recipes - https://en.christinesrecipes.com/

Salmon Fish Cakes

In Chinese cooking, steamed live fish is my first choice, not only because it’s easy and quick, but also I can enjoy the fresh and natural taste of the fish. Amongst all kinds of fish, salmon is my most favourite. I’d go for salmon sashimi without second thought. If there’s no salmon available for sashimi or have too much salmon leftovers, this salmon cake recipe is a saver. I can’t over state how tasty, nutritious and healthy these salmon cakes are. These pan-fried salmon cakes are really moist and juicy, with a bit of crunchy onion inside that adds more textures and flavours, just right to be served with any kind of sauces you like.

Salmon Cakes (Printable recipe)

Ingredients:

• 200 gm salmon, skinned and boned
• 100 gm potato
• 65 gm pork mince
• 60 gm onion
• a knob butter
• 1 Tbsp whisked egg
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• vegetable oil

Method:

1. Roughly chop salmon into chunks and process in a food processor until almost minced.
2. Peel potato and cut into 2 to 2.5 cm sized cubes. Cook in boiling water, about 20 minutes until cooked, easily poked in with a sharp knife. Drain well and mash into paste. Let cool.
3. Use a frying pan, heat oil on medium heat. Add a knob of butter. When the butter melts, add onion, and cook until translucent, yet still with crisp texture. Set aside and let cool.
4. In a large bowl, mix the salmon, pork, onion, mashed potato and whisked egg thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Use wet hands to shape the mixture into 10 to 12 small balls, then press flat into mini burgers shape.
6. Heat oil in a frying pan. Pan fry salmon cakes over medium heat until cooked, lightly brown on both sides. Serve hot with this sweet and sour cucumber, or any salad as desired.

Other salmon recipes:

• Salmon Patties from Simply Recipes
• Recipe for Salmon Patties from Kalyn's Kitchen
• Delicate Double-Salmon Fish Cakes from Scrumptious South Africa
• Salmon Miso Soup from Christine's Recipes
• Salmon Fried Rice (Quick Lunch) from Christine's Recipes

©2026 Christine's Recipes - https://en.christinesrecipes.com/

Salmon Pasta with Tomato Chickpea Sauce

As I said before, I have really been motivated to make some fresh pasta since I got with my new kitchen toy – pasta machine. Making pasta is so much fun indeed. I cooked the first batch of pasta with some homemade tomato sauce, tossing in some chickpeas to add more textures with more protein and fiber. As for myself, the dinner at that night was one of my favourites with lots of satisfaction in cooking and tasting. Since my daughter loves to have all her pasta swimming in the sauce, the amount used in this recipe was quite large. It might be more than you need. So you can reduce the ingredients according to your need, or keep the leftover sauce in fridge for a week or so. The sauce is so tasty on pizzas or breads as well.

Salmon Pasta with Tomato Chickpea Sauce (Printable recipe)

Makes 2 to 3 serves

Ingredients:

• 2 salmon steaks (about 300 gm)
• 200 gm pasta (bought or homemade)
• sweet basil for garnish
• salt, to taste
• freshly grated black pepper, to taste
• fresh lemon juice (1/2 lemon)

Ingredients of sauce:

• 2 cans (each 400 gm) Italian diced tomatoes
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 40 gm unsalted butter
• 2 onions, diced
• 2 tsp salt
• 4 Tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 3 Tbsp fresh sweet basil, chopped
• 2 Tbsp raw sugar
• black pepper, to taste
• 1/2 can chickpeas, optional

Method:

1. Open the can and drain chickpeas. If it’s soaked in salted water, use hot water to rinse away the saltiness. Drain well and set aside.
2. Heat butter in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, cook until soft and fragrant. Be sure not to burn the garlic. It tastes bitter otherwise.
3. Add tomatoes and increase heat to high. Bring it to a boil. Add tomato paste, sugar, salt, pepper, oregano. Mix well and continue to cook until it boils again. Reduce heat to simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens. Toss in chickpeas. Once it boils again, turn off the heat. Mix in the basil. Set aside.
4. Use another clean frying pan, add little oil (Note: salmon would release oil when cooked.) Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of salmon. Pan fry salmon over medium high heat until cooked to your desired doneness.
5. Use a large pot of boiling water, add about 1 teaspoon of salt to the boiling water. When it boils again, add the pasta and cook according to the instructions of bought packet. For the fresh pasta, cook 3 to 5 minutes depending on how thick your pasta noodles are. The pasta should be cooked through but still gives a sense of firmness. Remember to test by tasting yourself.
6. Drain out the pasta and divide on serving plates. Ladle sauce over the pasta, place salmon steak on top, season with freshly grated lemon juice. Garnish with basil. Enjoy!

Notes:

• The amount of sauce might be more than you need. Keep in an air-tight container and chill in fridge. It can keep for a week or so.
• You might omit the salmon steaks. The pasta is still very delicious if only severed with the sauce.

©2026 Christine's Recipes - https://en.christinesrecipes.com/

Butter Prawns

One of the good things that I love about food blogging is receiving feedbacks from my readers’ email. Through all the email exchanges, I shared their joy and satisfaction after trying my recipes. Thank you all for your encouraging feedbacks.

Amongst all the encouraging feedbacks, here’s a unique one from Eric Tan, a reader in Malaysia, that’s a wonderful recipe I didn’t ask for. When I saw this popular Malaysian recipe, Butter Prawns, fine tuned by himself appearing in my inbox, I said to myself that was a must to try. Yet, without any reason, it took me quite a long time to try it out. Finally, I’m glad I did. It’s a fantastic dish. Thank you, Eric.

The butter prawns were so creamy and delicious. Although Eric made a remark that the curry leaves are optional, I strongly recommend to use them, that often used in Malaysian and Indian cuisine, because you’ll find the little leaves add extra aroma and enrich the taste of the dish. Eric’s recipe calls for salted egg yolks. Excellent, I still had some homemade salted eggs in the fridge. By stirring in the mashed salted egg yolks, not only did the whole dish was brightened up, but also created more depth in the savoury taste.

Butter Prawns (Printable recipe)

Ingredients:

• 12 large prawns/shrimps, trimmed and deveined
• 2 salted egg yolks, steamed and mashed
• 2 Tbsp butter
• salt, to taste
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp chicken powder
• 1/4 can evaporated milk
• 10 pieces curry leaves
• 1 to 2 chillies, optional

Method:

1. Trim prawns and devein. Rinse thoroughly and pat dry. Set aside.
2. Heat oil and deep fry prawns until 80% done. Drain out on kitchen papers to absorb excess oil. Set aside.
3. Heat 2 tablespoons of butter over low heat until melted. Add curry leaves, chillies (if you want to use), stir fry for 2 minutes until aromatic. Add evaporated milk, sugar, chicken powder. Season with salt. Continue to cook over medium heat until sauce thickens. Toss prawns back to wok, stir constantly. Increase heat to high and cook until sauce dries up. Sprinkle salted egg yolks. Stir to combine. Serve hot.

©2026 Christine's Recipes - https://en.christinesrecipes.com/

Steamed Whole Fish (with Cleaning Tip)

Over the past few days, I got a cold and soar throat. It’s not very serious, only with a bit of dizziness while standing or walking because of a minor infection in my left inner ear. My appetite was affected, still loved to do cooking in my kitchen. Needless to say, the easiest and simplest dishes were my first choice.

Suddenly realized that I haven’t steamed live fish for a while. In Brisbane, we don’t have many choices though. Silver perch is quite easily found in a nearby Asian grocery store. Quickly, I decided to have a steamed fish dish to sooth my soar throat. This is a traditional Chinese way of steaming a whole fish, simple and easy, and that provides with enough proteins for my family. The staff nearly did all the cleaning job for me. So I didn’t need to spend a long time in the kitchen for preparation and cooking.

If you have tried live silver perch, you might notice there’s something like slippery gel on the fish skin. Many people don’t bother it at all, but I’m not quite into it as I feel the slippery stuff quite nasty. Water can’t wash it away easily. Gladly, there’s a very simple trick to get rid of the slippery, nasty thing away.

Steamed Whole Fish - Silver Perch (Printable recipe)

Ingredients:

• 1 live silver perch, about 405 gm
• a pinch salt
• a pinch pepper
• 2 tbsp ginger, shredded
• a handful spring onion, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp hot oil, for dressing
• a dash light soy sauce, for dressing

Method:

1. Clean and remove all the guts inside the fish. You must have noticed most live fish that live in lakes or pounds, including silver perch, have slippery gel on their skins. It’s quite hard to wash it away with water. Here’s a simple trick: Rub salt on the both sides of the fish, then rinse with running water. Repeat this step if necessary. The slippery gel would be much easier to be removed. Wash and wipe inside and out with paper towels to dry well. Trim the fins if desired. Season salt and pepper on both sides.
2. Place the fish on a big plate. Season with salt and pepper on the both sides and inside, topped with shredded ginger and half of the chopped spring onion.
3. Heat water in a wok/steamer until you see steam releasing. Place the fish in wok and steam the fish over high heat for about 15 minutes, or until cooked through. Test with a chopstick inserted into the thickest part, the flesh near the top fin. If the chopstick easily gets through, the fish is cooked. Otherwise, add more cooking time, about 1 to 2 minutes. (Note: The cooking time depends on the thickness of your fish. Make sure there’s enough water for steaming. Or replenish water if necessary.)
4. When the fish is done, carefully lift the plate up and discard all/part of the fish sauce in the plate. Turn off the heat. Then put back in the wok, sprinkle the rest of spring onion, cover. In the meantime, heat up about 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. When smoke arises, pour the hot oil over the fish. Drizzle with soy sauce, or served with any dipping sauce you like.

Other recipes of steaming fish:

• Chinese Steamed Fish Recipe – Steamy Kitchen (with detailed tips and guide)
• How to Steam Fish Filllet (uneven thickness) and whole fish - Teczcape

©2026 Christine's Recipes - https://en.christinesrecipes.com/

Mackerel In Tomato Sauce

My mum hasn’t been cooking very much recently as her health is getting not as good as before. Another reason is that I hardly have the chance to taste her delicious food after I moved to Australia. She always cooked her heart out and tried to find ways to get her kids eat more. Her way of cooking tomatoes really get us hooked, whether it’s cooked with eggs, or chicken, pork chops or fish. The sweetness and sourness of the sauce just strikes the balance. And her kids, including myself of course, would finish a big bowl of rice without any complaints when a dish of tomato sauce placed on the table. To be honest, I’d never cook as good as her when it comes to cooking this kind of dish.

Mackerel In Tomato Sauce (Printable recipe)

Ingredients:

• 1 piece Mackerel fillet, about 350gm
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• 1 tsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 2 large tomatoes, 240gm, deseeded and cut into smaller pieces
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 80ml water, to cook tomatoes, the quantity of water added depends on how your tomatoes are
• 20gm brown sugar in piece (片糖), available from Asian grocery
• 1 Tbsp ketchup
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Thickening:

• 1 tsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 1 Tbsp water

Method:

1. Rinse Mackerel and wipe dry with kitchen papers. Season salt and pepper on both sides, rub with a dash of Shaoxing wine. Lightly coat with cornflour.
2. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium. Cook fish until both sides are golden. Dish up on serving plate, covered.
3. Add more oil in pan, sauté garlic until aromatic. Toss in tomatoes, sprinkle salt. Add water and sugar. Cover and cook until sugar completely dissolves and tomato turns soft. Add ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. Cook until sauce reduces to half. Add thickening and cook to the consistency to your preference. Pour sauce over fish. Serve hot with steamed rice.

©2026 Christine's Recipes - https://en.christinesrecipes.com/

Stir-fried Broccoli with Fish Fillet

My kids like eating broccoli stir fry with any meats,for example beef or fish fillet. They used to called broccoli as “little trees” when they were small. Not only do they like the flavour of broccoli, but also love the shape of this beautiful vegetable. What a satisfactory feeling I have when seeing my own kids eat some greens. The broccoli absorbs all the goodies and flavours of fish and sauce. They often ask why there are not enough “little trees” on the plate. This dish, Stir-fried Broccoli with Fish Fillet goes really well with steamed Jasmine rice.

Stir-fried Broccoli with Fish Fillet (Printable recipe)

Ingredients:

• 250 gm broccoli
• 1/2 carrot, cut into pieces
• 220 gm white fish meat, cut into chunks
• 1 tsp garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp Shaoxing wine
• 3 Tbsp chicken stock
• salt, to taste

Marinade:

• 1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger sauce
• 1 tsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 tsp cornflour
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste

Thickening:

• 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 2 Tbsp water 
• a dash sesame oil

Method:

1. Rinse broccoli and drain well. Peel off the hard skin from stem. Cut into smaller pieces. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt in boiling water. Blanch broccoli in boiling water for 3 minutes. Remove broccoli from boiling water with a slotted spoon and immediately wash in cold water to stop cooking and keep its fresh green colour. Drain well.
2. Mix the fish with marinade well and leave for 20 minutes.
3. Heat oil in a pan fry pan or wok. Place the fish on one single layer. Cook over medium heat for about 2 minutes each side, until both sides turn opaque white. Don’t over cook the fish. Set aside, covered.
4. Add some oil in wok. Saute the garlic, add broccoli and carrot. Increase heat to high. Pour wine into the vegetables, and quickly stir. Sprinkle salt to taste. Add chicken stock and cook until sauce reduced to half. Toss back the fish. Lightly stir and combine, avoid breaking the fish into pieces. Add thickening and cook to your preferred consistency. Serve hot.

©2026 Christine's Recipes - https://en.christinesrecipes.com/