Fish Trip Cafe

When I was a child, my mum told me ‘Eat tofu, if you want to have soft smooth skin like tofu’.

So, that’s one of the reason why I keep eating tofu (of course I like the taste too!).

Tofu is made from soya beans, it obviously has many of the nutritional benefits; low-calorie, high protein, rich in vitamin B and cholesterol-free etc. Also it helps further absorption of vitamin E which is a very important vitamin for antioxidant and smooth skin.

This tofu balls have nice fluffy texture and perfect for a snack.

I ate it a lot this afternoon, and wishing my skin is becoming like tofu.

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— Tofu and Vegetable Balls (about 20 balls) —

400g tofu (firm)

50g carrot

50g fine beans

15 stalks chives

3 tablespoons corn flour

1 egg, beaten

1 tablespoon soya sauce

A pinch of salt and pepper

Oil for deep frying

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— for the creamy wasabi dip —

1/2 teaspoon wasabi paste

2 tablespoons sour cream

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

A touch of salt

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Wrap the tofu in a clean tea towel or some layer of kitchen papers, and place a heavy thing (such as a pan) on top of it to force out excess water, then leave it for about 20 minutes.

Put the drained tofu in a bowl and mash. Add the corn flour, beaten egg, soya sauce and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix them well.

Chop the carrot, fine beans and chives finely and add them into the tofu mixture and mix all together.

Roll the tofu mixture into small balls.

Heat the oil to 170C/340F and deep-fry the tofu balls until golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper.

To make the wasabi dip, place the wasabi paste, sour cream and lemon juice and mix well. adjust the seasoning with a touch of salt.

Serve the tofu balls with the wasabi dip (or any kind of your favourite dip for chips).

I came up with this pancake idea when I was eating an anchovy pizza.

This pancake style (thin pancake with dipping sauce) is based on traditional Korean dish called ‘Jeon’. And it worked well with these Italian ingredients.

Anchovy is tiny, but has a huge umami. Good little fish.

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— Italian Parsley & Anchovy Pancake (2, 7 inch pancakes) —

120g all-purpose flour

30g corn flour

1 egg

150ml water

40g anchovy fillets in olive oil, drained

70g carrot, peeled

20g flat-leaf parsley

Some olive oil for frying

*****

— for the dipping sauce —

1 tablespoon soya sauce

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 clove garlic, peeled and minced

1/2 teaspoon sugar

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Place the flour, corn flour, egg and 150ml of water in a large bowl and mix them well.

Chop the anchovy fillets and the flat-leaf parsley, shred the carrot and put them into the flour mixture and mix them up.

Heat a frying-pan, put some olive oil and spread the pancake mixture thinly. Turn down the heat to medium, cook until the bottom is crisp and golden brown. Flip and cook on the other side until golden brown.

To make the dipping sauce, mix well all the ingredients of dipping sauce in a small bawl.

Cut the pancake, and serve with the dipping sauce.

Usually, spring rolls are used different type of dough sheets.

But, Filo pastry sheets works very well for this salmon spring rolls.

Just a little bit careful when you handle the pastry sheets, because it’s a fragile.

Be gentle, and then, here is the delicate textured nice spring rolls.

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— Salmon & Spinach Spring Rolls (6 rolls) —

1 piece salmon fillet, boned and skinned

80g Cheddar cheese

100g baby spinach

1 teaspoons soy sauce

A pinch of salt and pepper

6 sheets of filo pastry

Lemon wedges for serving

Cooking oil for deep-frying

Christmas is coming. It’s a time to keep eating.

I can kind of understand how the feeling of foie gras goose at this time of the year. But how can I resist a beautiful christmas pudding with brandy butter in front of me?

So, I made super healthy dish for my stomach tonight and prepare for the Christmas dinner.

This Korean origin “Sesame & Garlic” seasoning goes well with many kind of vegetables. I picked up Wake seaweed and bean sprouts today’s recipe. Because Wakeme is amazingly healthy ingredient. It’s very low-calorie, rich in vitamins & minerals (cleanse the blood) and has a high iodine content which is great for controlling metabolism. The effectiveness of this iodine is doubled when the seaweed is eaten with oil.

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— Seasoned Wakame & Bean Sprouts (Serves 2 : side dish) —

3 tablespoons dried wakame seaweed flakes

150g bean sprouts

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

1 clove garlic, peeled

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 small chili, very finely chopped

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Soak the wakame flakes as it directed on the package. Drain rehydrated wakame flakes and set aside.

Add the bean sprouts for a large pan of slightly salted boiling water, cook 30 seconds. Drain the boiled bean sprouts in a colander, cool down and set aside.

Place the garlic, sesame seeds and sesame oil in a mortar, crush and pound them.

Place the wakame, the bean sprouts and the seasoning (in the mortar) in a bowl then add the salt and chili.

Mix everything well in a bowl and serve in a small plate.