Cuisine – Craig Cooks

Steamed Asian Scallops

July 13, 2019 by admin Leave a Comment

Since moving to Victoria I’ve been spoilt by seafood choices, with several markets around. A big shout of the “The Big Fish” Fish Market at Carrum Downs for fantastic fresh fish, every single day. This is the first time I’ve bought “live” scallops.

This simple steamed scallop recipe comes from Ken Hom’s “Hot Wok”. It’s out of print, but Kwn has a bunch of cookbooks and it probably features in another one.

2 red chillies, seded and chopped
2 tsp chopped fresh ginger
1 tbsp shaoxing rice wine
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
3 tbsp finely chopped spring onions

Mix the above ingredients and spoon over scallop shells. Steam gently for five minutes.

Simple and delicious.

Dukkah-crusted Garfish

July 13, 2019 by admin Leave a Comment

I’ve been remiss in not posting lately. Here’s a recent plate of dukkah-crusted garfish with carrot puree, baksed cauliflower, charred capsicum, parsley and yoghurt.

I’ve previously made this with garfish fillets, but this time cooked whole garfish.

The dukkah crumb recipe comes from Greg and Lucy Malouf’s fabulous book “Malouf“.

50 hazelnuts
8 tbsp sesame seeds
4 tbsp coriander seeds
3 tbsp cumin seeds

Toast each of these separately in a dry pan, then crush together.

Dip the fish in plain flour, then egg and then the dukkah. Deep fry for 4 minutes.

Prawn and Smoked Trout Salad

January 21, 2019 by admin Leave a Comment

We’ve been eating a lot of seafood during very hot weather over the last few weeks. Yesterday I smoked a rainbow trout with 1/3 cup each of green tea, brown sugar and jasmine rice. I use an old wok lined with a few layers of alfoil and a circular wire rack to sit in it. I use a portable gas cooker and do it outside! I put some sea salt on the trout and smoked it for 45 minutes, then wrapped it in foil and put it in the fridge. I later warmed it in the oven.

I just bought some cooked prawns. The seafood sauce was simply blitzed roast capsicum. The seafood needed some lemon as well, which I realised I could have put in with the capsicum.

A mixture of wild rice and jasmine rice topped with a sliver of chilli, cubed with my rusty rice cuber.

Salad of daikon rasish, cucucmber, mango, spring onion, cherry tomato, coriander and basil.

The salad dressing was a leftover saucc from another seafood dish that we had a couple of days ago. It is from Kylie
Kwong’s “Recipes and Stories”. The original recipe includes Chinese mixed pickles which I didn’t have.

1 tbps ginger julienne
1 1/2 cups chicken stock (preferably Chinese)
1 1/2 tbsp white sugar
2 tbsp light soy sauce

Put the above into a saucepan, bring to a simmer and cook for 4-5 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup black vinegar.

That’s it!

Roast Cauliflower and Chickpeas

January 1, 2019 by admin Leave a Comment

Here’s a pretty tasty vegetarian dish that helped to used some Christmas leftovers. Happy with my plating for once.

Cauliflower
Cut into florets. Toss with sea salt and olive oil. Bake in baking paper at 200C for 20-25 mins until it starts to change colour.

Chickpea stew
Used canned chickpeas, or as I did, soak them overnight and then boil them until they have softened but still have some crunch. Meanwhile make a stew with tinned tomatoes, diced onion, garlic, carrot, 1 tsp toasted cumin seeds, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp smoked paprika, small handful of coriander leaves, salt and pepper. Add cooked chickpeas and simmer to reduce to a thick stew.

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