Red Dates and Dried Longans Drink

The weather outside had been outrageous lately. Sometimes it rains, sometimes, it's scorching hot, and most of the time, it's hazy. I needed something that is cooling but that improves blood circulation as well. Moreover, healthy.

So, I made myself the following drink:

Red Dates and Dried Longans Drink

What you need:

8 red dates (coreless)

1 cup dried longans

Rock Sugar

10 cups water

Directions:

1. Rinse dried longans with warm water.

2. Boil dried longans and red dates for about 30 mintues. Add rock sugar and boil for anoter 5

minutes

3. Serve hot or chilled. (I prefer them chilled)

This is such a soothing drink! It's especially suitable for one of those hot, humid days.

Hinava Sadaa Tongii

How to Make Hinava (Raw Spanish Mackerel Fish Salad)

mine turned out a bit mashed up. but still tastes good.

Two nights ago, my memory flied way back where I almost always attend numerous Kadazan-Dusun weddings, Kaamatan dinner, or just any of those social nights and events. During their buffet dinner, there is only one thing that I was looking forward to: Hinava.
Anything sour, spicy, and chilled, count me in! I made a promise that I would eventually learn how to make Hinava.
That is why today, I have finally fulfilled my wish. And I never knew making it is a piece of cake!
Before that, a little bit on the background of this dish: Hinava tongii or pickled Spanish mackerel (ikan tenggiri) is among the most popular Kadazan-Dusun cuisine and probably the most widely served in many hotels and festivities as salad or appetizer. Hinava is made up of fresh, raw, spanish mackerel fish with grated ginger, lots of lime, bittergourd, chillies, and bambangan seed. What makes this dish enticingly tasty is its strong, and zesty taste of lime. (In other words, 'very kick'). (Find more about Sabah's Traditional Cuisine here)
If you are a native Sabahan, you shouldn't miss out making this yourself at home!

First, you will need:

1 lb spanish fish mackerel (ikan tenggiri)
Bittergourd
Ginger (grated/sliced)
Red chillies (Big and bird's eye chillies, finely sliced)
Red onions (ringed)
Big onion (thinly sliced)
10 limes (or more) - for lime juice
1 lemon - for lemon juice
Salt


And this is how you do it:

1. Skin and debone fish, and cut into cubes.

2. Drench fish in lime juice and salt. This is one of the methods to 'cook' the fish. Marinate and keep in refrigerator for about 10 minutes.

3. Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Add more salt and lime juice to add up to your liking.

4. Chill and serve!

Thismethod is pretty easy, not too extravagant. I didn't include bambangan seeds because I had no time to buy them. But if you do, by all means, add the latter!
Should you feel more adventurous, try adding in diced tomataoes, and shallots and tuhau.
You can also opt for vinegar and salt to 'wash' and 'cook' the fish.
Try mixing them with your hands rather than spoon or other utensils or you might end up squashing them. You wouldn't want mashed hinava.

The following websites give you more ideas and different ingredients to make hinava, whoch of course, omits the same result, if not better!

• A Daily Obsession
• Kuali.com All Malaysia Recipes

If you like raw, sour, and spicy fish, You are in the roll!

Wrapped Baked Salmon

My brother's birthday served as another one of those reasons where I experiment with new recipes. On July 26th, I decided to be the goddess in the kitchen for a day. Since it was his big day, we let my brother to list down the menus. My brother wanted Eurpoean. Dad, however, requested to add in a zest of Asian cuisine in the menu. So I plunged in and suggested on a salmon dish, by which the rest agreed.

Now, if you are a beginner (just like me) you can definitely warm up with the following recipe as this is one of the most easiest dishes of all.

Wrapped Baked Salmon Recipe

Ingredients:

4 salmon fillets (boneless and preferably skinned) or 170g salmon

4 thin slices of lemon

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon fresh mint sauce

generous amount of parsely flakes

Directions:

1. Lay out aluminium foil wrap on baking tray.

2. Place salmon in the middle of the foil wrap. Add in salt, ground black pepper, fresh mint sauce, olive oil. Sprinkle a generous amount of parsely flakes and top with lemon slices.

3. Wrap the salmon and leave for a few minutes while pre-heating the oven at about 190 C for a few minutes.

4. Bake salmon between 180 C - 190 C for 13 - 15 minutes.

5. Serve.

You can use fresh parsely instead of parsely flakes to give it a stronger flavor. You may also substitute aluminium foil with parchment paper following a cooking technique, called en papillote, to wrap the salmon, since aluminium foil is mainly used for grills and barbecues.

I experimented with fresh mint sauce in this recipe. Because of its strong minty odor, some may not favor this sauce. So it's up to you if you'd like to add in mint sauce.

Till then, enjoy!