Today, i cooked asam pedas. From scratch, i didn't use any instant paste like the ones that comes in Brahim's packet, no. I cook from SCRATCH... I've cooked it before once a long time ago here,, but it didn't turn out as expected, but today, i think i did a great job with it. It just taste like the asam pedas that it's suppose to be. Not weird, just marvelous! even my housemates loved it. I loved it too!! Before the asam pedas became a dish, i had trouble with the fish. I bought the fish at the seafood store in the supermarket. Initially, the plan was to use stingray, but unfortunately, that fish was not available for today. So, i have to decide on other fish. I thought of buying pink snapper, but when the Amoi took out the fish from the ice, i was shocked. It was huge, so i asked for a smaller one, she recommended pan fry snapper, which i thought was just right for the 3 of us. Asked the amoi if she can cut it for me, and she said sure, and i was told to wait for a while... A few minutes later, my fish was ready,so i went home to out my experiment with asam pedas. Housamate Ida had an appointment for a glucose test, so, i cooked alone. Since i was excited to try cooking asam pedas, i decided to make the preparations early, u know, clean the fish, soak it in tamarind juice to get rid of the smell, blend onions and garlic, etc. I started with the fish. when i opened the plastic bag, and the paper wrapping, there it was... Pan Fry snapper. Yes, it was the correct fish that i wanted from the store, but it was in whole. She didn; cut it for me!!!! Well, the lady cleaned the insides for me, but didn;t cut it... So, that means, i have to cut it. Usually when we cook dishes using fishes, it was already pre-cut for us, according to how we want it to be cut, so, i guess this is first time ever trying to cut a whole fish into 3 pieces. I used a knife, ok, maybe that one was not big enough, looked for another bigger knife. Oh no! it wouldn't cut through, took out another knife slightly smaller than the latter but bigger than the first one, still cannot. Well, after mush struggling, i managed to cut it into 3 pieces successfully - after much twisting and turning and using 3 different knives and a scissors to be exact, to cut one whole fish... then i started cooking... And i was glad that it turned out well... Very well in fact! :) So, today's dish was rice with asam pedas and fried cabbage and carrots as veges... It was yummilicious!! The kuah of asam pedas is still in the pot, but the fishes are gone..Well, i can eat the kuah with bread tomorrow... Mmmm...sedap you! hehe..( masuk bakul angkat sendiri pulak i today..)
