Erin, you look absolutely scrumptious! Love that skin, especially the stuff close to your armpit. Well, it's time to make more cat food. I bought about a kilo of small scad last week and kept it in the freezer, so I didn't have to go shopping during the Eid rush. I thought to myself, "Yeah raw guts makes Floofy gag, but if I cook it long enough, perhaps the gagginess would cook out and besides, cats eat whole fish all over the world." Boy, was I wrong. Serves me right for being too lazy to gut the fish. The more I cooked it, the more it reeked. I mean, it really REEKED. But I cooked it and portioned it out, then let the cats lick the pot as a taste test. Yeah, they were all over that pot and fighting over it too, but even just licking the pot made them throw up. So I had to throw that batch away, and head out to the market downtown to get some fresh fish. A funny thing happened to fresh fish in this town lately. About 4 years ago, I could get 2 kilos of mackerel for RM3, and today juvenile mackerel is going for RM14. Sure it's the Eid but more than that, local fish prices have skyrocketed lately. Mackerel is mackerel everywhere, so it can't be that they are exporting the stuff. This tells me the human population here has increased. All fish prices are high. I can't find red snapper anymore except the farmed fish, and even a single fish of that can reach RM100. Except for scad. Scad seems to have flourished in spite of the over-fishing, in fact I have been getting huge ones at low prices. Which is great for me, because I eat scad regularly and know precisely what to do with it. So I bought a couple of one kilo scad for RM11, one for me and one for Floofy. This time I gutted and thoroughly rinsed out the fish, took off the heads and tails, then cooked one up with a cup of rice and lots of water for Floofy, then I removed the bones and blended it. No, it didn't reek this time. No, she didn't gag this time.
I've been really into fish heads lately. They make great soup, and the meat behind the eyes is from heaven. You must try it sometime, it's better than roe. I bought 2 male fish today: you can tell the fish is male if the roe is white, while the female has masses of eggs roe. Scad is strong tasting, so sashimi is only good if the fish is really, really fresh. That's what I had, and it was quite delicious. No I didn't take a snapshot of it, I just marinated it in light soy sauce in a tupperware, then stuffed my face. I had also bought fresh tofu at the market, so for lunch I had a block of tofu swimming in fish head broth. It was OK. I should have used hot sour soup or even curry ramen seasoning instead of chilli paste and anchovy bouillon. Good thing I have another fish head in my freezer.
Natty, you are Queen of the Mountain! We can go hiking in the jungle together inshaAllah, but you're going to have to slow down to keep up with me and my big feet. We're also going to have to get rubber boots for you, and carry a big stick to whack snakes with. Hey, life is an adventure. Don't wear skimpy clothing in the jungle, honey! I don't know how Tarzan and Jane kept the mosquitoes at bay.
Pine, isn't it so much better to be in a place where you are appreciated, and enjoy good food? Remember what I told you, Sweetie: learn how to cook Italian food while you are there.
