The only time I get to cook myself a seafood dish is when Silver Bullet is away as he is not particularly big on seafood. So, given the circumstances,  I hardly ever cook any seafood dish at home or I’ll end up making too many dishes just for the both of us.

I love my fish and there’s this one dish my mom always makes that makes me crave for more. Honestly, I have no clue what it’s called. When I asked my mom, she said it’s the “chemplang” dish. I don’t exactly know what the word “chemplang” really means, but in her term, it means chuck-everything-in-dish. I simplify it to the “Rubbish Dish”.

It really is easy to make in no time at all and completely vegetarian friendly too.

I have improvised this dish a little by adding in toufu (lightly fried first), and added in the Japanese fishcakes (just because!). For the fish, I used seabass fillet and coat it with tumeric powder and a litle salt before frying them up for a bit and set them aside.

The base is just pounded garlic (2 pieces), fresh ginger (1 inch),  fresh tumeric (1-2 inches)  and about half a cup of fermented soy beans (rinse to reduce its saltyness and then mash).

Other ingredients include 1 big red onion (sliced), 3-5 red and green chillies –  first sauté before adding the pounded ingredients in. After about 10 minutes, just add in the earlier fried fish and toufu. Add a little water if it gets too dry. Then just cover the pan and simmer over small fire for about 5-10 minutes before serving it with rice.

This dish tastes great with  fried egg and a little kicap manis (sweet black sauce) over it. It tastes better when eaten with the bare fingers! Reminds me of my growing up years at home.