I’ve been on a fish kick….my entire life. I don’t think it has anything to do with being Asian but everything to do with the fact that my mom & dad loved fish.
When I was little and we were stationed in Panana my dad used to take our boat out called “The Kimlai” on weekend fishing excursions. When we left Panana we started river fishing, alot! It was my dads favorite pastime and since I was stuck to him like glue, it became my favorite pastime. I remember when I was little the neighbors would go fishing and many time ended up with fish they wouldn’t eat. So they would always leave the buckets of fish on our front door cause they new my mom would eat them. Having cat fish and bluegills swimming in the bathtub was a regular occurrence. My mom knew how to keep the fish fresh!
There are so many ways to enjoy these professional swimmers. In El Monte, CA there is a little commercial fishery hidden in a retail shopping mall. When you walk through the doors it literally feels and smells like you’ve just stepped onto a fishing boat in the middle of a stinky river.
Image by Kimlai
There are cases of sea food; shrimp, octopus, salmon, halibut, cod and tilapia to name a few. The main business happens in the back of the fishery with the commercial buyers but they still have to maintain a storefront. Locals can walk in and pick out a fish.
The owner whips out a Chinese butcher knife and with true ninja like knife skills, cleans it up, takes off the fins and scales in 5 minutes flat. Then straight into the deep fryer. The final step is a quick wrap up in white butcher paper.
Image by Kimlai
Image by Kimlai
Cooking the entire fish makes for such a pretty presentation. Most of the time when I’m in the area, we’ll grab a fish, then walk across the street and grab some steamed rice and sauces from the Vietnamese restaurant and chow down.
Some other amazing ways to cook fish are to broil, bbq or wrap in banana leaves and steam. Seriously the recipes for cooking fish are endless.
Image via Pinterest
Image via Pinterest
Image via Pinterest