I woke up on a sunny, very windy day. The coldness of the wind in spite of the happy sunshine was enough for me to crave for a hot clear broth. Tinola or Chicken in Lemongrass would be great...but it'll take an hour to catch a live one, decapitate and clean it (thank God for my reliable housekeeper!). "Ate, bubunutin na ba yung tanglad sa harap? Saan ililipat?", asked the housekeeper. Where indeed? I know... clear broth, right?
Ingredients:
Process:
Ingredients:
- Fish (cleaned, scaled, sprinkled with salt and something citrus)
- rice washing or fish broth
- 1 big red onion (quarted)
- 4 cloves garlic (mashed and peeled)
- 1 thumb ginger (mashed and peeled)
- 1 thin bunch of lemongrass stalk (white part slightly mashed)
- bokchoy or pechay baguio or Chinese pechay (sliced in salad portion)
- fish sauce
- black pepper
- all purpose flour
- annato oil (optional, for coloring)
Process:
- Cut the fish into serving pieces cross-wise if using a big one. Coat with a thin dusting of flour. Fry until golden brown.
- In a separate pan, saute the ginger, onion, and garlic until aromatic. Season with fish sauce.
- Pour in the rice washing, the tomatoes, and the lemongrass. Let boil.
- Gently add the fried fish.
- Season with fish sauce and pepper. Simmer for a few minutes.
- Add the vegetable and continue to simmer until half cooked.
- Adjust the saltiness with fish sauce
- *add fish paste to get a more savory broth