Chocolate Chilly Salmon

One, two, three, four, five
Once I caught a fish alive
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten
Then I let him go again

"Why did you let him go?"
"Because it bit my finger so"
"Which finger did it bite?"
"This little finger on the right"

That damn kiddie song has been playing in my mind for the last two days! It's driving me crazy... grrrr!!

OK, so I have been having fish for dinner two days straight, salmon to be exact, but why the song???!!

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For the first fish dish, I was feeling kinda brain dead so I stuck with the good ol' cannot-fail-one Pan Grilled Salmon.

Prepared a simple salad as a side dish: some Rocket salad, Plum tomatoes (wanted Cherry tomatoes, but couldn't get any), Olive oil, crumbled feta cheese, and ground pepper.

Next, pan fried the salmon: seasoned with salt and black pepper. Oil on the fish, not on the pan,.. placed the fish on the pan presentation side down first. Ideally, it should only be turned only once, so timing and heat control are important.

Served with some Hollandaise sauce (can get it in packet form. Just cook with milk and butter).

---

Preparation of the next dish was when things took an interesting turn.

Note to self: when talking to self, "why not?" is a dangerous response.

It started off in a normal fashion - my mind was still confounded by work, and so I let my subconscious take over the cooking.

"Ahh... fish! It needs a boat!"
"wait... fishes don't go on boats"
"Aiya.. don't care lah. Ready liao."

The foil was lined with olive oil just in case the salmon decided bond itself to it.

Seasoned the salmon with some sesame seed oil, salt, and fresh ground pepper.

"Take photo first. OK, set! Over preheated liao. In you go fishie..."
"wait.. too plain lah! Paiseh to put on blog."

(btw, yes, I do talk to myself like that, especially when I'm short of sleep or high on caffein :p)

"hmmm... add some onions/garlic?"
"Why not? and some italian herbs too"



"Yup. look better now. OK, into the oven!"

... and this was when sanity left the building.

"Wait! Let's put some honey!"
"sure, why not"

"eii.. I think I put too much. Need to balance out the sweetness."
"Make it creamier?"
"Mayonaise?"
"why not?"

"Still looks a little plain lah"
"Some fine beans, for colour?"
"ok"
"Crushed chilli?"
"yes!"

"err.. heheheh... chocolate????"
"Why Not?!"


Into the oven for 35 minutes, and Chocolate Chilly Salmon was born :)



I expected it to taste funny, but it surprisingly didn't. The honey and chilly complemented the salmon very well, while the mild flavour and bitterness of the chocolate only came up in the after-taste.

Yes, I liked it. Will probably try it again in the future.

"perhaps with some beer and tomatoes?"
"sure, why not?"