A Scientist in the Kitchen

In the Philippines, most fish are sold whole and not filleted. This is especially through in small town markets around the country. Where my parents live, is really a small town. It is not close to the sea so seafoods are not always available. But since we leave near a lake, we do enjoy freshwater bounty (how should one call them? they can’t be seafood, right?) such as shrimps and catfish and mudfish and tilapia. Tilapia is commonly sold whole, still alive in the market.

Anyway, I got tired of cooking tilapia whole so I filleted my own tilapia. Its not that easy really as I didn’t have a sharp knife. In the end, I had the fillet plus the whole skeleton with meat still clinging to the bones. I marinated the fish in rice wine and dark soy sauce then baked it for 10 minutes each side. A sudden inspiration was to add slices of kamias on top of the fillet just before baking. The fish was really tasty with a hint of sourness from the kamias.

Now, what is kamias? Kamias is the Tagalog term for bilimbi which has been presented by Andaliman on a previous Weekend Herb Blogging. Here’s my take on another dish that uses kamias.

Baked Tilapia Fillet with Kamias

Tilapia fillet
1/4 cup rice wine
1/4 dark soy sauce
unripe kamias

Marinate tilapia fillet in rice wine and dark soy sauce for 30 minutes. Arrange in an oven-proof tray. Top with slices of kamias then bake for 15 minutes.

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This week’s Weekend Herb Blogging is hosted by Ulrike of Kuchenlatein. Want to know how farmers’ markets look like around the world? Or you might want to share yours! Check out “To market, to market…“

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Often, life as a graduate student can get you stuck in the lab for hours on end. Or something is just too crucial to go out and eat in the cafeteria. The could leave feeling hungry most of the time. The best thing to do is have a sandwich nearby. That’s what I usually have, some tuna spread or egg salad or some meat, whatever bread that takes my fancy and presto, I have my lunch or dinner. A cup of coffee or hot chocolate wouldn’t hurt either. I also have an assortment of herbs and spices to make my sandwiches more special. Like a few weeks ago, my friend bought me some black sesame seeds. Too many for my needs. So there they go in my pasta and sandwiches. Now, they’re sandwiches with an Asian twist. Little did I know, sesame seeds pack a lot of antioxidant punch! So I’m sharing this post to ARF/5-A-Day Tuesday courtesy of Sweetnicks.

Tuna sandwich with black sesame seeds

1 can tuna chunks, drained
100 grams lite mayonaise
black sesame seeds

Mix tuna and mayonaise. Spread to your bread of choice (I used wheat bread here). Sprinkle liberally with black sesame seeds. Toast and enjoy.

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Ever wondered how food markets look like around the world? Check out To market, to market…, a blogging event featuring the marketplace where we source our food. Share yours, too.

This time, I finally did it! I used fresh egg yolks only for my carbonara and added them last, after putting the pan of pasta out of the fire. I added some black sesame seeds which recently bought (got to find ways of using 250 grams black sesame seeds, quick!). My issue with using uncooked eggs is the bacteria that may contaminate my food. It would probably not happen, and I haven’t read a lot of these incidents, but blame (again) my microbiology training for this. I could imagine bacteria growing happily in my food, and I don’t care for that.

Anyway, to go back to my carbonara (which I am submitting to Pasta Presto Nights this week), I used fresh eggs, as in freshly laid eggs which just came from the morning’s daily harvest from our backyard chicken. So fresh it is still warm when my dad picked it up.

Tuna carbonara with black sesame seeds

250 grams linquine pasta
1 can tuna, drained (reserve broth)
3 cloves onion, minced
1 tbsp anchovy fillets (these are actually left overs)
1 tbsp capers, chopped
1 tbsp (mixture of dried herbs -basil, rosemary, thyme)
1 tsp chili flakes
1/4 cup edam cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp toasted black sesame seeds

Cook pasta according to package instructions. Saute garlic in oil. Add the tuna,anchovy, capers, herbs and chili flakes and saute for a few minutes. Add the tuna broth and simmer then add the pasta. Toss pasta too make sure it coated with the tuna mixture. Meanwhile, mix egg yolks and cheese. Taste pasta for salt and pepper to add. Remove from fire and add the eggyolk-cheese mixture. Toss pasta to coat as well as to cook the egg yolk. Add the toasted sesame seeds.

Notice the nutty flavor that bursts when you bite on the sesame seeds?

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Ever wondered how food markets look like around the world? Check out To market, to market…, a blogging event featuring the marketplace where we source our food. Share yours, too.

This dish is similar to my spicy baked tuna macaroni except that I added bechamel sauce to the recipe which certainly made a difference to the creaminess (is there such a word?) of the pasta.

Baked tuna-rigatoni melt

250 grams uncooked rigatoni pasta

For the red sauce:

2 tbsp olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
1 can spaghetti sauce
1 can tuna in brine, drained (reserve brine)
1/2 cup water from cooking pasta
1 tbsp dried herbs (mixture of basil, oregano,
1 tsp chili flakes

Cooked pasta according to package instructions.Heat oil in pan. Add onion and a dash of salt then saute till onions are translucent. Then add garlic, Saute a few minutes taking care not to burn the garlic. Add the tuna and herbs, and saute some more. Season with pepper. Pour tomato sauce, reserved brine and water from cooking pasta. Simmer for five minutes then add the chopped tomatoes. Simmer for five minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the cooked pasta taking care to coat everything with red sauce.

For the bechamel sauce:

Melt 2 tbsp butter then add 2 tbsp flour. Mix thoroughly to remove lumps of flour. When roux has thickened, slowly pour two cups of milk. Continue stirring until sauce has thickened. Season with 1 tsp nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste.

To assemble, put half of pasta on a glass dish.Layer with half of white sauce and topped with cheese. Add the remaining pasta, white sauce and cheese. Bake in an oven (140oC) till cheese melts and starts to brown.

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Where to get cool ideas for pasta and noodles? Check out Presto Pasta Nights!

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