Monday, June 25, 2012

A Little Fish Snack

Salad
Recently, I found an Asian store not that far from our home. Oriental ingredients are still terra incognita to me, I feel more like on a cultural expedition rather than a shopping experience. Usually I would buy some vegetables,  but last time a little fish caught my attention. Why everything small is so cute and attractive, and impossible to resist?! I asked a sales person what kind of fish it was, but was met with a puzzled look and a phrase: "a small fish". 
Well, I came home with a pound of that little fish, dipped it in corn flour, mixed with salt, cayenne pepper, and fried it. Part of the little fish I used for my salad, the other part I put on a small picks with some red peppers. 

Little fishy snack

It was our snack during the Euro 2012 game Italy-England. 
And what a dynamic, fascinating, and the toughest game it was! Players of both teams gifted their fans with two hours of good football.

Are you a football (soccer) fan? 
Do you have a favorite game snack?

See you,
Marina

28 comments:

  1. I admire you! I don't think I would have bought an ingredient unknown to me like you did... and to come up with such a lovely presentation, too. Your dishes look tasty Marina!

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    1. Thanks Della! :) I am not afraid to buy fish, at the end fish is fish, and the smaller it is the better it tastes. I wish I knew what to do with other thousands of colorful packages at the Asian Market! :)

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  2. Well we eat this very often. We cook it too. Also dip in bread crumbs. I know the local name but not sure what the English name is.
    www.thoughtsofpaps.com

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    1. I though it was smelt, looked very close to it anyway. But the size confused me: smelt is twice large... Whatever it was, it tasted very good. :)

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  3. Good for you buying and cooking with a largely unknown ingredient! :D

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    1. Thanks Lorraine! I love to experiment in my kitchen/lab! My first degree is in food microbiology, and I guess, sometimes I just have to use it! :)

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  4. My dad would be thrilled with this, it looks wonderful!
    And I admire your gutsy shopping :D

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

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    1. Thanks CCU, yes, and with that beer, your brother had hard time to finish, this snack would be just perfect! :)

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  5. love Asian stores and the experience of finding new foods too watched the game sob he h e

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    1. Thanks Rebecca! Sorry your team lost. Our team lost long time ago, so we just enjoyed a phenomenal game.

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  6. Absolutely gorgeous picture!

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  7. With fosh like this, even the one who doesn't love it would! I like it in salads!

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    1. Thanks Kim! I love small fish better for it's flavor and taste despite a little more work with it. :)

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  8. My partner is English and he was less than pleased with the result.....

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    1. Sorry Liz, I know British fans were disappointed... Our team lost a few days ago, so we just watched and enjoyed an outstanding game, a football masterpiece. :)

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  9. no i am not a football or soccer fan unless one of my grand-kids is playing--but i am a big fish fan :)

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    1. That's good! My dad always says that fish and beans make you smart! :)

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  10. It is look like "KORUSHKA" to me-)) We used to eat a lot in St. Petersburg!

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    1. I love "korushka" (smelt fish), I though it was it too, but it didn't have that specific cucumber smell and was a bit too small. When we lived in Seattle, smelt was sold fresh (this one was frozen), and we would buy it almost every day during the season (about two months). Mmm, I miss fresh fish, and I miss Seattle... Sigh... I am glad you came today! :)

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  11. What a fabulous snack! You were more adventurous than I would have been going into a new Asian market :) My kids are the soccer fans and they're more likely to grab a cookie or a bag of pretzels!

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    1. Thanks Lizzy! I'd like to try all off those colorful foods they have there if only I knew what to do with it. :) Sometimes I would ask an old lady, who don't seem to be in a hurry and who has all kinds of fresh ingredients in her cart, what to do with one or the other. Most of the time they would gladly share their cooking wisdom. Shopping like this I learn a lot. :)

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  12. Hi Marina, that plate of fish looks delicious but I must say I've never eaten any that small. Your presentation was very pretty and I bet it would convince non fish lovers to give it a try. My family is not very adventurous and stick to several familiar ones but I am sure they would like the way you prepared this little fish. Thank you for the comments about my party. I will still be posting as usual on Cozy Home Scenes just not the party. Please continue to come by because I hope to have more time now to do more interesting things. I will check in on you to see what you are doing. ------------ Shannon

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    1. Thank you Shannon for your kind comment. I sure will be following your blog. :)

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  13. Boy, every time I'm in an Asian grocery I always end up buying things that look interesting but are completely unknown to me. Usually I can figure out what it is and how to use it - but not always! Pretty hard to go wrong with fish, though, although I don't believe I've ever prepared any that small. But I know I've had them a similar size - smelts are often pretty small. Good post - thanks.

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    1. I believe it was a smelt. Although, the smelt I use to buy in Seattle, was much bigger. But again, there are many types of the same fish. Herring, for example, has about 200 species in the family...

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  14. My son is a football fan and he plays football in his school too. He is also a big fan of small fish like gavros and marida. I am sure he would love these fish if he had them.

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Your warm comments put a smile on my heart.