This is a popular snack in many Asian countries and can be made from fish, pork and beef. It can be eaten on sandwich with mayonnaise or on fried rice. The recipe come from Cherry on a Cake a Malaysian food blog.
Ingredients:
- 650 gm of cooked fish meat (tuna, mackeral or any meaty fish) I used 3 whole tunas about 12 inches from tip to tail. You could also use an equal amount of minced beef or chicken.
- 6 medium onions
- 4 garlic
- 1 inch ginger
- 1/2 inch galangal
- 2 stalks lemon grass (white part only)
- 3 T coriander seed, pounded coarsely
- 1 T or more chillie paste (bottled or fresh)
- 2 tsp tumeric powder
- 1 T sugar
- 250 ml coconut milk or cream
- 5 T any vegetable oil
- salt
Method:
- Poach the fillets of fish in pan of water until cooked. Drain and let cool. Remove bones and crumble the meat until it is as fine as you can get it….like breadcrumbs. Keep aside.
- Peel onions, garlic ginger, galangal. Slice the white part of the lemon grass. Place them all in a food proccesor and process until quite fine.
- Heat up the oil in a thick based medium pot. Saute the processed spices, while adding the chillie paste, tumeric powder and pounded coriander seeds, until fragrant and the paste turns a darker colour. About 10 to 15 minutes.
- Put in the crumbled fish meat, pour in the coconut milk or cream and mix well. Let it cook on the stove on small to medium heat, stirring now and then to prevent burning. Ad sugar and salt. Stir and mix.
- The mixture should not have any sauce or gravy but should be quite like a thick wet paste. Cook until it becomes slightly drier and it is no longer too wet.
- Transfer the mixture to a large baking tray that has been lined with foil or baking paper for easier cleaning.
- Bake in an oven at 170 C, checking and stirring every 15 minutes until the fish floss becomes golden all over.
- Stirring the floss as it bakes is important so that the floss browns evenly. I didn’t time the baking but I think it took about an hour.
- Remove and let it cool completely. Pour half the floss into a food processorand pulse until the floss becomes fine, light and airy. Do the same for the rest of the floss.
Store in an airtight container and in the refrigerator. It will last for a few weeks.
