Fish Fish

I grew up eating steamed fish with ginger and scallions my whole life. It's one of the easiest and inexpensive things to makes. Packs a ton of flavor and something Chinese people would eat all the time.

I usually use striped bass or tilapia. The butcher normally cleans out the fish as well as descaling them. It's super awesome. I stuff the fish with green onions and ginger slices. The exterior gets a few scoring on both sides. A drizzle of olive oil and seasoned soy sauce is poured on which helps season the fish. I don't have a large steamer for this, so I baked it on 300 for 45 minutes (wrapped). I didn't want the heat too high to dry out the fish. At the end, a drizzle of a little more seasoned soy sauce with about 1/4 cup of hot oil is poured on top. Extra ginger and sliced scallions are layered on for more flavor. Delicious with a big bowl of white rice. I eat this about once a week with a side of veggies. 

Sushi + Sashimi at home

It's always a drag to find a place for sushi in San Gabriel or at least a place that I would crave. I came upon Yama Seafood not too long ago and kept reminding myself to check it out. They sell fresh seafood to the public. Mostly fish for sashimi (typical ahi tuna, salmon, yellowtail, snapper, scallop, boxed uni, etc). They also have ridiculously affordable cut rolls to grab. We got a piece of salmon a little over half a pound for $15. I believe it sold for $23 a pound. Boxed uni were $14.95 and I think yellowtail went for something like $25 a pound so you can kind of get the idea of the prices. 

The unagi roll came wit 12 pieces for $5.95 and the 2 pc inari with 2 pc CA with 2 pc futomaki went for $4.95.

To sum this up, there were more food outside of what is shown in this photo. We purchased some sashimi soy sauce by Yamasa totalling our bill to $28. Not a bad deal at all. This market also sells a lot of Japanese ingredients like soba and soba sauce. Sake is also sold at 1.7 liters. I also saw instant ramen, wasabi, ginger, rice, seaweed, and dashi. You can practically get what you need here for a good meal at home.

The only negative is, and I barely say anything bad, is how long it took to get our sashimi. The line was not long, but the chef himself runs the whole line. The work he distributes to his employees. There were about 5 people ahead of us waiting to get their fish sliced which took the wait time to around 45 minutes. So be prepared. That said, I'll still be back, but will plan accordingly.

911 W Las Tunas Dr San Gabriel, CA 91776

Closed on Tuesday's. Open 10-7.

Argentinian Shrimp - Compound butter and lime

I found some beautiful Argentinian Shrimp from the seafood market the other day. I was extremely captivated by their size, the colors of the shell (light pink), and their special price for the weekend. Besides the size, they also had their heads attached which is an extra plus. I've never cooked with this shrimp before, so I wanted to keep it simple so I don't overkill the flavors.

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I coated the shrimps with a little olive oil and kosher salt. I had a hot cast iron preheating before dropping these little Argentinians in.

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I let the first side go for 2 minutes before turning them over. I then drop some leftover compound butter that's mixed with minced garlic, parsley, and salt. I give it a few flips so each side is coated, then drop a good freshly squeezed lime into the pan and continue to deglaze.

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Total cook time was around 6 minutes. I wanted the shell to be blistered and crispy from the heat. That was easily achieved with a hot cast iron.

The lime and garlic butter sauce really did wonders. I ate this with a bowl of rice. All the juices and lime flavors went oh-so-perfectly with my rice. It's so easy, but extremely delicious. I'm not sure how often Argentinian shrimps are available, but I found mines at the 99 Ranch market (Chinese Market).

Let me know your thoughts!