#8 Fish Fillet with Sweet Chili Sauce

For the last three days, I took a trip down to southern Taiwan, hence the lack of cooking. It's been real fun hiking and just overall enjoying nature. While I was there, I took the opportunity to buy some kitchen utensils made out of some of the best woodwork in Taiwan, including a pair of well-carved chopsticks and a wooden spoon especially for spooning rice.

As I'm cooking through Gordon's recipes... it dawned on me that we live in VASTLY different parts of the world, hence not only do we not speak the same language but we encounter VERY different ingredients from spices to cuts of meat and sea food. Many ingredients that are readily accessible to Ramsay are unheard of in my little island. Therefore, I'm constantly tweaking his recipes, trying to find suitable alternatives. However, with my lack of knowledge in the culinary world, I am in deep trouble. Looks like I will be doing a LOT of research and experimenting.

But like Gordon says "Cooking is about being adventurous. Be a little more daring"
Since I will be having two friends over for dinner today, I decided to test out Gordon's Red Mullet recipe with two common fish fillets (dory & tilapia) easily accessible in most supermarkets in Taiwan. Three taste-buds to judge which fish goes better with the chili sauce!

#8 Fish Fillet with Sweet Chili Sauce

Ingredients.

1 Dory fish fillet ...................................69NT

1 Tilapia fillet ........................................45NT

1 Chilli ..................................................5NT

2 Garlic cloves ......................................2NT

Salt, sugar, 2 tbs fish sauce.....................5NT

1 tbs Rice wine vinegar, 3 tbs olive oil ....5NT

Spring onions .........................................5NT

Coriander ...........................................11NT

Lime ....................................................5NT

Peanuts ..............................................15NT

Coriander

2 eggs & fish sauce .............................10NT

TOTAL: 172 NT (for three)

I had to "create" my own pestle mortar to crush my spices and peanuts! Quite successful I would say, although it would be fun to have a real one!

End Results:
The dory fish has a very creamy texture while the tilapia is much more firm. I believe the sweet chili sauce goes well with both! Very complex flavor and texture.

Next time you can't find an ingredient, try a substitute!
So remember cooking is flexible, versatile, filled with imagination. Be Adventurous!