Air Fryer Turmeric Garlic Batang Fish Fillet

In my memory, I have never try pan-frying fish fillet in my kitchen as I have no confidence in doing a nice job, and I hate to clean up the kitchen after cooking it 😓

However, after learning that air fryer can also cook fish, I decided to give this tough job a try last week. It was surprisingly simple and fast. And most important of all, the fish fillet was tender and moist 😋

Video of the end product 🐠

Ingredients

260g Batang fish fillet with skin on

Marinade 1 (Brining)

1/2 tsp salt, to rub the fish fillet 

1 small clove garlic, chopped

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground black peppercorn

1/2 tsp soy sauce concentrate, Japanese Tsuyu

1/2 tsp dark brown sugar 

50g low-fat milk
water to submerge the fish fillet 

Marinade 2

5g low-salt fish sauce
5g freshly grated garlic 
3g turmeric powder
1/4 tsp pepper powder 
2g coriander powder
1/4 tsp paprika powder 
3g corn flour/starch
4g dark brown sugar
5g grapeseed oil

Directions

1. Rinse the fish fillet.

Slice out the bone strip from the fillet but keeping the skin intact. This step is optional. It only helps to serve a boneless fillet later.

2. Rub about 1/2 tsp of salt, from Marinade 1, all over the fish fillet.

3.  Mix the remaining ingredients under Marinade 1 in a big mixing bowl big enough to hold the fish fillet.

4. Coat the fish fillet with the Marinade 1.

Add water to the marinade to submerge the fish fillet. Let the fish fillet marinate for about 30 minutes.

5. While the fish fillet is marinating, combine the ingredients under Marinade 2 into a smooth paste.

6. Drain away the marinade 1, and pat dry the fish fillet using paper kitchen towel.

6. Apply and smear Marinade B all over the fish fillet including the cleaves. Let the fish fillet marinate for about 30 minutes.

7. Line a small roasting pan with parchment paper, and spread about 1 tbsp of grapeseed oil over the parchment paper.

Start the "Fish" function of the air fryer, at 195℃. I let the air fryer preheat for about 2 minutes.

8. The entire cooking process will take about 10 minutes at 195℃.

First cook the fish fillet with the skin facing down for about 5 minutes.

Take out the fish fillet, and flip it using a broad spatula.

Let the fish skin face up,

return to the air fryer, and continue to cook for about 3 minutes.

Take out from the air fryer,

flip the fish fillet again, to let the skin face down. Do it slowly in order not to break the extremely tender and fragile fish fillet.

Return the fish fillet to the air fryer and continue to cook till the timer is up, about 2 minutes.

To test the doneness of the fish fillet, insert a thin cake tester to the thickest part of the fish fillet. If clear juice flows out after the cake tester was withdrawn, the fish fillet is cooked through.

Do not let the fish fillet sits in the air fryer after cooking to prevent over-cooking the meat.

9. Squeeze some green lime juice over the fish fillet before serving. Enjoy 😋

Pandan Waffle using Pancake Mix

Adding tapioca starch, pandan powder#, fresh pandan leaf bits, to the Prima brand pancake mix, I was able to bake 4 small pandan waffles without much effort. Less troublesome than my previous pandan waffle recipe 😉

# you can buy the pandan powder from Scoop Wholefood store.

The waffle has a nice soft yet springy texture, and a nice golden crust.

The only drawback was it did not have a strong pandan and coconut aroma. Maybe I can improve by adding more fresh pandan leaf bit next round 😉 I used low-fat milk instead of coconut milk as I always have low-fat milk in my fridge 🥛

A short glimpse of the waffle in maker, as well as the texture of the waffles ↓

Ingredients

A

100g Prima pancake mix

30g tapioca starch

3g pandan powder, 1 tsp

1g baking powder, 1/2 tsp

B

50~55g egg

90g low-fat milk

10g golden syrup/honey

5g fresh pandan leaf, chopped finely

C

15g coconut oil

Directions

1. Mix Ingredient A in a bowl. Set aside.

2. Blend Ingredient B in a separate bowl till well mixed.

3. Gradually mix A to B using a whisk, till you get a smooth batter.

4. Finally, mix C to the batter. Cover the bowl of batter with cling wrap, and let it stands for about 30 to 60 minutes.

5. Heat up a waffle maker following the manufacturer's instructions. Brush a thin coat of vegetable oil over the waffle plates, and wait for the ready-light to be illuminated.

6. Stir the waffle batter before adding to the hot waffle plates. Close the waffle maker and wait for the ready-light to be illuminated again, or till the steam has reduced.

7. Open the waffle maker, and check whether the waffles have been fully cooked. Flip the waffles over, close the waffle maker, to brown the other face of the waffles.

8. Brown* the waffles to your desired tone, remove the waffles from the waffle maker. Serve warm or cold 😋 

* over-browned the waffles may cause the waffles to have a drier texture 😉

Gula Melaka Coconut Filling

Gula melaka or palm sugar flavoured sweetened coconut prepared as bread filling. The quantity, being divided into two cups, each weighs about 166g, allowed me to bake two batches of coconut buns.

molasses bun with gula melaka coconut filling

Ingredients

9g coconut oil

100g gula melaka/palm sugar, chopped coarsely

25g water

5g fresh pandan leaves, cut into short lengths

1g low-sodium salt

250g grated fresh coconut

3g glutinuous rice flour

15g water

For steps, you may refer to my YouTube video below 👇