Sunday 9 June 2013

Little Yums - Ikan Bilis (Anchovies) Stock

This Little Yums post is gonna be a little different from usual..it's not really a recipe for a meal, but more a recipe of a basic ingredient that would be good if you are going to be cooking porridge, veggies or fish.

Using stocks instead of water when cooking adds alot more flavour and nutrition to a meal. It really makes a difference in your cooking, and I realised that K readily eats whenever I cook with stocks.

Stocks usually take at least an hour to be ready and that's not always feasible if you need something fast. Moms will know what I mean..the less hassle the better, and the less time it requires the more time we get to...do other chores or spend time with our little ones. I bet you were expecting me to say more time to rest, but well hello to the world of motherhood where resting is almost impossible.

This is why when I don't have much time I like to cook Ikan Bilis (also known as Anchovies) stock. It requires very few ingredients, and it takes you maximum 30 minutes to prepare and cook. What's more it's rich in calcium which is important for growing kids!

For the ikan bilis I got ours from Isetan Supermarket during one of those Japanese fairs. They seemed to be of pretty good quality so I decided to try them out and so far the stock's been really full of flavour. You can easily get ikan bilis from the supermarket or at the wet market from the dried foods stall.

Ingredients:
- 750g dried Ikan Bilis (Anchovies)
- 2 slices of Ginger
- 6 dried red dates, pitted
- 1 litre of water



Method:
1. Rinse ikan bilis a few times
2. Soak ikan bilis for 5 minutes before rinsing once more to get rid of the salt. Water should be clear.
3. Bring water to boil in a stock pot.
4. Add ikan bilis, red dates and ginger to the pot.
5. Boil for 10 minutes, and when done let it cool.
6. Pour it through a sieve so that you can easily remove the ikan bilis, red dates and ginger.

Do be careful not to boil the stock for more than 10 minutes, as the stock will start to taste bitter. You can store the stock into containers and keep in the fridge for 1 or 2 days. Alternatively, you can freeze it for up to a week.



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