More FOOD!

To celebrate the end of finals (wohoo! freedom!) I give ya'll a new recipe! Honey teriyaki glazed Turbot!

So, I planned this recipe to be made with Halibut, but unfortunately my local grocery store was out of Halibut that day. So I went with Turbot, a fish similar in texture, flakey but still meaty, and with similar mild taste. But for those of you who don't like a fishy smell, this fish is not for you. I'd go with a Tilapia or Sol, for a similar texture minus the fishy smell.

So on with the recipe!

I like to brine my fish in salt water with a couple tablespoons of vinegar. Especially a meaty fish like this, that won't break apart in the brine. So I let my 4 fillets sit in the brine as I prepared the glaze.

For the glaze you'll need:

1 cup honey

1/2 cup Soy sauce

1/2 Sriracha 

Juice of 1 lime (2 if your lime isn't very juicy)

1/4 cup vinegar

3-4 cloves of garlic; grated

About an inch of ginger; grated

1 stalk of green onion thinly sliced

Salt, pepper, and chilli flakes to tastes 

 Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. The mixture should be thick so it can stick to the fish. Massage the glaze into your fish and let sit for a couple hours to marinade. 

I took this time to make my garlic rice to go with my fish. I used regular long grain basmati rice and boiled it (1 cup rice to 2 cups water). After the rice softens, drain the water, and put the rice back in the pot on the heat to dry up the left over moisture. When your rice is dry, add grated garlic and thinly sliced green onion and mix. This makes a perfect, light side dish to go with your asian inspired fish.

I prepped my veggies (broccoli, asparagus, peppers, and pearl onion) with salt and pepper. I laid out a sheet on tin foil and put the veggies at the bottom, and my fish on top. This is where the thick glaze comes in handy. It sticks to the fish instead of puddling at the bottom with the veggies, which would make them soggy. 

Oh! don't forget to pre-heat your oven to 350F!

Close up the foil and bake the fish for about 10 minutes.

After the 10 minutes is up, unwrap the foil, set your oven to a medium broil and let the fish sit for 5 more minutes. When your fish is fork tender, it is ready. 

Plate the rice, with the fish and veggies on top, and enjoy!

A pretty simple, healthy, and delicious meal!

Feeling 22...

So, last Saturday, the 5th, was my birthday! Woohoo! The big 2 2! And I planned a sort of "last minute" dinner with a few of my close friends and family (since, surprisingly, I got off work at 2pm instead of my usual 9:30pm). I chose SongKran Thai Kitchen in Uptown Galleria Houston as the venue. Having never been there, I trusted its "10 must try restaurants" rating in Culture map Houston. And it did not disappoint! After losing my reservation (my friends were all very late) we waited about an hour to get seated. But, the manager was more than accommodating! Constantly asking us if he can bring us something during the wait.  The restaurant is a bit small on the inside (seats about 50-60 people at most, I think) but the outside patio seating was lovely. He set up 2 heaters to help us combat the cold. And then brought out free virgin mojitos for the whole table (which he colored pink "for the pictures")

And the food! OMG the food! My mouth is watering just thinking about it! I started with the "son-in-law egg" which was a hard boiled, deep fried egg served with crispy fried onion and green onion on top, and a sweet and spicy sauce. The mix of flavors made me experience egg like I've never experienced before! For my main dish I got the Pad Phong Karii, which was a lobster and shrimp dish with dried yellow curry served with white rice. The mix of the sweet seafood with spicy curry was amazing! I'm glad I tried something a bit different, rather than the usual pad thai. I certainly was not disappointed. The food was totally worth the wait! Chef and owner Junnajet "Jett" Hurapan totally deserves the title of top restaurants in Houston!

Now lets talk about the outfit! I wanted to keep it simple and classy. I ordered the skirt off of "The Jay Sisters" page on depop, and boy did it make me feel like a princess! The soft cotton material made it light and wearable with just enough poof to make it glamorous. I paired it with a simple black cotton jersey top (well it was was actually a short skater dress) from Francesca's, Some Jessica Simpson suede pointed toe pumps (which I got on sale at Macy's!), turquoise and black and statement necklace (birthday present from my best friend who could not make it to the dinner *sadf face*), silver "Parker" watch by Micheal Kors, and "vintage" Micheal Kors side bag. I say vintage because my mom gifted me this bag back in 8th grade. 8 years ago! At a time when I didn't even know who Micheal Kors was!
I completed the look with a turban style hijab (medium grey viscous hijab from HouseofHaya.com), a simple wing liner, and a pop of color with my MAC "Ruby Woo" lips.
But the highlight of the night was just getting to spend some time with the ones I love. Getting to catch up and find out whats going on in each other's lives. We get so busy with our own lives that we forget to ask about each other's. So I cherish these moments where we can get together, share a meal and a laugh and just unwind. Forget about the finals coming up this week (eek!), put the phones away (except for the million pictures of course), and just focus on the people around you. I'm blessed to have such amazing people in my life!