Before getting the shoarma I intended to buy first, I suddenly realised it was Friday today. And on Fridays Catholics have a good custom to eat fish instead of meat. It’s a sacrifice made to remember the event of Christ’s crucifixion. In the old days fish was cheaper than meat and considered as inferior ‘poor people’ food. So eating that instead of the better meat is a sacrifice. The state of affairs here in The Netherlands is currently reversed. Fish is insanely expensive and considered to be food of the richer people. So for me eating fish is a sacrifice, because I will spend more money on a Friday meal. Funny how things can change while the sacrifice aspect stays the same.

I wanted to try out something new and saw a new kind of wok meal on discount. So I was able to eat reasonably priced, but still slightly expensive fish. The stuff I tried was deep frozen tilapia wok menu with Hoi Sin sauce and vegetables. It had to be served with rice. I had Fair Trade Basmati Rice to go with it. The Fair Trade rice is more expensive than the regular kind, but it helps farmers earning a decent living. To me this suited perfectly to the Fish on Friday occasion.

It tasted actually very good. So good that I intend to have it more often, but I won’t buy the instant meal kit anymore. I will get frozen tilapia filets, get my own chinese vegetables from the freezer and make my own Han Soi sauce. This will be slightly cheaper. I found a recipe to make the sauce and am planning to make a bigger batch, divide it in smaller portions and freeze it.

Ingredients:

• 4 Tablespoons Soy sauce - dark/light/usual
• 2 tablespoons Peanut butter - or black bean paste
• 1 tablespoon Honey - or molasses
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons sesame seed oil
• 20 drops Chinese-style hot sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

Add everything in a food processor / blender and blend until a smooth sauce forms. Divide into smaller batches and put in the freezer.

References:

• The meal kit I used (Queens Ocean)
• The range of meal kits they have
• Other recipe containing  Hoisin sauce (allrecipes)

Posted under Chinese Cuisine