Fish Story: Part 2: The Fishes
Whenever we harvest the fish, I do enjoy cleaning the fish because the fish are not smelly, they are firm and fresh and look good and my mind is filled with endless possibilities of what to do with them. Three things that I have invested in that I find serves me well is the chiller, the freezer and the dehydrator. These three heavy-duty equipment backs me up in processing my fish and retaining the quality and freshness of the fish.
used to clean the fish is also from a clean, fresh uncontaminated source, this further adds quality to the fish and keeps it clear of chemicals. Once cleaned, I then decide what to do with it.
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| Live catfish |
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| Catfish fillet |
For catfish, all the larger ones are filleted, packaged and frozen in the freezer. The catfish do not go into the chiller before being processed but is kept alive. The mid-sized ones are cleaned, marinated with herbs from the farm and then smoked with unprocessed wood being the source of the fire. Once it is smoked to the degree desired, it is then dehydrated, reducing the moisture content to a level that will inhibit microbial or bacteria activity. It is then packaged and ready for sale. We do also sell live catfish at our market stall but it all depends on what the demand is at that time – fillets, smoked or fresh.
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| Smoked catfish |
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| Fresh red tilapia |
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| Marinated red tilapia |
The red tilapia is also processed to be sold either as frozen fresh which means it goes directly into the freezer and depending on order, are sometimes cleaned before frozen. Some are marinated in herbs and are then dehydrated and sold packed as dehydrated marinated red tilapia. For the dehydrated fish, I will remove the scales as I do not enjoy eating the scales. Once dehydrated, this fish can simply be fried or cooked in other savoury dishes with a gravy like asam pedal or masak lemak (with a coconut milk based grace).
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| Smoked and dehydrated eel |
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| Marinated eel |
From the river water coming in, we also get river eel which then find our fish pond as the place to live. They eat the small river fish and flourish. They are cleaned and filleted, producing long strips of fish meat. We cut them to shorter strips and then marinate them in a herbal mixture for at least 12 hours. It is then smoked and then dehydrated. We use all natural ingredients with the aim to keep it as natural and tasty as possible. Many people tend to say that they don’t eat eel because of how it looks. Strangely enough, many of these people eat Unagi (the Japanese name) and didn’t realise that they were eating eel. They can be steamed to rehydrate or made into soups. I just like to cut them up into pieces and eat with rice porridge or cook them in a savoury coconut milk based gravy like masak lemak cili. It can also be used as a topping in salads.
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| Packed dehydrated lampam |
The lampam is a fish with many bones but it is tasty. Since I am too lazy to pick out the bones, I find that by turning them into dried fish, they taste great and I do not have to worry about the bones and I can just munch my way though it as it becomes crispy.
It is cleaned including removing the scales and then marinated with a slightly salted herb marinate. I leave it to marinate at least 12 hours before placing them in the dehydrator. Once dehydrated, you can just enjoy them as is. The smaller sized ones becomes a pure fish cracker. The larger ones, can either be further fried or eaten as is with or without sambal belacan. It can also be cooked with a sambal sauce or in a savoury dish with a coconut milk based gravy. It is packed ready for sale and does not require refrigeration for storage as long as it is stored in a cool area as the dehydration process removed moisture thus preventing bacteria or microbial activity.
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| Packed, dehydrated selling |
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| Fresh seluang |
The seluang is a small river fish that is tasty but delicate. Improperly handled when fresh, you will end up with a mush on your hands. Sometime we sell it fresh but it has to be sold and cooked within 24 hours so this makes it tricky. We get lots of it in the pond so it is a waste if I do not handle it correctly. As such, most of the time I will dehydrate it. I will place them in a draining bowl to minimise handling of the fish. This bowl is them placed in water that has sea salt and various herbs added and gently shaken so that the fishes are coated with it. It is left to sit in the liquid for about an hour before draining. This process firms up the fish whilst at the same time adds flavour to the fish. They are then arranged on the dehydrating tray and placed in the dehydrator.
All the fish wastes are collected from cleaning the fishes serve as the main ingredient in creating my fish amino acid (FAA) fertiliser which is then used in fertilising the vegetation at the farm. I use the water from cleaning the fishes to water the plants. I find this is a good way to return to nature as it improves the soil at the same time that it nourishes my vegetation. The FAA it then formulated with other ingredients and becomes one of the fertiliser produced by the farm for sale.
I use the dehydrator a lot and not the traditional way of drying the fish in the sun for several reasons:
- I can dry my fish any time and am not dependent on the weather.
- I can be assured that my dried fish will be free from air-borne contaminants.
- I can be assured that my dried fish are free from flies, fly eggs and worms.
- The fish are dried more evenly and to the level where the bacteria or microbial activity will be prevented.
- Once in the dehydrator, I can just leave them until they are ready and not have to keep checking on them.
The herbal marinate contains herbs that are grown on the farm so I can be assured that they are free of chemicals. I use sea salt because they are better for us.
Why do I do all these? Simple. It doesn’t make sense to ruin good quality, fresh and tasty fish by adding chemicals or ruining them with improper handling and processing. At the end of the day, it is the taste that counts and so far, I have got good feedback on them and that makes me happy 🙂
