Fish & Chips & Profiteroles

Picture007_15Apr05.jpg
Originally uploaded by eingy.

If only the chips were battered, then we'd have a theme of everything being encased in a dough or batter... Dang. My camera was out of commission (low battery), so I took a pic with the only thing I had handy: the Treo 600. I wish the damn thing had a flash or something.

The pic of the fish & chips (and two home-made sauces -- a cocktail sauce and a tartar sauce) came out too dark, sadly. The batter was really tasty, and the fish was very delicate and moist. I don't know what they used as the batter, but when we get adventurous enough to cook non-salmon fish at home, I will ask them. I think that there was cornstarch and eggs in it, but not sure what else. I think baking soda may have been singled out to be mentioned because it seemed unusual, but my memory is fuzzy. I think Uyen was a bit worried that the batter was cooking a bit dark, but it gave it that awesome flavor that comes with slightly browned things (you know what I mean) and a nice slightly crispy (yet not jaw-breakingly hard, like some over-eager KFC batters nowadays) texture. That crispy texture really combined well with the tenderness of the fish. When asked what kind of fish it was, Charles dead-panned, "Sam's club." Hee. That dude has some poker face.

Oh! I almost forgot to mention that the fries were not just fries. No, not at all. They were garlic fries. Mmmm, mmm, good. I love garlic fries. They put in a heaping amount of garlic and parsley (I think -- but maybe it was something else?). I shovelled down so many fries, in addition to a second helping of the fish, that I felt like an absolute glutton afterwards. The home-made sauces really *ahem* kicked it up a notch. Hee. Don't kill me. But seriously, it brought the meal to a whole other level of goodness. Fries + tartar sauce = lip-smacking goodness. Somehow, I managed to squeeze in a dozen or so profiteroles afterwards.

The best part of it all was that they cooked for us on a Friday night, so we were able to have a homecooked meal with great friends on a weekday evening. That is a luxury that does not come often.