CR - FW1 Prawning 23/02/08

I have 3 friends who have never done prawning before in their lives, not to mention fishing. After hearing lots about both from me, they asked me to bring them to try prawning and I agreed. So there we were at 5pm on Saturday at the Pasir Ris Farmway 1 prawn pond. I chose this pond as I hoped that they would be luck enough to catch a couple of tagged prawns and get cash prizes.


If you catch a medium sized prawn between 6pm to 12am, check its tail - if there's a coloured staple, you've won a cash prize!




As they have absolutely zero experience, we bought only 2 rods to be shared among us 4 for 3 hours. I started off by giving them the basic to adjusting the height of the float, baiting and watching for the movements of the float. They were excited and eager to start but it was very slow at first, we caught only 3 prawns the 1st hour! There were many bites but they lost the prawns as they could not get the hang of striking at the right time with the right amount of strength.


The biggest prawn we caught that day, too bad there was no tag!





Fortunately, things speeded up a little in the 2nd hour. I found myself running to and fro, helping them to unhook the prawns as the waving pincers looked rather scary to the 3 girls. I asked them to hold the line while I grabbed the pincers, broke them off, unhooked the prawn then threw it into the keep net. They were really happy when they landed bigger prawns, unfortunately, none were tagged...


Total catch. I had started cutting the prawns up when I remembered I had yet to take a photo!








At 730pm, the sun started to set and the action slowed especially when the girls found it very difficult to watch the float properly in the rapidly darkening surroundings. Leaving them to continue trying, I starting a fire at one of the BBQ pits available there beside the pond. The prawns were washed and cut up and soon, cooking on the grill!










For the recipe, go to http://myfishingfrenzy.com/bbq_prawn.php

At 8pm, we returned the rods and started eating. The total catch was only 26 prawns but we went away happy. My friends said they could now tell people they gone prawning before!

Report & CR - PRPP 18/02/2008

We knew that PRPP was to be taken over by the operator of the skill fishing pond, but we did not have a chance to check the place out till yesterday 18th Feb. Prices were of course the same, with the release timing beginning at 9am, then every 3 hours consecutively.

1415 hrs
We reached the pond and bumped into the fish truck making a delivery. Does that mean that the pond gets fish every Monday at 2pm? Hmm... Anyway, we sat back and observed the transportation of the fish.


Truck delivering fish for both pro and skill-fishing pond.






We witnessed quite a bit of fish being hauled from the truck into the pond. Surprisingly, there were only 3 kinds of fish - ACKs, Taiwan Ngors and Kim Chews! Not sure if they had already put other kinds in before we arrived, but we certainly saw only these 3 types of fish. What's more, the fish were of reasonable size - all were at least 1kg and some even looked much bigger.


Fish released straight into the pro pond.







1430hrs
We saw a total of 5 'baskets' of fish - about 10 Kim Chews, 20 ACKs and 20 Taiwan Ngors being released directly into the pond. That definately caught our attention! We assumed that these fish counted for the 3pm release, and even though all the fish floated around for about 30 seconds before swimming feebly away, we thought they might wake up soon?

1445hrs
We took a walk around to check out the surroundings. By the way, ex-pro pond operator Albert has moved on to take over the event pond and calls it the Big Fish pond. It is opened 24hr and charges are $100 for 3 hours. Only 1 angler was fishing and he caught a 2 plus, almost 3 kg KBL.


All fish in this pond supposed to be at least 2kg, if not above.






1500hrs
There were already 3 rods in the water when we arrived, and more people slowly appeared to observe the situation. The water seemed clear enough with no froth or muck on the surface and the weather was good. However, we then spotted 2 dead kim chews floating on the surface. They were quickly and efficiently removed but half an hour later, another 2 floated up.

To be fair, those dead fish looked very small, much smaller than those that were brought by the fish truck. If today's delivery was an accurate indication of the size of fish the new operator bought, maybe the dead ones were left over from the previous? We were impressed when the dead kim chews were speedily removed, together with a sickly looking Ang Kuay that looked like it was near its end.

1520hrs
All of a sudden, there were 2 strikes back to back. Both anglers pulled up sizable ACKs that looked very much like those released. Our eyes narrowed and our fingers started to reach for the tackle...

1530hrs
2 more strikes were registered, one fish was lost and the other one landed was another ACK! We could not resist any longer...

1545hrs
With 15 minutes, we landed 2 Taiwan Ngors about 1.2 kg each on Kembong meat. Angler beside us landed 2 ACKs using live prawns within the same time period. Sorry... too busy to keep track of other anglers.

1600hrs
Operator came to collect the fees. To our immense surprise, the starting time they wrote on the sticker was 4pm even though we had already landed 2 fish! There were only 8 anglers so it couldn't have been a mistake. Maybe this is a weekday afternoon special offer? Haha...

1630hrs
We landed 1 ACK but our neighbour managed to get 2 more! We had high hopes, but there was a long lull...

1800hrs
Fish released. We caught 2 more between 6pm to 7pm, 1 more each of ACK and Taiwan Ngor. The ACK was almost 2kg! Just when we were going to take a photo of our total catch, the battery in the handphone died... No photos of the fish, sorry...

Although we did hope to get more fish, we were rather happy with the 5 as the total weight was quite substantial. Of course, the very positive attitude from the operator helped. All in all, we enjoyed ourselves we will definately come back again soon!

What Wine With Your Fish? Part II - Taste

Knowing the different varieties of grapes is nought but a little peek into the world of wines. Many different factors can make a big difference in the taste of a wine, especially the place of origin and the vintage! The same grape grown in two separate countries, or even region, may be different because of the difference in soil and climate. Different vintages will also taste different depending on the weather and the amount of grapes harvested, and that's not even taking the different winemakers and their styles into consideration!

Of course, we are not going to make our heads spin with all that. When we just want a nice glass of wine to match our seafood, we only need to know that white wine can be divided into 3 main categories: Light & Crisp, Juicy & Aromatic, Full & Opulent. (Do remember that the information given below is deliberately arranged to be simple and generalised, there are no absolutes!)

1. Light & Crisp
- Clean, dry and refreshing
- Citrus, grass, mineral, herbaceous flavours
E.g. French Chablis, Italian Pinot Grigio, South African Chenin Blanc.

2. Juicy & Aromatic
- Medium-bodied, fragrant and fruity
- Citrus, floral, stone & exotic fruit flavours
E.g. New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, French Pinot Gris, German Riesling.

3. Full & Opulent
- Full-bodied, complex and oily
- Oak, nuts, buttery toast, stone fruit flavours
E.g. French Chardonnay, Australian Sémillon, French Gewurztraminer, Californian Viognier.

You may want to try the wines before beginning to match them with food. Gather a few friends and buy a bottle from each category, share them while chit-chatting or fishing! When buying wines, it is our personal advise that you should start with a budget of around S$30 per bottle. Price do make a difference in quality and from experience, we feel that you are more likely to get one of reasonable quality, or even a bargain at this price. Personal favourite for drinking white wine on its own - Matua Valley Sauvignon Blanc from Malborough, New Zealand. Last but not least, enjoy the testing and tasting!


*As we are mainly concerned with matching wines to seafood, the dessert wines have been left out.

What Wine With Your Fish? Part III - Pairing

Whether you are pairing wine with food or trying to matchmake one friend to another, you think about compatibility. Obviously, the taste of 2 different things mingling simultaneously with your taste buds should be that of harmony and not discord!

Harmony between food and wine can be summarised in two words - Complementing and Contrasting. Here's a few easy to remember tips.

Complementing - Strike a balance between the type and intensity of the flavours instead of allowing one to overpower the other.

• Red wine with red meat, White wine with white meat - Though not 100% accurate, this statement does sum up the basics of pairing. No matter how you prepare chicken, the flavour will be lighter than that of a beef dish. Similarly, white wines are generally lighter than reds, thus seafood is usually paired with whites, roses, or lighter reds.
  

• Light coloured vs Dark coloured dishes - What you see on the surface is sometimes more important than what is beneath. Seafood that is fried or grilled tend to have a stronger, oilier flavour compared to those steamed or poached. Also, a oyster sauce based dish is often heartier and more flavourful compared to one cooked with light soy sauce.
  

• Look for similar tastes and flavours - Tart flavours in a dish would match easily with a more acidic wine while sweetness can be balanced with a fruity one. If mushrooms are to be a main ingredient added to your dish, think about a herbaceous note in your wine. If your fish is going to taste of lemons, look for a wine with citrus aromas. You will find that the two seem to be bringing out the best in each other.
  

Contrasting - Opposites do sometimes attract, and may produce surprisingly harmonous results.

• Wine as a foil to salty and oily flavours - Salt in a dish helps to bring the flavours to the fore, and it would do the same for a tart, acidic wine. This same acidic wine will also do a wonderful job in cleansing your palate when served with a oily or fatty dish.

• Be sweet and spicy - From all the sweet and spicy dishes you find in Asian cusine, you can obviously tell that the two contrasting tastes can be matched. Wines that are fruity and refreshing allow their own and also the other flavours of the dish to emerge despite the spiciness.

At the end of the day, everyone may have their own likes and dislikes but you are the one who is going to enjoy the food. So don't be worried and do experiment with different combinations if you want to!

What Wine With Your Fish? Part I - Varieties

When you start to see more and more varieties of wine, and some that actually cost more than a hundred dollars for a bottle at a supermarket, you know that wine is here to stay. With more choices available, it is sometimes rather confusing for someone who is simply looking for a bottle to share over a fish dish.

Being anglers ourselves, we understand what the priorities are - hooking and fighting the fish of course! But if you do decide to cook your catch and perhaps enjoy it with a glass of wine, it will be great if you can make a reasonably suitable pairing without having to do copious amounts of research and reading. However, it wouldn't hurt if you can tell your friends about the difference between your Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc after reading our blog!

As white wine is more often paired with seafood, let us first look at the types of grapes used to make them:

White Grape/Wine Varieties
While there are more than 50 types of grapes that can be used for making wine, here's the most commonly seen 8 of them. All the following can be found on the shelves as wine made only from that specific variety.

1. Chardonnay (sha-duh-nay)
   
2. Sauvignon Blanc (So-vee-yon blahng)
3. Riesling (rees-ling)
   
4. Sémillon (say-me-yon)
   
5. Chenin Blanc (sher-nan blahng)
   
6. Pinot Gris / Pinot Grigio (pi-no-gree / pi-no gri-joe)
   
7. Gewurztraminer (guh-vurts-tra-me-ner)
8. Viognier (vee-ohn-yay)

Other White Wine Varieties
You can make more than 1 type of wine with a grape varietal, and some wines are made with a blend of more than 1 type of grapes.

Also made from chardonnay grapes:

• Chablis (sha-blee)
• Pouilly-Fuissé (poo-yee fwee-say)

Blended Wine Varieties

• White Bordeaux (bore-dough) - Sauvignon Blanc + Sémillon

Ok so far? Now you should be able to remember the names of a few popular white wines. Do scoot over the the wine section the next time you go to the supermarket and check them out, see how many of those mentioned above you can find!

It's going to be the 14th of Feb soon...

A very happy Valentine's Day to everyone! By the way, did you know that there is a singles' day which is celebrated on the 11th of Nov (11/11)? I was told that single men would gather at the bar to toast their bachelorhood/drown their sorrows... Hmmm...

Anyway for those who are attached/married/gathering your courage to tell someone you want to be with her/him, MFF has a suggestion for what to do on the day of love... Prawning! Prawning is easy to learn, prawns are easy to cook and most importantly, the girls can do all these in the shade!

Step 1
Find a prawn pond near you. There are many of them around Singapore and charges are around $30 for 3 hrs. Some places include: Pasir Ris Pond (5 mins walk from Pasir Ris MRT), Pasir Ris Farmway 1, Pasir Ris Farmway 3, Bottle Tree Park (Yishun), Taman Jurong (Opposite Jurong Bird Park), Bishan Park etc...

Step 2
Read up about prawning at http://myfishingfrenzy.com/prawning.php
Make sure that you know enough to teach/impress your date!










Step 3
Check out the recipes for the prawns at http://myfishingfrenzy.com/prawns.php
Choose your favourite and go buy the ingredients; include candles, white wine and dessert in your shopping list!


Recommended: Baked Cheese Prawns
Just add a salad and voila! A simple yet classy dish.





Step 4
Fetch your date and go to the prawn pond, don't forget the flowers!

Step 5
Spend 3 lovely hours together catching your dinner, remember to take photos!

Step 6
Bring your date home and whip up your very own prawn a la mode!

Step 7
Light the candles, put on the love ballads and pour the wine... Enjoy the dinner that both of you caught and cooked yourselves!

Step 8
Come back and tell us all about it! Heehee... *Muacks!*

A Visit to Ah You Kelong

We arrived at Tanjong Leman jetty on the 8th of Jan 2008 at 8am, boarded the boat at 830 and reached the kelong at 9am. The first thing that struck us was, why are there so many people there on the 2nd day of the Lunar New Year? Haiz... We were assigned a bed but were told to wait for them to change the bedsheets as they were too busy to do it immediately. So we put down our stuff and took a walk around to check out the surroundings...

The first thing we noticed was 2 lovely baitwells... belonging not to the kelong but to a group of hardcore anglers who brought along a mini stove with extra gas canisters, kettle, mugs...





Although we were disappointed that the baitwell was not for everyone, we were cheered by the sight of many selars and even a grouper around 1kg swimming inside! As we walked around, we observed anglers who were leaving after lunch packing their catch. We saw more selars, selar papans, leng chiams and bigger ones like GTs, Kacis and barracudas between 1 to 2 kg. Not bad... We came back to the bed, saw that the new sheets and covers were in place, and happily set up our gear to start the action.


Front of kelong - very wide with a hole in the middle.








Close up view of hole - notice the little wooden boards nailed there, it's everywhere around the kelong and quite convenient for cutting bait.





There's a small section that extends out at the front. Unfortunately, the area to the left and right of this extension seemed to be imcomplete, with poles sticking out of the water.




It was almost impossible to cast there, as lines would very easily get sangkot. My apollo tamban rig was gone after 1 cast...






Left side of the kelong - seems to be a pretty spot, judging by the fact that rods there landed a total of 4 remoras between 1 to 2 kg!





Back of kelong. There were some nice tables fixed up, very convenient. This was where we fished mainly.







One special thing about this kelong was that they had many options for arrival and departure times - there are 4 options for each!





Dining area at the front. As they could only accomodate about 8 tables, lunch would usually be served twice or even thrice. Customers who were leaving that day would eat first while those that have just arrived would always have to be last.


The beds looked rather old, but were clean.








The provision shop with a list of prices on the door. The drinks here happen to be the cheapest at RM2!






There were 6 toilets altogether - 3 sitting and 3 squatting. The toilet bowls were very low, which madkes it good for kids but difficult for old people. The most surprising thing was that they were all fixed with shower heads, no more filling of water pails! You will realise, though, that certain toilets had a stronger water flow compared to others.




However, as the shower heads could only dispense water if the big tank above was filled, you are suppposed to shower during the specified period. Actually, the water may run out anytime, and you would have to tell the workers to do the refilling.


At this point of time, I must apologise to all those who are waiting to see photos of fish and CR, SORRY... There are none! The biggest fish we caught was a 1 kg shark and total catch was about 10kg worth of small fish like selars, selar papans and leng chiams. The truth is, we stayed only 1 night instead of the original 2 because so many people arrived on the next day that we gave up!

It was so crowded that there were about 30 people who had to stand around with their luggage the whole morning. They started arriving from 9 am and had to stand around till about 1pm when the boats started bringing people back to Tanjong Leman. There was an extended family of more than 20 who also contemplated leaving 1 day earlier because of the crowd and also, they thought that the kelong didn't serve enough food! They arrived on the same boat with us and thus constantly came to complain to us...

Last but not least, the kelong has just raised its prices!
Adults 2D1N - RM 152
3D2N - RM 225
Children 2D1N - 95
3D2N - 130

Haiz... needless to say, we will probably not go back again. For those who want to give it a shot, here's the contact numbers:
Wong Pek You (Boss) 013-7212332 / 012-7711775
Kelong 07-7970729

Good Luck!

Yusheng! Raw Fish Salad Anyone?

Raw fish sald does sound a little odd, doesn't it? However, when you use the other name - Yusheng, everyone would know what you are talking about. Yusheng is a dish consumed during the lunar new year, most commonly on the seventh day, or 'Renri' - the birthday of humans. The main purpose of this dish is of course to bring luck and prosperity to oneself with the shouts of 'lohei' - toss it up!


Pre-packed Yusheng set available in all supermarkets. Just add the fish and fresh vegetables!







Typical ingredients can be divided into 4 categories:

1. Fish
The most commonly used raw fish nowadays are the ikan parang, mackerel and salmon. Not everyone enjoys eating raw fish, so substitutes like smoked salmon, abalone, vegetarian mock abalone, sharksfin and even caviar are used.

*Note: Read up more about consuming raw fish at http://myfishingfrenzy.com/raw_fish.php

2. Raw Vegetables
These includes the cucumber, carrot and white radish cut into fine, thin strands. Some has also innovated by adding alfalfa sprouts and enoki mushrooms.

3. Flavouring Ingredients
These are the brightly coloured pickled ginger, onion and radish, which usually come in reds, greens and yellows.

4. Condiments
This is the most important category as they represent all the good things we want happened to us! They are the candied orange peel, the sesame seeds, powdered peanuts and crackers, the five spice powder and plum sauce.


The second and third categories are arranged on a large round tray with the flavouring ingredients forming a ring and the fresh vegetables all in the centre.






When everyone has gathered around the table, the rest will then be added with the appropriate auspicious sayings.

• Peanut (hua sheng) - "Sheng Yi Xing Long, Sheng Cai You Dao" May your business prosper and you have many means of making money
• Sesame (golden sand) - "Cai Yuan Gun Gun, Jin Yu Man Tang" Money will be rolling in, With lots of gold and jade in your house
  
• Orange peel (ju, sounds like ji) - "Ji Xing Gao Zhao, Ji Xiang Ru Yi" Lucky stars shine upon you, you get everything you wish for
  
• Crackers (gold ingots) - "Zhao Cai Jin Bao, Bian Di Huang Jin" Invite the treasures in, Gold will be everywhere on the ground
• Five spice powder (Wu Xiang) - "Wu Fu Lin Men， Fu Shou Mian Mian" All good fortune will arrive at your door, with prosperity and longevity
  
• Plum sauce - "Xin Fu Mei Man, Tian Tian Mi Mi" You will be happy and contented, with a sweet and honeyed life
  
• Lime juice & Fish (yu) - "Da Ji Da Li, Nian Nian You Yu" Great luck and prosperity, abundance so you will never lack anything
  

Everyone will then be invited to use their chopsticks to mix the ingredients by tossing them, the higher the better, and saying - "Lao Ge Feng Sheng Shui Qi" Toss till you get high winds and great waves to bring your luck and prosperity in! Throughout the tossing, more phrases like "Yi Fan Feng Shun" Everything will be smooth sailing, "Hong Yun Dang Tou" Great fortune and luck is upon you, and "Bu Bu Gao Sheng" Every step will raise you through the ranks, will be uttered.

Enjoy your Yusheng with all the luck and prosperity that come to you!
Gong Xi! Gong Xi!

Happy Lunar New Year!

Hello everybody! It's the day before the eve of the lunar new year, so allow me to wish all of you a very happy and prosperous year of the Rat!

Now, you might have just hauled a catch home last weekend and have some fish sitting around in your freezer. Why don't you use it and contribute to your reunion dinner? Impress your relatives by serving fish that you've caught and cooked! Refer to our recipes section at http://myfishingfrenzy.com/recipes.php for some great ideas like these!

Teochew-Style Steamed Snapper
This dish is perfect for Lunar New Year because leeks, or 'Suan' in chinese, sounds like the word 'count' so eating this at your reunion dinner will ensure that you will have lot's of money to count in the coming year!




Sweet and Sour Fish Fillet

This is another auspicious dish just right for Lunar New Year! The crispy golden fish fillets are like gold pieces and the juicy pineapple, or 'Ong Lai' in dialect, means 'prosperity arrives'. Everyone, especially the kids, will love this!

After eating these fish dishes, I'm sure it will be Nian Nian You Yu - Always Have More Than You Need plus Great Catch Every Year for you!

Gong Xi Fa Cai!!!