Spicy Cod & Asparagus Salad

I’ve been craving for spicy food lately. Yes! I do realize that it is summer and it’s burning hot, but I have come to the conclusion that eating spicy food in the hot weather can melt some calories that I’ve been collecting since the last few months in the winter as an alternative way to exercise because I would be sweating a lot from eating spicy food.  

Okay… ok…that is just my excuse since you might have already noticed that I am addicted to chilies!   So, this time I took out a package of rock cod fillet (kindly donated to me from my brother-in-law who loves fishing so much) from the freezer to unthawed and thinking of making spicy fish salad with the gorgeous asparagus I got the day before from the local supermarket. 

As you can see the picture of my salad dressing with those thinly sliced Thai chilies floating on top, I just wanted to warn you to reduce the chilies in half from my recipe because this salad was really really HOT! But if you like the heat, like me, go for it! And I promise that you will be crying and smiling at the same time! I did! ^___^

What you need: 

6 oz Rock Cod fish fillet, cut into thin slices

2 cups Asparagus, cut into 1-in long

1/4 cup carrot shredded

1/4 cup red onion thinly sliced

1 1/2 tbsp fish sauce

1/2 tbsp sugar

1 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp fresh squeeze lime juice

1/2 tsp fresh ginger finely grated

3-4 medium Thai red chilis

 2 cloves garlic finely grated

How to:

- Bring water to a boil and add a pinch of salt

- Blanch asparagus in hot boiling water for about 2-3 minutes or until they turn bright green and immediately using a slot spoon to take them out (you will need the same boiling water to cook the fish) to shock them in the ice water bowl (you should have it ready first) to stop the cooking process, drain and set them aside

- Cook the fish in the same pot of boiling water for about 3 minutes. Do not overcook the fish! Take the fish out after it’s cooked and put it in the large mixing bowl with the blanched asparagus, shredded carrot, red onion sliced, and set aside

- whisk together the fish sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, lime juice, grated ginger, garlic, chili to incorporate all the flavors and until all the sugar is dissolved - pour the dressing over the prepared salad bowl, mix well and let it sit for another 5 minutes to blend all flavors together

Enjoy!

^__^