Friday, May 25, 2012

Spicy Herring with Broccoli and Cauliflower

spicy herring with broccoli and cauliflower

I know canned goods aren't good for the body but there is such a shortage of culinary variety where I live that Jan and I pounce on anything new we see at the supermarket, canned goods not exempted. One of our fairly recent finds was canned spicy herring.

To regular people like us, herring sounds so sophisticated but if I am to believe good old Google, it might really be just the kind of fish used for sardines in some central parts of the Philippines or dried fish in the southern regions. I could be wrong. In any case, we've never knowingly tasted the fish as called by its English name, so we thought we'd check it out.


1 cup broccoli
1 cup cauliflower
1 small can herring fillets in hot sauce
1/2 onion cut in two
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 bell pepper, quartered
1/2 tbsp. roasted sesame seeds
2 tbsps. sesame oil
5 tbsps. water
Spring onions, chopped


1. In a hot pan, melt butter and saute garlic.

2. Add cauliflower, broccoli and 3 tbps. water. Cover and cook for 2 and a half minutes.

3. Add bell pepper and onions and mix for a few seconds.

4. Add salt, sesame seeds, sesame oil, peppermill and cook for another 3 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to a plate.

5. In another pan, heat the herring with 2 tbsps. of water. Top the vegetables with the heated herring and spring onions.

Wife's Verdict: 

Needless to say, this was a hot recipe but that didn't ruin the buttery crunch of the vegetables. I thought the flavor would carry two distinct ingredient groups, and to some extent it did, but there was also the element of fusion that made the vegetables perfectly suited to the spicy herring.

Jan's Quip: "Pick the ingredients first and then make things up."


  1. Hi Sir Jan and Ms. Grace! For a tight budget, do we have any substitute for the butter?

  2. Hi Vic. You can actually use plain cooking oil for this. Butter just adds a little bit of extra flavor :)


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