starmaykr wrote:
> I am half African-American, half Italian-American and although I have
> no Asian heritage, I have been obessed with Asian food stores for as
> long as I can remember. I bought several books an Asian ingredients
> and they have been helpful. I have this one Asian ingredient that I
> cannot find any help with.
>
> I am a fish and seafood fanatic. I walk down really huge aisles in the
> Asian food stores and marvel at all the different varieties of Dried
> Fish but I do not know how to cook them? I guess some may have more
> salt in the drying process and maybe others do not but I am still
> tottaly clueless as to how to cook this Dried Fish. What are the
> conventions for possibly soaking them and preparing them?
>
> I own no less than 300 cook books and no less than half of them are
> Asian cuisine. Never a single word is mentioned about this Dried
> Fish!?
>
> I am confused by this.
>
> An entire aisle of Dried Fish tells me Asian people must be eating a
> lot of it. Then why not a single word about it in any of my
> "authentic" Asian Cooking books?
>
> I would appreciate any light that could be shared with me on the
> subject. Any links, books or even section(s) of any books that spend
> any time talking about dried fish.
>
> Gratefully,
> Steven
>
Salt fish in Asian food stores come either bottled with pieces emersed
in oil or in dried form. Becsuse the fish is usually quite salty one
has to eat this judiciousliy. I usually like to cut and dice up some
pork loin into a patty and place it on a shallow dish. I them place a
piece or two of dried fish, about a half inch in width on top of the
chopped meat. I then cut into thin slices of fresh ginger and green
oions on top of the meat with the fish. I then steam them in a pot on a
raised dish for about 20 minutes. Be sure to avoid any additonal
seasoning such as soy sauce as the dish is quit salty with the fish.

Try it. You might like it. This dish is a staple in the agraian
regions of China and SE asia.