How to Make Delicious and Flavorful Catfish Stewed with Turmeric Leaves in a Rice Cooker

How to cook Catfish with Turmeric Leaves

• 1

  Prepare the types of leaves and tubers used for braising fish

  After purchasing, soak turmeric leaves, coriander leaves, and lemongrass in diluted salt water for about 5 minutes, then rinse thoroughly and cut into long pieces.

  Set ginger leaves aside, then soak them in salt water, rinse with water, and chop finely.

  Peel the ginger root, then slice it thinly.

  Peel the shallots and chop them finely.

  

  

  

  
• 2

  Preparation and Marinating Catfish

  After purchasing the catfish, clean it and then cut it into bite-sized pieces.

  Next, place the fish in a rice cooker along with 2 teaspoons of salt, shake the pot back and forth several times to remove the slime, then rinse the fish with water 2 – 3 times until it’s completely clean.

  How to Clean Catfish from Slime and Fishy Smell

  • Method 1: Use a mixture of coarse salt, vinegar, and lemon juice to rub evenly over the fish’s surface, then rinse with clean water to help reduce some of the slime and fishy smell.
  • Method 2: You can mix salt with warm water, then evenly pour the mixture over the fish and gently scrape off the slime with a knife. Doing this will significantly reduce the fishy odor.
  • Method 3: Additionally, you can soak the fish in diluted lemon juice or rice water for 10 – 15 minutes. Then rinse it thoroughly with clean water.

  See details: How to Clean Catfish from Slime and Fishy Smell

  After that, marinate the fish with a little ginger leaves, sliced ginger, shallots, 1 teaspoon of ground pepper, 2 teaspoons of fish sauce, and let it sit for 15 minutes.

  

  
• 3

  Fish Stewing

  First, you place turmeric leaves, coriander leaves, and lemongrass at the bottom of the rice cooker pot.

  Then add the marinated catfish into the pot, and add a little water so that it covers half of the fish.

  Next, you plug in the rice cooker, switch to “Cook” mode for about 20 minutes, until you see the pot boiling, then switch to “Warm” mode and stew for 15 minutes, and then turn back to “Cook” mode.

  After about 15 minutes, you open the pot to check with chopsticks; if the fish meat separates easily, has a cloudy white color, and the meat attached to the backbone is no longer red, the fish is tender and cooked.

  Finally, you switch back to “Warm” mode and stew the fish a bit longer until it’s thoroughly cooked, then unplug.

  Tip: The layer of leaves at the bottom of the pot will prevent the fish from burning when the water runs low, but if the fish is not fully cooked, you need to add more water, then switch to “Cook” mode and stew until the fish is tender.

  

  

  

  
• 4

  Finished Product

  The advantage of cooking catfish in a rice cooker is that it cooks quickly, is easy to make, and whenever you want to eat, you just need to plug in the pot, turn it on for a bit, and you will have a warm and fragrant dish of catfish braised with turmeric leaves right away.

  When you taste it, you will feel the fish meat is tender and delicious, with a natural sweetness blended with the unique aroma of turmeric leaves, ginger leaves, and pennywort leaves. Picking up a piece of delicious, fragrant fish to eat with hot white rice is truly delightful!