$10 Meal - Dish 5 (Pan Seared AND Deep Fried Fish Fillet!)

Today is the last post for this week’s $10 meal series and we are back to western food!

I did not start out intending to prepare this dish but I chanced upon a super good deal at Giant! Check it out!

That's 2 packets at less than $4!!!

With the value deal, I decided to cook

Pan seared / Deep Fried Fish Fillet!

The items:

1) 2 packets of Sutchi Fillet ($3.59 from Giant)

2) A head of broccoli ($0.95 from Giant, this goes according to weight and I bought a medium size)

3) The remaining carrots left from Day 2’s Beef Stew (we had half a packet left – Cost: NA)

4) 1 can of mushrooms (yes, I know, we do a lot of shrooms! $1.15 button mushroom – from Giant)

5) 1 bottle of spaghetti sauce ($2.60 for the small bottle)
(Picture below shows a canned version and this is what we sometimes use for our dish when we do not wish to have any tomato based pasta)

6) 150gm of minced beef (Heh, as usual, I managed to scout for this promo from Giant - $1.335. You can of course buy more but because I was working around the budget of $10 so I went ahead to buy 300gm but split into 2 packets)

Optional: Replace spaghetti with mash potatoes (with left over potatoes from Day 2’s stew - $0.95)

Total Amount: $9.63 (for spaghetti version) OR $5.49 (for mash potato version)

Amount left: $0.37 OR $4.51

Isn't that amazing? This was the cheapest meal I made for the week yet it is the most comprehensive meal consisting of greens, carbs + protein!

Preparation:

1) Fish: I cooked 2 versions because I have tempura flour in my drawer.

~ For the pan seared version: pat dry, lightly rub some salt, pepper (optional: mixed herbs – mine is from MasterFoods - use lightly as the flavour may not be for everyone) to your fillets.

~ For the deep fried version: pat dry, lightly rub some salt, pepper before coating with tempura flour.
(Please read instructions on your tempura flour box if eggs need to be added before coating)

2) Pre-marinate the minced beef with pepper, corn flour and light soya sauce / Worchester sauce. I think we made something about 10 small beef balls


To cook:

1) Cut broccoli and slice carrots and steam with about 2 teaspoon of salted butter (you can skip the butter if you prefer a healthier version)

2) Add a pinch of salt and a dash of olive oil to a pot of water and bring it to boil. Add spaghetti. (Read instructions for cooking time)

3) Pan sear or deep fry your fillets (depending which versions you chose). Depending on the thickness of the fillet and the flame on your stove, this can take about 5 mins per fish. Do “poke test” into the middle of the fillet to ensure that it is properly cooked. The deep fried fillet (if cooked with tempura) should also turn golden brown and be crispy.

4) Empty jar of sauce into pan. Add minced beef balls and mushrooms and wait till the beef balls are cooked.

5) Drain spaghetti, twirl it, place it on dish and add sauce (step 4)

6) Add fish (step 2) and vegetables (step 1) to the plate.

7) Served hot!

Version 1: Pan seared fillet with a side serving of meatballs and spaghetti, broccoli and carrots!

Version 2: Deep fried fillet with broccoli and carrots!

(No carbs option)

This is part of a $10 meal series. Click here to view the full range of recipes

Linking up with Jennifer's Foodie Friday!