Who Likes Sardines?

OK, confession time. When I was growing up, there was one thing that I disliked. It was canned sardines. Bleagh!! 

My mum is not the traditional sort and she used to serve us kids sandwiches and pastries for lunch. I had no complaints because it was quite a nice change from having rice all the time. Except when it came to the dreaded sardines.

Sardine sandwiches, sardine puffs, you name it, I hated it. And don't get me started about having sardines as a dish at the dinner table. When I was staying in a shared accommodation at university, my housemates were very kind to invite me for dinner one evening.

I don't usually eat with them because these girls do their own cooking and I opted not to join in. At the time, I wasn't into cooking and even now, I think it would have been a hassle juggling studies and preparing meals. I guess I was fortunate as I was studying locally and could eat at the hostel cafetaria.

One of the dishes prepared that evening was sardines cooked with asam jawa (tamarind) juice and sliced chilies. Adoi. To be polite I ate some. 

So why on earth am I cooking Nasi Goreng Sardin??? Because I saw the recipe on Azie Kitchen and I was convinced that it was delicious. Of course Kak Azie's post title (Nasi Goreng Sardin Sangat Sedap) was very suggestive and another word she used was kebabom (I suppose this is the Malay version of da bomb!).

OK. Another confession. I unknowingly ate sardines a while back in the form of curry puffs. I was hungry and bought the curry puffs from a van with no idea that they were filled with sardines. And do you know what? I liked it. It was so good. So good that I bought it again on another occasion.

So here I am. Cooking fried rice with canned sardines. Luckily I cooked extra because it was so good. There was enough for dinner and breakfast the next day.

Of course, being on carb control, I used grated cauliflower. I've changed my mind about sardines and who knows, there might be another recipe or two here using sardines.

Cauliflower Nasi Goreng Sardin (Cauliflower Sardine Fried Rice)

Adapted from : Azie Kitchen

Ingredients :

- 3 cups grated cauliflower

- 1 small carrot, cut into matchsticks

- 1 small can sardines, use the fish only

- 2 red chillies

- 1 red onion

- 2 cloves garlic

- 2 eggs

- 1 tbsp light soya sauce

Method :

1. Lightly mash the sardines and set aside.

2. Pound or blend the chillies, onion and garlic.

3. Heat oil in a pan (I used my non-stick pan) and saute the blended ingredients until aromatic.

4. Add carrot and fry until almost tender.

5. Add grated cauliflower and stir fry to mix with the sauteed ingredients. Add soya sauce.

6. Continue to fry until the grated cauliflower is tender (test by eating a small bit) and add the mashed sardines. Mix to combine with the grated cauliflower.

7. Push the cauliflower rice aside and break the 2 eggs into the pan. Scramble until set and mix with the cauliflower rice.

8. Serve and enjoy!