Sleeping With The Fishes (And Some Homemade Mango Chutney)

The one thing you shouldn't be when you do the groceries is hungry.  You'll have the tendency to buy twice more than you really should even when you have a list. Believe me, I have stuff in my pantry I don't remember buying and have no recollection what to make of.  However, the hunger works when I am trying to develop a dish, a process I read about and learned from a much respected chef here in Manila, Billy King.  One becomes truly creative in designing menus and dishes when one is starving.  I imagine the guy who made that burger out of Krispy Kreme doughnuts, bacon and cheese hadn't eaten for two weeks.  Not only was he hungry, he completely didn't care if he died after a bite.  

Today's post however was not a result of me being hungry but rather me being too busy.  In fact I had just decided what to make for today after having half a sandwich for dinner last night (I'm on a semi-diet and don't ask me what that is).  The thing was, the boy had some pork for lunch yesterday.  And I hadn't gone to the grocery yet so what was in the freezer was more pork and some fish steaks.  Obviously, I had to work with the fish steaks which I'd been struggling what to make of a good part of the day.  So finally, I went on Tastespotting, typed in fish steak on the search button and bada bing, bada boom...Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes.  (Sorry, nobody's dying here--just a little Godfather moment.)  We got us some lunch ideas.

Thank you to Kevin of Closet Cooking because that is where I got the recipe for today's lunch.  Fish steak?  Check. Mango Chutney?  Check. Lentils?  No check.  We had no lentils, so instead of that, I made curried fried rice.  And this is what we do with recipes, we let them inspire us and be creative to work on the stuff we have in the pantry.  You don't have to confess for not following it to the dot.  :-)

Today's lunch box: Fish Steaks with Homemade Mango Chutney spiced with Chili, Turmeric and Pink Peppercorns, Curried Fried Rice with some Homemade Vietnamese Ham

So which country do you think this dish came from?  :-)