Watch Neighbor Auria Abraham On The TV Show ‘Frankie Cooks’ Tomorrow Night

Alright, neighbors, it’s time to whip out those aprons and cooking utensils – tomorrow evening, March 19, neighbor and chef extraordinaire Auria Abraham is set to be on the TV show “Frankie Cooks” and will share a steamed fish recipe that, based on the photo alone, looks more than drool-worthy.

Auria, who’s no stranger to stardom – she was on the show “Chopped” last year and her Auria’s Malaysian Kitchen was named a nominee in the 2014 Martha Steward American Made program, will appear on “Frankie Cooks” on Thursday at 8:30pm on NYC Life, which you can catch on channel 25.1 on WNYE-TV, channel 22 on Cablevision, 14 on Comcast, 25 on Direct TV, and 25 on RCN, Time Warner and FIOS.

Tomorrow’s not the first time Auria has been featured on “Frankie Cooks” – she also appeared on the show last week and made a tofu and and green bean stir-fry with her hot chilli sambal (which you can snag at the Brooklyn ARTery).

How did our neighbor first connect with Frankie Celenza, the host of the Emmy award-winning cooking program?

“I met Frankie on Facebook!” Auria wrote to us. “I was flipping through the channels one night and came across his show — there he was making pancakes with his mother! They were so cute together in the kitchen — as different as two cultures could be (mine and his), it reminded me of the time I’ve spent in my mum’s kitchen! I found him on Facebook and wrote him a note telling him how much fun that episode was. This happened just a few weeks before the episode of “Chopped” that I was in aired, and Frankie came to the viewing party at The Highbury.”

Shooting in the “Frankie Cooks” show’s kitchen was “so much fun,” Auria said.

“It is completely laid back and comfy,” she wrote to us. “It was just a couple of people cooking. The only thing that was different from cooking in your own kitchen is sometimes they ask you to slow down so they can get the shot just right.”

If you’re interested in making Auria’s tofu and green bean stir-fry that she demonstrated on last week’s show, our neighbor graciously shared her recipe with us (which you can also check out on her always entertaining blog):

1 lb snake beans – washed and cut into 1.5″ pieces

2 tbsp corn oil

6 garlic cloves

Salt to taste

1 package firm tofu or egg tofu – cut into 1″ squares

2 tsp Auria’s Malaysian Kitchen Hot Chilli Sambal

1. Heat oil in pan or wok over high heat, then add the garlic and salt. Sauté until the aroma of this brings people to your kitchen, wanting to know when dinner will be ready. Works every time. Be very careful not to let the garlic brown as this will give your stir-fry a bitter taste – turn the heat down to medium if you need to. In Malaysia, veggies are cooked on high heat for a short time – this keeps all the nutrients in the veggies and maintains their crunchy freshness but requires that you have all your ingredients ready and within easy reach.

2. Add the cut up snake beans and give everything a good stir. Add two tablespoons of water to create some steam to cook them. Let it sit for about a minute.

3. Add the sambal. I used two heaping teaspoons for a pound of snake beans – adjust to your taste. You can always add more later if it isn’t spicy enough for you. Stir to combine. (I added another teaspoon – it didn’t look like there was enough sambal to sufficiently coat everything.)

4. Gently add the tofu squares. Very gently stir to coat the tofu in sambal – the last thing you want is a mess of broken up tofu.

5. Serve over hot rice.

And there you have it! If you haven’t cooked a Malaysian meal before, you have now!

As for the steamed fish recipe, Auria also graciously shared that as well.

On her blog, Auria wrote:

As for the recipe, it’s one of my husband’s favorite fish dishes ever. It’s also pretty quick and simple once you get the hang of it which makes it a good recipe for weeknight dinners. From start to finish, this should take you twenty or twenty-five minutes tops. Be sure and get your rice cooking before you begin to pull these ingredients out of your refrigerator – this way, as soon as the fish is done your rice will be ready and waiting to soak up all the sesame and soy deliciousness!

So-Easy Steamed Fish

1 whole fish, about 1.5 – 2lbs (striped bass, branzino, flounder, snapper or trout)

2″ piece of ginger (peeled and julienned)

1/2 tsp kosher salt

2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine

2 tsp sesame oil

2 tbsp light soy sauce (Chinese soy sauce, not Kikkoman)

1/2 tsp rock sugar (or regular sugar)

1/2 tsp white pepper (or black pepper, if that’s what you have on hand)

2 tbsp cooking oil

1. Boil 2″ of water in your steaming apparatus, whatever that may be. I use a wok with a well-fitting lid and an oval stainless steel plate for the fish. I find the fancy steaming baskets can be too small for a whole fish and requires the fish to be cut in half. There goes the “whole fish” appeal of this dish – I mean, it’s OH-KAY I guess but makes the presentation a little less presentation-y.

2. Your friendly fishmonger can prep the fish to your specifications: Scale, gut and leave the head, tail and fins on. Wash the fish, gently pat dry then season well with salt both inside and out. Lay 1/3 of your sliced scallions on your fish plate. Place the fish on the scallions and pour the rice wine slowly all over the top.  Stuff 1/3 of the ginger inside the cavity, arrange 1/3 of it on top of the fish and save the rest for later. When your water is at a furious rolling boil, carefully place the fish plate in work or steamer and cover tightly. Set your timer for 12 minutes.

3. While that’s going, mix the sesame oil, soy sauce, rock sugar and white pepper in a little pan and set aside.

4. At twelve minutes, uncover the fish and take a good look at it. Prod it with a fork near the thickest part of the fish and if it flakes easily, it is completely done. If it doesn’t, give it another minute or two. When the fish is done, remove the plate carefully.  I have something we called a plate-lifter that you can find in Chinatown fro $2 that I use for this purpose. If you don’t have one, please be very careful – hot steam, wobbly wok and oven mitts reaching in to grab a hot plate filled with liquid sounds like a recipe for an unsavory adventure. I’ve done this many a time when cooking at the home’s of friends sans plate-lifter, and it just requires a little patience and care.

5. While holding the fish on the plate, pour out any cooking liquid that has accumulated.

6. Set your little sauce pan on high and heat through until it just begins to bubble – less than a minute.  I usually do this step during the last minute of fish cooking time, so that my cooked fish is not waiting and losing heat. Pour the sauce over the fish, then top with the remaining scallions. Put the cooking oil and ginger in the same sauce pan and cook on high until it shimmers, almost at a smoke. Pour this over the fish and enjoy that gorgeous sizzle.  Serve with rice and tasty veggies .

Ok, I’ll admit, step 6 is a bit of a dance of fish, sauce, garnish, and oil and it all happens in less than two minutes. Once you’ve done it twice, you’ll get the hang of it though. I can just see it now – you’ll serve this meal and your peeps will be all “Who ARE you?!!”

Many congratulations to Auria – we can’t wait to see where you’ll appear next!