Thursday, April 23, 2009

Something interesting to do in lovely Doha

This morning 2 friends and I headed off bright and early to the fish market in Doha. A friend of mine goes pretty often and has been wanting to take us there.

It was a very aromatic experience, if you can imagine. I commented to my friend that I wished my blog was scratch and sniff so you could experience the intense fishy smell. Believe it or not, we did get used to it after a while.

I was amazed at how big the market was and how many stalls there were, it seemed like there were at least 50 different stalls. Each one was overflowing with everykind of fresh seafood you can imagine. The fish market is open everyday in Doha and everyday these stalls are full of fresh caught seafood. I couldn't help but be amazed at God who made the sea and everything in it.

We walked around checking out all the fish, crabs, lobsters, prawns, squid, and several unidentifible critters. We all ended up buying whole Hammor fish, which is a very common fish in Doha waters and on Doha restaurant menus. We also bought some shrimp. The next step is getting your fish cleaned which cost 1QR per kilo (which is a bit more than 25 cents. These guys work hard cleaning and prepping your seafood however you ask them too...the only thing is there is a bit of a language barrier and it can be hard to communicate what you need them to do. There is also an area entirely dedicated to cleaning the shrimp. I do not know how those guys squat all day cleaning shrimp.

After that stinky business, we headed over to S. home and her housekeeper graciously shared one of her recipes for steaming a whole fish. It was delish! We all went home with the recipe and our fish to prepare the same thing for dinner.

I had a very busy day today, but I was determined to cook that seafood. (Sorry honey that you weren't here to enjoy it) My youngest son LOVES seafood so it was really special for him.
I ended up frying the shrimp and they were YUMMY! I cooked the hammor whole in the oven because I couldn't quit figure how to rig up a steamer the way she had, and although it was very good we were so full on the shrimp that we didn't eat much fish.

So, if you are looking for something interesting to do in Doha, you should check out the fish market. I took a ton of pictures. The men working there reminded me of the children in Ethiopia. They liked for me to take their picture and then show it to them on the screen. I will try to put them up soon.

I have Wedding pics, Easter pics and now Stinky Fish Market pics all to post. Let's blame it on the slow internet in Doha!