Sriracha cod with panko crust

Having a newborn after over 3 years of uninterrupted good night's sleep has been a challenge. Last couple of months, I am reminded a few things. One, grown ups can act just like a toddler - Über cranky. Two, you can totally feel hungover without a single drop of alcohol in your blood. After waking up a few times a night, my body would feel like someone just beat me up or I drank a whole bottle of vodka and danced all night.

She gives us hope some nights though. I rub my eyes and check my phone to see what time it is, and I realize it's been 5 plus hours since last feeding! Like I said though, some nights...

My tot was sleep trained very early. By this time, less than 3 months old, he slept through the night on most nights. I find my mini definitely has a lot calmer temperament than my tot(thank goodness!!)but night sleepwise, she's got some work to do. She'd better hurry up and give mama a break. All and all though, it's such a joy. I love her bright smile she gives me when I walk into the room, little kicks that go a mile a minute when she plays and even when she's just staring at the blank space. Everything about her makes me smile. 

I hate to admit, a day with a toddler sometimes goes so slow that I look at the time all day. But when a baby's around, a day goes by so quickly. By dinner time, I am always running out of time unless I am well planned. The other day, I realized I had cod in the fridge that I completely forgot about. I quickly whipped up one of our favorite fish recipes. This is so quick and seriously so delicious. 

 

 All things crispy is well accepted by my tot and cod is one of his favorite fishes. I usually make his without sriracha though. A tiny drop of mayo does the trick. Unless you drizzle sriracha all over like I did in this picture, it won't be spicy. You will feel just a little kick or not even. It gives nice flavor but not spicy if you just smear it on the fish. My au pair Lari said she has never eaten cod fish before and she loves it now. She said cod fish oil is made into health supplement for kids in Colombia but fish itself is not commonly consumed. Very interesting how different countries eat different fish. That reminded me of belt fish. In Korea, they're expensive but in FL, if belt fish came in the net when people are shrimp fishing, they just throw it back in the water I heard. Don't know if it's true. What I know for sure is this panko crusted cod is absolutely delicious! =)

  

Sriracha cod with panko crust

Printable recipe 

Ingredients :

4 cod fillets, about 12oz each

2 Tbsp mayo

2 tsp sriracha

1 cup panko bread crumbs

1 Tbsp butter

salt and pepper

Directions :

1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Line and lightly grease a baking sheet. Season the fillets with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, mix sriracha and mayo.

2. Pour the panko into a rimmed plate. Brush sriracha and mayo mixture on top of the fillet. Take each fillet, turn mayo side down and press it onto panko. 

3. Heat the butter in a pan and brown the crust of each fillet for 2-3 minutes.

4. Carefully transfer the fillets onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or so. Cooking time varies depending on the thickness of the fillet - when it reaches internal temperature 145F, it's done.

5. Place it on a plate and garnish as you prefer. I use sriracha and chopped scallion. 

*Adapted from Foodie with family