I hate fish. But I don't really like hating things, especially food. Especially when it's something that people rave about, because then you feel like you're missing something. So with fish I try occasionally.
When Tom was over the other weekend, we made some fish, because Tom cooks fish good, and he's made it his mission to wean me onto seafood. We went to Angelakis and asked Tom's mate Monte what he recommended that day, and he suggested some snapper. We bought the recommended amount, which turned out to be twice as much as we could eat. Oops! That's ok, the freezer can have it. One useful tip we picked up is that 'fresh' actually has meaning on the labels at the fish shop. We've been desensitised to it because of Woolies and Subway, but if the label at the fish shop doesn't say fresh, it means it's been frozen. Good to know.
We (and by 'we' I mean I chopped the veggies and Tom did the fish handling) made the fish the way Guo Yue demonstrated at Womad (you can find my review of his book here, and another of his recipes that I tried here). I must say, it was quite enjoyable: it didn't have an overly fishy flavour, and the sauce was great, although the bones did freak me out a bit. I would say that if you actually like fish, you will really really like this recipe, and it's not that much harder than just battering and frying the thing, for a much more impressive result.
Guo Yue's Fish
1. Cut a lot of spring onion (up to a whole bunch) into matchstick sized slices (use the green bits too).
2. Make some cuts in the fish (maybe 3 or 4), and wedge some slices of fresh ginger in them.
3. Shallow fry the fish in a little oil (we battered it with some flour too, and cooked it in a wok).
4. When the fish is nearly cooked, chuck on a clove or two of crushed garlic, and a similar amount of grated ginger. Cover with a lot of spring onion (ie. lots - enough to cover). Add a cup or two of white wine, and a small dash of soy and a little sesame oil (a dessert spoon or less I would say). Put the lid on, and let the sauce reduce as you steam it for a few minutes, or until you’re ready to serve.
(You may need to cook the fish in a few batches if you have a lot).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Oooh! Great. Another recipe to try! I've just got in to cooking fish. It started with a very simple recipe from my sister (wrap fish in alfoil with a dob of butter and a little lemon juice, put in oven at 395 F/200 C for 20 mins and hey presto). I then decided to splash out on some salmon (from Canada apparently, although it comes with colouring in it which is annoying...) which I just cooked for 2.5 mins on each side (until it just stopped being raw looking in the middle) with a bit of salt and pepper and it was YUM! Very minimal handling required too which is a bonus.
I like serving fish with those sweet tasty snap peas (stir fry very breifly so their still crunchy)
Next step is to find a better place to buy fish. My boss tells me there is a Japanese supermarket a bit south of here, that could be a good bet for fresh fish!
Do you have a dishwasher? My brother made some amazing salmon by cooking it in the dishwasher (wrapped tightly in foil). I'm not game to try it, but it's a pretty novel approach to fish if you're looking for new recipes!
Ok, now I've actually *read* this recipe (instead of just getting excited that it was a fish recipe), it looks very similar to my improvised steamed chicken I made last week. I followed Stephanie Alexander's rules for steaming chicken (put on a plate, cover with alfoil and put in a steamer - I found it needed at least 15 mins to cook a decent sized chicken breast). Before the alfoil step I sliced into the chicken breast and inserted some fresh ginger, and then sprinkled spring onion and a little soy on top! Great minds must think alike :)
Although it looks pretty unappealing it tastes great cos its really juicy. I had it with rice and some steamed veggies and enjoyed feeling heathy!
Wow, salmon in the dishwasher... I think I'd just put in it a steamer myself, but it would make for an impressive feat!
Yeah, I can't say I would've gone for it, but a lot of his cooking is novelty-based.
Your chicken sounds good - I hadn't thought to do chicken in the same way! I think this recipe works particularly well because the white wine reduces with the other flavours to make a sauce.
I forgot to mention we ate this with a salad with the Charlie Trotter dressing! It's quite different from anything I've had before, but yum!
Post a Comment