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green fish
(omnivore)
recipe by m-c
what I was looking for
A fast fish side dish.
what I made
A sort of green fish based on a dish of green beef, itself in turn an adaptation of the recipe for Fried Green Beef from Ruta Kahate's 5 Spices, 50 Dishes, pages 48-49.
Company coming for supper on a Wednesday -- oh no, Wednesday's the day we publish new issues of alteRecipes. So supper has to be fast, fast, fast, even though fast cooking is not my metier. Truth is, fast cooking makes me nervous, so if a dish is to be fast, I want it also to be easy, easy, easy.
AlteRing a recipe for meat into one for fish always makes it faster (unless the meat is served raw). And cooking a dish for a second time soon after you've made it successfully is easier than making it the first time. I felt confident, always a good feeling when you're working against deadlines. (The alteRecipes formatting software blew up in our faces that particular Wednesday, but I didn't know that was going to happen when I was planning the supper.)
grades for the fish
| healthy | A | Doesn't even the name "green fish" sound healthy? |
| fast | A | Lickety-split. |
| easy | B- | Broiling fish is much harder than broiling meat or vegetables or fruit because the timing has to be precise. |
| cheap | C | Fish is expensive. |
| delicious | B | Very good. |
yield
Three side-dish portions with extra green stuff deliberately left over for an act 2 that I had in mind.
equipment
food processor
the fish
| ingredients | m-c meat recipe | m-c fish recipe | why? |
| protein | 1 pound Spencer steak | 1 pound thick fish steaks | faster [1] |
| Notes | |||
| [1] | Also healthier, but faster was the leading term here. | ||
Rather than try to stay current about which fish are good for the planet and which fish are endangered, shop at an honest, knowledgeable fishmonger who can recommend fish you can eat with a clear conscience.
15 minutes before time to cook it, take the fish out of the refrigerator and out of its wrappings, rinse it lightly, dry it, and let it sit on the counter while you make the green stuff.
the green stuff
Exactly the same as for the beef:
| ingredients | amounts |
| cilantro | 1 ¼ cups chopped leaves and stems |
| green serrano chile | 1 medium, coarsely chopped |
| lemon juice | 2 Tablespoons |
| shallot | 1 medium-sized, chopped |
| fresh ginger | 1 Tablespoon chopped |
| turmeric | 2 teaspoons |
| cumin seed | 2 teaspoons, whole |
| salt | to taste |
With a few pulses, process the ingredients for the green stuff into a rough mixture.
You never want fish to marinate for more than five minutes (unless you're making
ceviche), and it's OK to skip the marinating altogether, as I did here.
Cook the first side of the fish on foil close under your broiler (or on top of your grill) till it is a little cooked, about 4 minutes.
Remove the fish from the broiler, flip it over, and cover the up-side generously with green stuff.
Cook the second side, with the green stuff, just till the green stuff is cooked, 4-5 minutes.
Let the fish sit for 3-4 minutes to finish cooking with residual heat.
what I'd do differently next time
The fish was a little dry. Next time I'd paint it with oil before starting to cook it.
leftovers
The leftover morsels made a great breakfast salad the next day.
Questions? Comments? Corrections?
Suggestions? Contributions?
Please let us know!
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