Thursday, August 31, 2006

Greatest Fish Ever

We got one of those mini toaster ovens with an adjustible temperature setting so now I can bake! yay! My digicam power cable's gone missing, so I don't have any photos, but I devised a really awesome way to bake fish last night. This is without a doubt the best fish I've ever made. It's like the typical Cantonese steamed fish with ginger and scallions, but with a twist. Best thing about it is that you don't even need to add any oil since you seal the moisture in with aluminium foil.

1 largish sole fillet (I guess any fish fillet will do, but I like sole. It stays soft and flaky and it's hard to screw up. Also, it's cheap. And most likely environmentally sound to eat. What more could you ask of a fish?)
1 scallion, chopped
A handful of chopped coriander
2 slices of ginger, chopped finely
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce (Chinese)
1 tablespoon lemon juice*
2 teaspoons Tianjiang You. That's a really unusual sweet soy sauce. It tastes almost like pancake syrup. Bought it by accident, now use it for glazing meat. I guess honey's a good substitute.

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celcius (390 F).
2. Place fish fillet on a large piece of aluminium foil in a baking dish.
3. Spread the ginger, scallions and coriander on top of the fish.
4. Drizzle the lemon juice and soy sauce on top of the fish.
5. Dribble the Tianjiang You evenly over the fish.
6. Take up the corners of the foil and wrap the fish, sealing all the juices and seasonings inside the package.
7. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until white and opaque.

* I used that fake lemon juice you buy in little bottles at the supermarket. It's not very sour. I suggest using less if you squeeze real lemons.

(Question for Lana: If I find a recipe in the book, but then modify it, can I post it up on this blog? Or is that still copyright infringement? No, it's not this one. It's for sponge cake.)

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Posted by Kea to Bumbling Bees - Food at 8/31/2006 10:15:00 AM

3 comments:

Lana said...

Sounds delicious, Kea! Unfortunately, I have to tell you that eating sole is not environmentally sound. It's a flat, bottom-dwelling fish, and is usually caught with dredge nets, which are dragged along the sea floor. This is very destructive to the biota that live along the bottom. It's also a non-selective way to fish; there is probably a lot of bycatch of non-target species.

As for the recipe, I guess it depends on how extensive the modification is. To be on the safe side, you should probably cite the source, and say that your version is for personal use only, not to be distributed or used to make food for sale/profit.

Kea said...

Hmmm. Bummer. I saw sole on a list of fish that aren't in danger of being overfished, but if the fishing process itself is damaging, I guess that doesn't really help. Don't suppose it's ever farmed, is it?

greeeenwithenv said...

I just bought some fish at the market today. I'm interested in baking it instead of pan frying it like I usually do. Great idea!