Fish » The Saucy Coq

FRIED TILAPIA WITH TURMERIC CRUST

Photo by The Saucy Coq

Thai food has been in heavy rotation in my kitchen since our recent 26 day trip through Thailand. This fried Tilapia has southern Thai influences with its heavy Turmuric marinade. Fresh chilies in fish sauce give it the salty, spicy kick that brings this to the next level!

TILAPIA WITH TURMERIC CRUST

2 tbsp chopped garlic

1 tbsp chopped shallots

2 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp fresh pepper

Pinch of salt

2 tbsp fish sauce

3 tbsp vegetable oil

2 or 3 fillets of tilapia (or other firm whitefish like catfish, snapper, halibut)

1 cup flour

2 fresh Thai bird chilies or 1 dried red chili

In a small food processor or in your blender, combine the garlic, shallots, turmeric, sugar, pepper, salt, fish sauce and 1 tbsp of the oil. Grind to a fairly smooth paste, stopping to scrape the sides a couple of times. You could also do this the traditional way and smash it up in a mortar and pestle. Combine the fish fillets with the turmeric marinade, turning to coat and let that fish soak up the flavours for 20 minutes or so. You can leave this for up to a day if you want to prepare the fish ahead of time!

Next you’re going to want to coat the fillets with flour, which will give them this nice golden brown crust in the end. Take the fish from the marinade and try not to lose what is sticking to the fish. Pour the flour in to a baking dish or bowl and lay the fillets in there, turning to coat. Shake off the excess flour and place on a plate. Heat the remaining bit of oil in a skillet over medium high heat, but don’t let the oil smoke. You can tell it’s hot enough when a drop of the marinade sizzles immediately in the pan. Add the fish fillets and cook for 5-7 minutes total, turning once in the middle of cooking to get a nice crust on both sides. If your fillets are quite thick, you’ll have to cook a few minutes longer.

This fish does fantastically well with a simple bowl of fish sauce spiked with fresh chopped chilies. If you can find one or two of those little Thai Bird chilies (about an inch long), slice them thin and toss em a third of a cup of fish sauce. Dried red chilies will suffice if that is what’s on hand.

Serve with a squeeze of lime and say g’night.

I chose to serve salt & pepper broccoli as a side dish.

SESAME-CRUSTED COD w ASIAN VINAIGRETTE

There I was again with some Cod in the fridge and no particular plan for cooking it. Luckily, there are so many options for cod! Other than being very inexpensive, you can cook cod 15 different ways (don’t quote me), you can give it any flavors you can think of and it never takes long to cook. Searing this cod with the sesame coating gives it such a nice crisp, flavorful crust with only one ingredient.

This Asian vinaigrette is easy enough to make with one hand while on the phone, but maybe not without spilling vinegar on the floor and hanging up the phone. Whoops. I mean, that didn’t happen to me. Hey, look over there!

Also, I apologize for the lack of breathtaking photos in this post. I actually didn’t think this was going to be blog-worthy, but it turned out to be absolutely delicious! And again, it only took about 15 minutes, start to finish.

Sesame-Crusted Cod w Asian Vinaigrette

Serves 2

2 tbsps canola oil, divided
2 7 oz pieces cod
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 green onion, minced
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
2 tbsps cilantro leaves, minced
salt & pepper
1/2 c sesame seeds
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp ginger, grated

In a small bowl combine ginger, rice wine vinegar, green onion, sesame oil, garlic, soy, cilantro, 1 tbsp of canola oil and whisk together. Season the cod with salt & pepper and coat liberally with sesame seeds on both sides. In a saute pan, over medium-high heat add in the remaining tbsp oil. When oil is hot, add cod and sear for approximately 4 min, or until sesame seeds brown. Turn & sear on other side for 4 more min. The time will of course depend on how thick your pieces of cod are. I got inch thick pieces and 4 minutes per side was perfect.

Spoon vinaigrette on serving plate and place cod on top.

SAUCY CODFISH TACOS

I don’t have a story behind these fish tacos, I just love the flavors in them. And who’s not in to deconstructed meals that you have to piece together yourself? Seriously, who? Give me their name. I won’t say I got it from you. It’s a great family-style meal to serve, and if you have kids for some reason, this will get them in to eating some fish!

It’s always so much more rewarding when you have to work to eat your food. Work up a bit of a sweat; kick your salivary glands in to overdrive as you agonize about how much of each ingredient to pile in to that taco shell. How much can you pile in to that shell?? Oh, wait! Do I even want to fill it as much as I can? Maybe I want to have four smaller tacos instead of two huge tacos.

When I made this, I actually wanted to use Mahi Mahi, but there was none left at the fish counter. On top of that, the cod was super cheap. Really, any flaky white fish will do, but Cod is generally the easiest on the wallet.

I served this with a Peach Radish Salsa.

Cod Fish Tacos

1 lb flaky white fish (mahi mahi, cod)
¼ cup vegetable oil
Juice of 1 lime
1 bunch of cilantro, divided
1 tbsp chili powder
1 Serrano chili
Flour tortillas
Shredded white cabbage
Thinly sliced red onion

Saucy’s Mayonnaise (adapted from Tyler Florence)

1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 chipotles in adobo, plus 1 tablespoon of adobo sauce
1 tbsp lemon juice
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Place fish in a medium size dish. Whisk together the oil, lime juice, cilantro, chili powder and Serrano and pour over the fish. Let marinate for 15 to 20 minutes.

I used a cast iron pan to cook this fish cause I didn’t feel like going up to the roof to use the BBQ. Both would work great, but you might lose some of the flaky fish in the BBQ unless you have a fine grill. And skills. Heat the cast iron pan on medium-high until just barely smoking. Remove the fish from the marinade and get it in the pan. Sear the fish for 4 minutes on the first side and then flip for 30 seconds and remove. Let rest for 5 minutes then flake the fish with a fork.

Prepare the Mayo:

Put the chipotles in a blender and puree until smooth. Add the sour cream, mayonnaise, adobo sauce and lemon juice and continue to process until the mixture is creamy & saucy. Season with salt and pepper and refrigerate until ready to use.

Warm the tortillas in the pan for 20 seconds, or better yet, over an open flame (I use my gas stove).

I like setting up the tacos “family-style”. Assemble the fish in a pile on a plate, hanging out with the pink chile mayonnaise and peach-radish salsa. Arrange a pile of shredded cabbage, cilantro leaves, chopped red onion and lime wedges next to the fish.

Go to town!