Braised Fish In Soy Sauce And Ginger

Oh my word, this was delicious!  I went to the vaults to haul out enough of the readies to afford some beautiful Western Australian barramundi (don't buy the Asian farmed stuff!).  I don't have a proper fish filleting knife, so I did my best with the knives I have.  And the kookaburras really appreciated the bits of skin with big lumps of fish clinging to them:=) 

This recipe is from Around the Table by Julia Busuttil Nishimura, an Australian cook of Maltese heritage, who is married to a Japanese chap.  She also spent time living in Italy, and speaks Italian.  Her book has a mixture of all these influences, using readily-available ingredients and simple techniques.  This dish was a winner!  

delicious broth for the fish

Serves 4:

ingredients:

120 mL/4 oz saké   see Notes

100 mL/3.4 oz dark soy sauce

3 Tbs mirin  (use biiig Tablespoons if using American spoons)

2 Tbs caster sugar

40g./1.4 oz fresh ginger, peeled and diced or shredded finely

80 mL/2.7 oz water

4 x 150g./5.3 oz skin-on, firm white fish fillets - I used barramundi but use whatever is good for you - i.e. a local, sustainable fish

To serve:

sesame oil

coriander/cilantro leaves

spring onions/scallions, finely sliced

a bit more fresh ginger, to sprinkle on top

Method:

Grab yourself a medium to large saucepan, and in go the saké, soy sauce, mirin, sugar, ginger, and water

Give it a good stir, then bring to a simmer over medium heat

Gently wiggle the fish into the saucepan, with the skin-side down

Put a piece of baking paper (or alfoil) directly (but loosely) onto the fish, and simmer for 8-9 minutes until almost opaque

Turn the fishy pieces over very gently, sans baking paper, for another 3-4 minutes till nicely cooked and to your liking

Now grab a deep serving dish (like a tureen), slip the fish into the bottom of said dish, then pour over the broth from the saucepan

On go the sesame oil, coriander leaves, spring onion, and ginger

Serve with rice and greens à la Julia, or whatever you fancy  (I used green beans)

Notes:

No saké?  Then use dry white wine, dry Sherry or Chinese rice wine 

Barramundi is also known as Asian Sea Bass or Giant Sea Perch

ingredients (partly) gathered

into the saucepan goes the broth makings

place baking paper or alfoil loosely over the fish

nearly time for dinner

ready for toppings

into the tureen

yay dinner!

the hungry kookaburra seeking fishy skin

I'm adding this photo in again, just because I love a kookaburra.  The females like to hang around our backyard, diving into the windows (and ruining the flyscreens).  They recognise me, and I am able to feed them raw meat from a fork.  They loved the barra skin with big chunks of flesh that I was not able to get off properly.  I will need to buy a proper fish knife one of these days :=) 

c. Sherry M.