Friday, August 14, 2009

fish with sweet chili butter sauce and side salad

I bought some fish at the commissary the other day. It was written in German so I didn't know exactly what I was buying. Googling the label, I think it's a catfish, but my 2 minute research was inconclusive. Anyway, you could probably use any firm white flesh fish; cod, tilapia, or halibut.

I made a "beurre blanc" with sweet chili sauce*. I didn't wait for the butter to soften, so you can see it separated when I mixed in the sweet chili sauce. 1/2 a tablespoon of butter to 1 tbsp of sweet chili sauce. Season lightly with salt.


Season the fish with salt and pepper. Since the filets I had were quite thin, I let it sit for about 20 minutes. For thicker pieces of fish, you may want to season and refridgerate for a well seasoned fish. Dust the fish with "Wondra", a very fine quick-mixing flour. If you don't have the blue canister staple on hand, regular all purpose flour would do just fine. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large skillet; cook the fish for about 5 minutes on one side and 3 minutes on the other. Transfer the fish to a plate and in the same pan, saute some diced red bell peppers. Add chopped scallion right before setting the sauted vegetables aside. Turn off the heat and let the pan cool down a bit. Heat the butter mixture in the pan with the remaining heat. Top fish with vegetables and the butter sauce.


Now for the salad; chop up any ingredients you have on hand in your crisper and wouldn't mind having in a salad. I added red and yellow cherry tomatoes, red onions, and cucumbers, to some green lettuce. Season somewhat generously with salt and pepper. Squeeze in the juice of half a lime, toss and plate. While you're at it, same a few drops of lime juice for the fish too.

*Sweet Chili Sauce can be bought in an Asian market near you.