Grilled Garoupa

This is variation on a previous post, steamed garoupa and i cooked it at night, thinking I wouldn't be blogging it, but it turned out so well, i really thought i must -- just to remember what i did. The photos were taken this morning, and so the fresh grilled texture of the dish, doesn't really come through -- but here is my method.
I got the garoupa at 9.45am at Fresh Fish (FF) and there were lots. It was not expensive, it usually isn't. It was a medium sized fellow, under a kilo, 600 gms fully cleaned (at FF) descaled and washed (at home). I sliced open the belly, and scored the fish, making sharp, deep cuts through out the sides, and then made a marinade. I had thai in mind, but i think a messed around enough, so that it didn't taste that familiar.

For the marinate i mixed a couple table spoons of fish sauce, 1 of soy sauce, 2 teaspoons of rice vinegar, and enough kithul treacle to balance the sourness. i needed one cube of sugar as well. Just get it delicately balanced, and of course it will be salty. I mixed these in the small attachment to the mixer/blender, and then added a whole blub of garlic, peeled, half an inch of ginger, 1 large shallot (bombay onion), and 3 green chillies. I pureed this, into a fine paste, and put the fish back into the FF sarasara (polybag) it came in, and poured the puree into the bag, mixed it well with the fish, expelled the air, and tied it tight. (Bagging is a technique i learnt from TV shows -- my, its great, the marinade really works harder, since it is pressed so close to the meat, you need less of it, and its inexpensive if you reuse a bag).

A few hours later, we were ready to roll, when the critter who lives by the bar top announced she was very hungry. Out of the bag, into the cast iron skillet with a few drops of sesame oil, and layed out the fish to simmer, while the grill heated up. High heat grilling is key to this dish, so i should say, i use the grill element (1950W) of a medium sized oven, and place the pan about 3-4 inches below the grill. Now i use a skillet that can move from stove top to oven. I can't say how valuable this is -- and i really thank the day i got it! After the pan is hot, and fish is simmering, it went under the grill for 6 mins, and again, after turning the fish, for another 3. The bottom is already warm, so it doesn't need as much time on that side. Be careful not to over cook! Once it was done, i removed the fish carefully on a plate, adding fresh diced baby leeks, and sliced green cillies to the sauce in the skillet, let it braise over high heat for a min. Not too long. Finally pouring it over the plated fish.

I thought this was better that the steamed version, even. Now in most restaurants I've tried garoupa -- its very common in east Asian places -- the options are usually steamed or deep fried. I used to prefer the steamed, because the sauce was lighter; the deep fried version is some times cloyingly sweet. But in this version i made, somehow, perhaps because of the dry high heat of the magic grill -- the delicate flavor of the fish - it is a white, well textured, soft fish - was enhanced, but not over powered by the marinade/sauce. The accents of sour (rice vinegar)/sweet(kithul)/hot (ginger & green chilli)/salt (fish & soy sauce), were like notes of music playing on my tongue. Honest. I was not even that hungry, so i think i trust my judgment.

Leeks Cumber Salad

This salad, which turned out quite nice, is for Sharni, who told me recently that she was waiting for more vegan recipes on my blog!
I enjoyed this for lunch, recently and it was really simple to make. Then I realized it may be vegan. :)
Slice a cumber (i like finger cumbers, because they look super cute, but any cumber would do) into small length wise strips, after washing, peeling and cleaning it. Dress it with a tiny bit of good sesame oil, an inch of wasabi paste, a teaspoon of sugar, a capful of vinegar (i used cider vinegar, this time), and two pinches of salt. Taste it and adjusts the balance of the flavors. The sugar brings out the heat of the wasabi beautifully, I think.

Wash and slice the leeks finely (i didn't have the end of the root in vegetable drawer, just the top part), and blanch for 2 mins. (let it sit in fresh boiled water for 2 mins). drain well, even patting drying with kitchen paper, and plate in a doughnut shape, adding drops of sesame oil and sprinkling salt over it. Spoon the cumber in the center. Sprinkle every thing with fresh black pepper.

The flavorings are subtle here, the highlights are the crunch of the leeks and smooth moisture of cumber, which have there own, lovely taste. As you bite in though, there are hints of heat (wasabi) and sweetness/tartness, blended with the nuttiness of the sesame.

I feel very virtuousness having had a vegan lunch, and I hope Sharni likes this!

Leeks Lentil Soup

Good stocks -- flavorful and thick -- are the foundation of my cooking. Not hard to make, they keep well in freezer, saving time later. I should do just a post on stocks, and guess I will, but its so simple -- its hardly worth that. Take 800 g of chicken necks, 200 g gizzards, and 200 g of wings, and pressure cook for 30 mins with 1.25 l of water. Strain and your done. Add a few crushed cloves of garlic, some black pepper and teaspoon of tomato paste if you have it handy, before you pressure cook, to up the flavor.
Or don't use a pressure cooker at all, and start with the bones of the roasted bird to really do it right. Okay, so there is a more complicated way to do every thing -- but the simple way also works. Anyway you do it, the point is get your stock going, and your all set for awhile.

I made stock yesterday, before i went out with friends in evening, and ended up having the rump of Wagyu beef! That was nice, but then in morning, after all that heavy eating and drinking it was time for soup. So I boiled a small cup of Mysore dhal, in four cups of water and then added a chopped leeks root, boiled it down a little more, and added a little less than half a cup chicken stock. Add more, as it boils down, if you have it. After about 30 mins, I pureed the whole thing, added salt, slowly, tasting each time, and then a teaspoon of sugar, and voila, it was ready. Sprinkled chille pieces on top, and dribbled cream in circles, as it lay in the bowl.

Wow it was good. Eat, sleep and repeat, with another Vegetable; this is easy and looks really cool.