Thursday, April 23, 2009

Filipino Fish... mmm...

The original recipe that I used came out of a Learn how to cook Filipino Homestyle Dishes book that I have at home, although I did find an almost identical recipe at Pinoy Recipe. I’m not familiar with cooking fish but I couldn’t get myself to fry this fish, so I cooked it in the oven in a cup of white wine with some salt and pepper. I really don’t know what type of fish this is as I got it from our local grocery’s store's fish monger and it was very yummy! Reminder to self next time… ask what the fish is called :)

Escabeche
(Fried Fish with Sweet and Sour Sauce)

Ingredients:
1 red snapper or grouper fish, cleaned and scaled (about 2 lbs)
½ cup plain flour mixed with ½ tsp salt, for dredging
½ cup cooking oil
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into 2” chunks
1 medium green pepper, cut into ½-inch strips
1 medium red pepper, cut into ½-inch strips
1 medium cucumber, peeled and cut into ½-inch rounds
2 boiled potatoes, quartered
Fresh coriander leaves (cilantro), to garnish

Sweet and Sour Sauce
½ cup sugar
½ tsp of salt
4 tbsp tomato ketchup
½ cup vinegar
1 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in ½ cup water

Directions:

Score the red snapper with slits all over and dredge in flour.

Heat oil in a wok and fry the fish and fry the fish about 10 minutes on one side and 7 to 8 minutes on the other side, until completely cooked and fish flesh is no longer glassy. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels. (Alternatively, I placed the fish in a glass baking dish, with all of the vegetables, seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked it in a cup of white wine & a cup of water, for 30 minutes at 375)

To make the sauce, combine sugar, vinegar, water and tomato ketchup in a saucepan. Add carrot, cook for about 5 minutes, then add peppers and cucumber. Simmer without stirring, for a further 3 minutes or until vegetables are tender yet firm. Stir in cornstarch mixture and simmer until sauce thickens. Remove from heat.

Arrange fish on a serving platter and arrange vegetables around fish. Pour sweet and sour sauce over fish.

Garnish with fresh coriander.

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