Category: Seafood

Spicy Tuna, Miso Eggplant, and Avocado Rice Bowls

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My local seafood market is theeee absolute best. They have everything local, and if they don’t have it, they’ll tell you how to get it. The last time I stopped at my the market, I picked up some pristine tuna and roe, and with eggplant in season, these rice bowls were a hit.

Ingredients:

8 cups cooked sushi rice, warmed
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1 1/4 teaspoon salt, divided, plus more to taste
7 ounces sushi-grade tuna, cut into small cubes
2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions
2 tablespoons masago (Japanese salt-cured smelt roe)
2 tablespoons Kewpie mayonnaise
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon chili crisp or chili oil
1 avocado
1 10-ounce Japanese eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3 tablespoons avocado oil
cooking spray
1/4 cup white miso

1. Prepare the rice: stir together rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1 teaspoon salt in a small bowl until salt is dissolved. Drizzle over rice; gently fold together. Set rice aside and keep warm.

2. Make the tuna: stir together tuna, green onions, masago, mayonnaise, soy sauce, lemon juice, chili crisp, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl, and set aside.

3. Peel and cut avocado into 1-inch cubes and lightly season with salt. Set aside.

4. Prepare the eggplant: preheat oven to 425F degrees. Toss together eggplant and oil in a medium bowl. Spread on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet coated in cooking spray. Bake until tender, about 20 minutes, stirring halfway through.

5. Meanwhile, place miso and sugar in a small saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until smooth, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; gently stir in roasted eggplant.

6. Assemble rice bowls: place 2 cups rice in each bowl and top evenly with tuna, avocado, and eggplant.

Dry-Fried Shrimp and Green Beans

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This classic shrimp and green bean stir-fry has a surprise ingredient: pickled ginger. Tossed with a healthy dose of garlic and fish sauce and served with rice, it’s hard to stop eating this easy entree.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound peeled and deveined raw large shrimp, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons avocado oil, divided
12 ounces green beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces  
1/4 teaspoon salt  
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions  
1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce  
1 1/2 tablespoons yellow pickled ginger, minced
3/4 teaspoon sugar

1. Heat a wok over high and add 1 tablespoon oil. Add beans, and sprinkle with salt; reduce heat to medium so that beans are barely sizzling. Cook, making quick scooping motions with a spatula, constantly stir-frying the beans until they just begin to blister and brown in spots and are almost tender, 3 to 6 minutes. Transfer beans to a plate.

2. Increase heat under wok to high, and swirl in remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Add garlic; cook, stir-frying constantly, until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Add chopped shrimp, and break up any clumps using a spatula; cook, stir-frying constantly, until shrimp are just cooked through, about 2 minutes. Return beans to wok, and add green onions, fish sauce, pickled ginger, and sugar; cook, stir-frying constantly, about 1 minute.

Sheet Pan Potato Hash

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This is one of those perfectly versatile dishes that serves as breakfast, brunch, lunch, or even dinner. I mean, it’s crispy potatoes loaded with all the salty-savory fixings, so what’s not to love? Put an egg on it and voila, you have the perfect one-plate meal.

Sheet pan potato hash

Ingredients:

2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes (about 4), scrubbed, very thinly sliced
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt
4 eggs
8 ounces hot-smoked salmon or other fish
1/2 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
Trout or salmon roe, chopped dill, and thinly sliced red onion, for serving

1. Preheat oven to 425F degrees. Toss potatoes in a large bowl with 1/4 cup oil. Season generously with salt.

2. Transfer potatoes to a rimmed baking sheet and spread out into an even layer (it’s okay if they overlap as long as they’re even). Roast, undisturbed, until browned and very crisp, about 45 minutes.

3. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high. Crack eggs into pan and fry until set, about 3 minutes.

4. Divide potatoes among plates and top each with an egg, smoked fish, and creme fraiche. Spoon roe over and scatter dill and onion on top.

Persian Gulf-Style Fish Kotlet (Kotlet-e Mahi)

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I grew up with the standard beef or lamb and potato kotlet, which is popular throughout Iran and has Russian origins (Iran long shared a border with the USSR). But I wonder about the origins of these fish kotlets. They’re more like Sri Lankan fish cutlets: spicy, crispy, and pillowy in the middle. Between fish kotlets, sambouseh, and dal adas in the Persian Gulf region, these dishes point to a South Asian culinary exchange. And that’s what I love about Iranian food: there are influences from our neighbors in so many of our meals.

Make sure to seek out the date molasses, as it’s a key ingredient in the sweet and sour glaze that adorns these kotlets. Date molasses can be found at most Middle Eastern grocers.

Persian Gulf-style fish kotlet

Ingredients:

1 potato, boiled, peeled, and cut into quarters
1 pound boneless, skinless fish fillets (such as tuna, salmon, or catfish), cut into small pieces
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 serrano pepper, chopped
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
4 green onions, chopped
3/4 cup cilantro, chopped
2 teaspoons dried fenugreek
2 tablespoons chickpea flour
2 eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons tamarind dissolved in 2 tablespoons warm water, strained through a fine-mesh sieve
1/2 cup date molasses
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1. In a food processor, pulse the potato until grainy. Transfer to a mixing bowl.

2. Place the fish, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, black pepper, serrano pepper, turmeric, cumin, baking powder, green onions, cilantro, fenugreek, and chickpea flour in the food processor and pulse until the mixture is combined. Transfer the mixture to the mixing bowl with the potatoes, add the eggs, and mix well. Cover and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes and up to 8 hours.

3. Scoop up the fish mixture with a spoon and using oiled hands, mold 12 walnut-sized balls. Gently flatten each ball into patties.

4. In a wide skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat until hot. Fry the patties on both sides until golden brown, about 5 to 7 minutes for each side.

5. In the meantime, make the glaze: in a small saucepan, combine the tamarind paste, date molasses, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and cinnamon. Stir well and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Set aside until ready to serve.

6. To serve, arrange patties on a serving platter and drizzle with the glaze. Serve with flatbread or lettuce leaves and a platter of sabzi khordan to make wraps. I also like to serve these with South Indian-style Meyer lemon pickles.

Crispy Cod with Miso Vinaigrette

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Who knew that corn, miso, and fish would pair so well together? I use cod in this east-meets-west entree, but you can use halibut too — any firm, flaky white fish will do just fine. I love the crunchy, crispy, creamy melange of textures in this one-dish meal. Don’t be put off by the long ingredient list; this dish may take a while but the technique is straightforward.

Crispy cod with miso vinaigrette

Ingredients:

For the ginger-green onion oil:

2 tablespoons minced green onion
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1/4 cup vegetable oil

For the vinaigrette:

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons chicken stock
2 teaspoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon white miso
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 cup water, or as needed

1 pound cod or halibut fillets
Salt
Pepper
3/4 cup panko
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons butter
1 cup shiitake mushrooms, trimmed and sliced
1 cup corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
2 green onions, trimmed and julienned into thin strips 2 inches long
2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds

1. Make the seasoned oil: Heat a small skillet over high heat until just hot. Add the vegetable oil and heat just until it begins to smoke. Carefully add the green onion and ginger to the oil. Remove from heat and let cool.

2. Make the vinaigrette: Whisk the olive oil, rice vinegar, chicken stock, mayonnaise, miso, sugar, peanut butter, mustard, and sesame oil in a medium bowl until smooth. Whisk in enough water to attain a syrup-like consistency.

3. Season the cod fillets with salt and pepper. Drizzle enough of the ginger-green onion oil onto the fillets to coat both sides. Pat the bread crumbs onto both sides of the fish.

4. Heat a saute pan over medium-high heat until hot. Heat the 1/4 cup vegetable oil and place the fillets in the pan. Cook, turning once, making sure the bread crumbs do not burn, until both sides are golden and the cod is cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Remove and place on paper towels to drain. Pour the oil out of the pan.

5. Add the butter to the pan and melt over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and saute until tender, about 4 minutes. Add the corn and saute for another 3 minutes. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper to taste.

6. To serve, spoon the vinaigrette onto a serving platter. Make a well in the center of the vinaigrette. Spoon the mushroom and corn mixture onto the well. Set the cod fillets on top. Scatter the green onion strips and sesame seeds over the fillets. Drizzle a small amount of the seasoned oil over the fillets and serve.