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Author:
Franco Salzillo
Adding fish and seafood to your diet more often might be the single best decision you can take. For starters, fish is an excellent source of high-quality protein and other healthy stuff like Omega-3s, great for your heart’s health.
Of course, eating fish is more than a healthy choice, it is delicious! Fish is also super easy to cook. Now, you know what they say, there are plenty of fish in the sea, so which to choose?
Today we’re cooking belt fish; this long, silver-skinned fish is a great choice because its white flesh is tasty, but also because it’s a sustainable choice. Cooking belt fish is super easy too, and quite versatile.
Read on and see how I cook mine Asian style. First, we have some ginger and garlic; these aromatics will liven the dish beautifully; we’re also using a combo of soy sauce and brown sugar that will end up in a sticky glaze that’s finger-lickin’ good.
As for the fish? We’ll pan fry these bad boys with the ginger and garlic. They’re ready in five minutes tops. Then we’re making a pan sauce by adding the remaining ingredients into the still-hot skillet to make the most out of those delicious garlicky flavors.
You’ll end up with a very flavorful dish that doesn’t steal the spotlight from the star of the show: the belt fish. The sweet and tangy sauce is more of a supporting actor, and it does its job very well.
Watch out for those spines!
Yes, belt fish is cheap and delicious, but you can’t have it all; it can be quite spiny. If you’re kind to your fishmonger, he’ll cut your fish and remove the spines for you. If you’re not, you must do it yourself. It’s not as challenging as it sounds, and you get better with practice relatively fast; make sure you leave no spines on the fish, not that it’s critical, but it’s nicer that way. Let’s get started!
Clean the belt fish from spines or source it already clean, cut in large chunks.
In a ramekin, combine the soy sauce and the sugar, reserve.
Mince the garlic and the ginger.
Heat the canola oil in a thick-bottomed skillet and add the ginger and garlic.
Place the belt fish in the skillet, cook for three minutes skin side down, flip and cook for two more minutes.
Remove the fish and pat dry with a paper towel.
Add the soy sauce mixture into the pan while stirring, turn off the heat after one minute.
Plate the fish, bathe it with the skillet sauce and serve with white rice.
