This morning he took a road trip down to Chinatown; it’s pretty easy to park in the summer, so down he went, to load up on fresh fish and produce. I love Chinatown weekends. We always eat well anyway, but on Chinatown weekends we seem to have particularly wonderful meals.
Today’s booty included thick halibut steaks – two of them. Since we really love hot and spicy food, he came up with a mouth-stinging delicious sauce to spoon over the deep-fried halibut. Photos first, then recipe after!
covered in fresh cilantro and topped with a spicy sauce containing crunchy water chestnuts and bean sprouts
Asian halibut, courtesy of my husband the chef
the wonderful interior of halibut
RECIPE
2 1-lb halibut steaks
1 egg with an equal amount of water, stirred together
all-purpose flour for dredging the halibut steaks
1/4 cup Korean barbecue sauce (do not substitute other barbecue sauces!)
2-3T vegetable oil
1-1/2 T hoisin sauce
1-1/2 c chicken or fish stock
2 t sesame oil
1/2 t hot chili oil
1 T soy sauce
1 can water chestnuts
1 bunch scallions, sliced into 1/2″ pieces
2-1/2″ piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
5 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped
1 t red pepper flakes
2/3 lb bean sprouts
2 t cornstarch, stirred into water to form a slurry
garnish: 2 T chopped fresh cilantro
First, make the sauce: Mix the liquids together in a large measuring cup (Korean barbecue sauce, hoisin sauce, chicken stock, sesame oil, chili oil, and soy sauce). Adjust seasonings to taste – you want a deep rich flavor. In a large saucepan, heat the vegetable oil. Add the garlic, ginger, scallions, water chestnuts, and red pepper flakes. Sautee them quickly at high heat. Pour in the liquids and bring to a rapid boil. Add the cornstarch slurry in a slow stream; you don’t necessarily need the whole amount, just stop when the sauce is a desirable thickness. Set it on a very low burner, to keep warm.
Prepare the fish by dipping them in the egg mixture and then dredging them in flour. You can also shake them in a paper bag with the flour; that makes a nice even coating. Heat a lot of vegetable oil in a pot deep enough to deep-fry the steaks; heat the oil until a small bit of the flour coating bubbles and pops up immediately when dropped into the oil. Carefully place the steaks into the hot oil and cook approximately 8 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oil and drain on paper towels.
While the fish is frying, put the bean sprouts in the sauce; return to high heat and cook until the bean sprouts are just barely wilting but still have crunch. Remove from heat.
Plating: Place the fried halibut steaks on plates. Spoon the sauce over them, and then sprinkle the fresh cilantro on top.
