Wednesday Night and What’s for Dinner? Roasted Korean-style Cod

This is my second try for this easy and super-tasty recipe for Korean-style Roasted Cod. It is the umami flavors from the sauce that make this dish stand out – reminds me a little of the chili-lime dipping sauce I recommended for the delicata squash, but with more depth. You can make this meal in 20 minutes flat, if you have leftover rice, so perfect for a weeknight. The only caveat is that the original recipe calls for black cod, which can be very expensive, as well as hard to find. I suggest using regular cod as a substitute, which is easy to find in the northeast of the US, or any other dense, white-flesh fish. You can check here for substitutes.
The recipe hails from Weeknight Fresh & Fast cookbook by Kristine Kidd, which I have referenced before. The cookbook has really surprised me with the number of original, flavorful recipes it contains, all fast & fresh, as it’s title claims.  Sadly, I did not get any photos of this meal as it disappeared off the plate too fast. Ha!
Korean-style Roasted Cod Ingredients
1 tablespoon Olive oil
1 large shallot, minced
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 1/2 teaspoons jalapeno pepper, minced
1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil
4 black cod fillets (I used Chilean sea bass, but you could use any dense white-fleshed fish. Black cod is very hard to find)
2 Green Onions, white and green parts, sliced
Brown or white rice (optional)
Directions

  • I recommend serving on a bed of brown or white rice. Prepare rice according to directions, or use leftover rice.
  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the shallot, ginger, and chile, and saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, and water, and simmer until the mixture is reduced to 3/4 cup (6 fl oz/ 180 ml), about 6 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the sesame oil. Set aside a small amount of the sauce for brushing.
  • Brush a small baking pan with olive oil, and place the fish, skin side down, in the pan. Brush the fish with the reserved sauce. Roast until just cooked through, about 10 minutes. Scoop rice onto plates (if using), and transfer the fish to plates, sprinkle with green onions, and serve right away, passing the remaining sauce alongside.
  Fellow blogger Sofull Sista also wrote about her affection for this recipe.

Grilled Fish at Altitude: Branzino in Montagna

Ever grilled a whole fish? Easier than you think if you have a trusty fishmonger and a hot fire. I’m visiting dear friend Alyce Henness in the Italian Alps. Alyce and her snowboarding superstar husband Luca live in a cozy, Alpine-style home with all the mod cons in the town of La Salle, which is in the region of the Valle d’Aosta. Imagine clean mountain air, soft green grass, a river roaring past and Mont Blanc in the background. One could do worse…
Not eating meat is a rarity in Italy, but actually extremely easy to do with all the readily available fresh produce, pasta and fish. Even here in the mountains, Alyce picked up a beautiful whole branzino for me at the local supermarket.

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Branzino is Italian for sea bass, and let me tell you, we are hours from the sea and this guy looks like he blew his last bubbles this morning. The branzino weighed in at a hefty pound an a quarter and thankfully Alyce had the foresight to ask the fishmonger to clean it for us. Like I said, need to have a good fishmonger, because no one wants to scale a fish in the kitchen. I stuffed the fish with sliced lemon, branches of rosemary, and some sliced garlic. Drizzled it with olive oil and some salt and pepper and it was ready to go.

Luca grilled it to perfection on the charcoal grill in their garden – about 6 or 7 minutes per side and voila.

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I removed the flesh from the bones and placed the delicate white meat on a clean plate, drizzled it with a little more olive oil, squirt of lemon and some salt and pepper. Cooked perfectly. Delicious – even Alyce and Luca, who were happily eating grilled fillet, agreed. Bravo, Luca!

And to accompany our meal, Alyce prepared yummy baked zucchini boats topped with melted parmiggiano. The recipe was passed along from Alyce’s mom Susan, in Erie, PA. Maybe Alyce could share her timely recipe as we are all overloaded with zucchini at this time of year…and to drink, we had a local, light and refreshing Muller-Thurgau with our meal.

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And as if that weren’t enough, hostess extraordinaire Alyce served homemade strawberry ice cream, made with tiny pieces of local fragole. I couldn’t get a picture because my 2 scoops were consumed too fast. Whoops.
Thank you again, Alyce and Luca!

Grilled Branzino