SERVES 4 AS A MAIN COURSE
Coho salmon is a small, often farmed salmon with finely textured pink meat and a delicate flavor. The individual butterflied fish makes a very pretty presentation, and the nuances given the dish by wine, lime, and ginger are memorable. If Coho salmon are not available, try substituting any small and delicate, very fresh fish, such as East Coast flounder or local trout.
This dish is simply done in under a half hour.
SAUCE:
1 cup China Moon Fish Fumet (page 79) or China Moon Infusion (page 72)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon good-tasting plum wine
½ teaspoon Serrano-Lemongrass Vinegar (page 19) or unseasoned Japanese rice vinegar
Like most Chinese and Japanese bottled condiments, plum wine varies hugely from brand to brand. It can taste variously like cough syrup or an elixir for the gods. We use a made-in-Taiwan garden-variety that comes in a square clear bottle with a red plum flower stamped on its metal cap. If you cannot find it or one that tastes truly fine on your tongue, opt for a very good sweet sherry. The flavor will be different, but the results will be good.
4 fresh Coho salmon (8 to 10 ounces each), heads off if custom dictates
1 teaspoon Roasted Szechwan Pepper-Salt (page 5)
½ cup water chestnut starch
½ cup corn or peanut oil, for pan-frying
¼ cup very fine red bell pepper julienne
4 thin lime wedges
¼ cup green and white scallion julienne
¼ cup Fried Ginger Threads (page 29)
In Chinese culture, a fish without a head is like a body without a brain. The uncooked fish head tells the prospective buyer that its eye is clear, its gill is red, and hence it is fresh. The cooked fish head—placed facing the guest of honor—is the home of the sweet cheeks and prized lips sung about in every traditional treatise on Chinese cooking. Only a boor and a simpleton would whack off the head of a fish, or so think the Chinese.
1. Combine all of the sauce ingredients through the vinegar in a small bowl, leaving the spoon in the bowl.
2. Just before pan-frying, sprinkle both sides of each fish evenly with ¼ teaspoon of the pepper-salt. Then immediately coat both sides well in the water chestnut starch, lightly shaking off the excess.
3. Heat a large heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot enough to evaporate a bead of water on contact. Add the oil and swirl to glaze the pan. When hot enough to foam a bit of water chestnut starch, add the fish, flesh side down, and cook until lightly golden, about 2 minutes. (A 10-inch skillet will hold 2 fish.) Carefully turn and cook the skin side for 1 minute longer. Transfer the fish to a heated plate or platter and keep warm in a low oven while frying the remaining fish and making the sauce.
4. Wipe the skillet clean with paper towels. Stir the sauce to recombine and add to the pan. Bring to a near boil over moderate heat, then remove the pan from the heat and add the red bell pepper julienne. Transfer the fish to heated serving plates of contrasting color. Squeeze a lime wedge over each fish, then pour a portion of the sauce on top. Garnish with a sprinkling of scallion julienne and a scattering of Fried Ginger Threads and serve at once.
MENU SUGGESTIONS: In a Chinese mood, I would pair the fish with our Dinner Fried Rice (page 416) and a simply cooked green. If Marco Polo were my inspiration, I might instead choose risotto with a bit of shellfish or wild mushrooms.
