It might not look too pretty, since the fish fillet is fully covered in spices that have been seared and darkened. While some people might shy away from such brown looking food, however, I think it's almost 100% proven that based on my past experiences, darker food tends to be much flavorful and definitely delicious (let's not count the burnt ones in).
One extra bonus, if you have all the spices required, blackened fish is very easy to assemble, and all you have to do is to sear both sides for few minutes. Within 15 minutes, main dish is ready to serve.
Blackened fish -
Ingredients (for 2 medium thickness fillets)?
- 2 pieces/about 255 grams each swordfish (mekajiki) fillets
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Few lemon or lime wedges
- Some cilantro basmati rice (optional)
Spice mix:
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
How?
Remove the fish fillets from the fridge and let them rest under room temperature for about 10 minutes.
Mix together all the ingredients listed under the "spice mix" section to a plate. Dip and coat both sides of the fish fillets with the spice mix. If there're some spice left, try to coat the sides too.
Prepare a pan, cast iron preferably but not necessarily. Add in 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter and turn to medium heat. Once butter melts, transfer the fish over and sear till blackened on one side.
Flip and sear the other side till blackened too. Don't worry if the spices turned dark brown color, that's where the flavor is, also thus the name "blackened" fish.
Try to avoid very thick fish fillets, mine was about half inch thick. It'll be much easier to sear and fully cooked-through the meat.
Transfer the fish fillets to serving plates, also put one or two lemon or lime wedges on the side. To serve alongside the blackened fish, I made some steamed white rice and mixed in some chopped cilantro for extra refreshing aroma.
I was amazed how juicy these two fish fillets turned out. It has to do with the type of fish I selected, but I also think that the spice coating helped sealing the fat within.
Not going to lie, for sure it's my top three favorite fish recipes in 2021.
Other fish recipes:
- Oven-baked gochujang salmon fillets
- Spicy mahi mahi with Asian seasonings 麻辣鬼頭刀魚塊
- Salmon and cabbage miso stir-fry
- Pan-fried mahi mahi with Chinese basil 鹽酥鬼頭刀魚頭肉
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