Pan Seared Fish with Lemon Caper Sauce

The local store today have this wonderfully vibrant parrot fish, with its glistening blue skin and thick meaty steaks. I've only ever seen this bounding in and out of coral reefs on Discovery, so was curious about how it would taste. Like other reef fishes, like the Dotted Cod, it is a firm white fish but with a much deeper flavour. It also helps that this fish is neither commercially exploited nor farmed, so its flavour matures naturally. Since I was trying it for the first time, I decided to season it sparingly, and just pan-searing it, then deglazing the pan to create a lemon caper sauce. As the fish was a mature 2 footer, the thick skin-on that I got out of it had few bones, that a simple tug dislodged. Along with the fish, I served plain rice to mop up the sauce. 

Also, for that yummy crispy skin, I used a non-stick steel pan and a rice bran oil, to get the temperature up to high. Any other oil with a high smoke point can be used, like canola or refined safflower. 

Ingredients

Fish

• 2 skin-on parrot fish filets, or any other white fish.
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp pepper
• 2 tbsp rice bran oil
• 2 tbsp butter

Lemon Caper sauce

• Juice of half a lime
• 8-10 pickled capers, whole
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp pepper
• 2 cilantro stalks, chopped
• Rice to serve

Method

1. Salt the fish filets liberally on both sides, and rub the salt into the flesh. If you're using thick steaks there's no need to score the skin, but for thin filets, lightly score the skin. Sprinkle the pepper on the flesh side.
2. Leave aside for 10 minutes at room temperature. 
3. Heat the oil in a steel pan on high heat. If the oil starts smoking, take it off the heat and let it cool slightly. Then put it back on high heat and immediately add the fish filets skin side down. Jiggle the pan when the fish hits the oil to dislodge it slightly, as it keeps it from sticking. Cook uncovered on high heat for a minute, and don't move the fish around. 
4. Add the butter and lower the heat to mid-high for a thin filet and medium for a thick filet (thicker than an inch).
5. Melt the butter and pour over the fish. Keep basting it till the butter soaks into the fish.
6. Cook covered for a minute, until the fish is cooked 2/3 of the way. Using a sharp firm spatula, drive it under the fish and gently flip it over. A bit of the skin may stick, but most of it should come away easily.
7. Baste again with the cooking liquour and cook on medium-high or medium (on the basis of filet thickness) until the fish is completely cooked.
8. Place on a plate with the skin-side up to show off the golden brown skin.
9. Raise the heat and cdd the garlic and capers to the butter-oil mixture in the pan. Crispen the garlic and capers slightly and deglaze with the wine. Stir vigourously to dislodge the bits stuck to the pan and cook until the wine reduces to half.
10. Add the remaining butter to the pan and melt it to create an thin emulsion. Take off the heat and add the lemon juice, pepper and cilantro. Avoid cooking the lemon juice as it makes it bitter.
11. Pour over the fish and serve immediately with rice. Fish with its delicate texture does really need any resting time.

Oven-roasted Crab with Herb Butter

I love the salty and sweet flesh of fresh blue crabs, especially when served with a herb butter sauce as it accentuates the sweetness of the flesh. Its a little work to get through to the flesh, as blue crabs are typically much smaller than Dungeness or mud crabs, but its well worth it. Ive served this up with some herb fougasse, to soak up the butter sauce, but any sourdough or a dense bread will do. I've also used cleaned and cut crabs, as I prefer to let my fishmonger handle the nasty business of cutting through the top shell and removing the gills and tomalley. The herb fougasse recipe can be found at: Herb Fougasse.

Ingredients

• 2 blue crabs, cleaned and split down the middle
• 3 tbsp herb butter (with garlic, coriander, basil and pepper)
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp paprika
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Add the paprika and a little salt to the crab pieces. Crack the claws and toss it around to have the rub coat the crab evenly. Set aside for an hour.
2. Melt the herb butter in a pan on low-medium heat, and add the garlic. Fry lightly to release its aroma, but be careful as to not brown the butter.
3. Add the crab pieces, lower the heat and toss it around so that the butter evenly coats the crab pieces. Add a little salt and pepper to taste; watch the salt though as the crab and butter have a little salt in them.
4. Place in an oven-proof dish, and place in a preheated oven at 240 degrees C/gas mark 8 for 15 minutes.
5. Add a dash of lime and serve the crab with the butter sauce dribbled over.

Butter Garlic Prawns

There's this place that recently opened up in Bangalore, Mahesh Lunch Home, which makes a fantastic Crab in Butter-Garlic. Its rich and buttery, and perfectly complements the sweetness of the crab. I've been meaning to make this for quite some time, but never could find crabs at the local store, so I substituted them with prawns. The texture may differ, but it has that sweetness that works wonderfully with the crisp garlic. I've also added some red chili flakes and pepper to add specks of heat to cut through the sweetness. Its great with some lightly salted rice.

Ingredients

• 10-12 medium prawns, shelled and deveined
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 4-5 peppercorns, ground
• 1 dried red chili with flakes, finely chopped
• 1 tsp red chili powder
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt to taste

Method

1. Add the red chili and some salt to the prawns, and rub it into the prawns. Set aside to marinate for 30 minutes.
2. Heat the oil in a pan, and add the butter.
3. Let the butter foam and add the garlic.
4. Once the garlic releases its aroma, add the pepper and chopped red chili. 
5. Stir around once and add the prawns and salt to taste.
6. Cook the prawns till they turn a light pink and take off the heat.
7. Let the prawns rest for 5 minutes in the pan, then remove and place it on a bed of rice.
8. Pour the butter-garlic sauce over the rice. Add a dash of lime and tuck in.