Ultimate Cook Book_ 900 New Recipes, Thousands of Ideas - Bruce Weinstein [222]
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Asian-Inspired Fish Steaks with Ginger Butter
Marinate the fish steaks first with ginger, soy sauce, and a few other Asian ingredients; once they are cooked, top them with this spicy butter. Makes 4 servings
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, cut into several pieces, at room temperature
2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
2 tablespoons minced chives or the green part of a scallion
Four 6-to 8-ounce marlin, tuna, mahimahi, swordfish, halibut, opah, or salmon steaks, about 1 inch thick
2 tablespoons Shaoxing or dry sherry
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon canola oil
Use a fork to mash the butter, ginger, and chives or scallion in a small bowl until the herbs are well mixed into the softening butter. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.
Place the fish steaks in a baking dish just large enough to hold them compactly without overlapping. Whisk the Shaoxing or sherry, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sugar in a small bowl until the sugar dissolves. Pour over the steaks; turn to coat. Cover and refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours.
Heat a large grill pan or skillet over medium-high heat (see Note). Add the canola oil, tilt the skillet to coat, and slip the steaks into the pan. Shake the pan several times during the first 30 seconds of cooking to make sure they don’t stick. Cook until lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip and continue cooking until somewhat firm to the touch and lightly browned, 3 to 4 more minutes.
Transfer the steaks to four individual serving plates or a serving platter. Top each with a quarter of the butter mixture (about 1½ tablespoons per steak).
Note: If the steaks won’t fit in one skillet, use two skillets—but double the oil, putting 1 tablespoon in each. Or work in batches in one skillet, adding another tablespoon of oil after you remove the first batch of steaks.
Four More Butter Combinations for Fish Steaks
Flavored butters are wonderful on fish steaks. Keep one or two on hand in the freezer, tightly wrapped in plastic, for 2 months so they’re ready for fish steaks. Omit the Asian marinade above in step 2 and simply pan-sear the steaks, using the technique in step 3. Substitute any of these compound butters for the ginger butter.
1. Lemon Parsley Butter
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, cut into several pieces
2 tablespoons minced parsley leaves
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2. Mushroom Butter
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, cut into several pieces
¼ ounce dried porcini, shiitake, chanterelle, or morel mushrooms, toasted in a dry skillet over medium heat, then ground to a fine powder in a mini-food processor
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3. Walnut Butter
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, cut into several pieces
¼ cup toasted walnut pieces, ground to a powder in a mini-food processor
4. Wasabi Butter
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, cut into several pieces
2 teaspoons prepared wasabi paste
Pepper-Crusted Fish Steaks with Sweet-and-Sour Barbecue Glaze
Peppercorns lose their zing over time; make sure yours are fresh, within six months of purchase. Makes 4 servings
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
Four 6-to 8-ounce marlin, tuna, mahimahi, swordfish, halibut, opah, or salmon steaks, about 1 inch thick
Canola oil for the grill grate or the grill pan
Sweet-and-Sour Barbecue Glaze (recipe follows)
Crush the peppercorns to a fairly fine powder in a mortar using a pestle, or in a sealed plastic bag using the bottom of a heavy saucepan or the smooth side of a meat mallet. Press the peppercorns into the fish steaks; set aside.
Preheat a gas grill for high-heat cooking or prepare a high-heat well-ashed coal bed in a charcoal grill. Alternatively, heat a grill pan over medium-high heat.
Generously oil the grill grate and set it 4 to 6 inches over the heat, or swirl a little