Of Barbecue Fish and encounters with seafood
After a few weeks of simple but traditional recipes, it is time to tap into Ayah’s eclectic kitchen for something slightly different – lightly seared fillets of fish with potatoes and onions in a smoky, sweet, tangy mustard-barbecue sauce, which Ayah simply called Barbecue Fish. Many years ago, Ayah came across this recipe, or rather a version of it, in a cookbook called “East of West, Home Food is the Best” written by Seetha Muthiah, a veteran cookbook author, one of the first to document recipes from the modern Chettiar home. The recipe was an instant hit with Aiyah and the darling daughters and remained a party favourite with the extended family. Unfortunately, our copy of the book is missing, and it is, sadly, out of print. So I’ve had to rely on memory to recreate the recipe, which I believe is true to Ayah’s version.
As I give the apprentice rather specific instructions to cut the fish, I’m assailed with memories (and the smells) of visits with Ayah to the fish markets of Madras, usually the Beach Market by the Marina beach, where the freshest fish in the city was to be found, but on occasion at the markets in Saidapet too. While Vanjaram (Seer fish / King fish / Spanish Mackerel) in various cuts was the regular buy, Ayah’s basket was often filled with other goodies – the glistening kelangan (whiting / ladyfish) and the baby nethili (smelt / anchovies) to be fried, the black pomfret to be steamed whole, the freshest of prawns for a stir fry, live crabs with their evil pincers for a curry, and more. A visit to the bustling markets, of course, meant some intense haggling over prices, a game of wits between the fishmongers and the Achi, where both parties ended up on the winning side. Fun for the casual bystander, but not so for youngsters who would rather be at home reading than suffering the smells of the market! At the end of this rather entertaining show, the fishmonger deigned to cut the fish to the exacting instructions of the lady. Back home with her bounty, the week’s buy of fish would be cleaned, washed and smeared with turmeric and thrown into the freezer ready to be made into cutlets or masala fried fish or something more exotic like this barbecue fish or a fish pie or a stew.
While on the topic of seafood shopping, Ayah’s last encounter with crabs and their evil pincers — one that had us in splits — is worth recounting. It was on a visit to Singapore that this darling daughter decided to coerce Ayah into cooking her famous crab curry. And so, late one evening, off went Ayah and her comrade-in-arms, my mother-in-law, to one of the largest 24-hour supermarkets in the country. Now, Ayah, a queen in her own country, was used to personalized service at the Madras markets where she only had to command and would walk away with the choicest of crabs, claws neatly tied, ready to be carted back and dunked straight into the boiling pot. Well, both ladies were in for a rather rude surprise at the self-service supermarket – the attenders at the shop, in no uncertain terms, told the ladies that they were to select their crabs from the tank which was swarming with the lil fellas, pick them up with tongs, put them into plastic bags and bring them to the counter for weighing. No amount of arguing or pleading would work on the attendant and so they resolutely tucked in their saris and a few squeals and squirms later, mission accomplished, they arrived at the car, bounty successfully in hand. But that was just the beginning.
As the two Achis arrived home, ready to immerse the lil guys in boiling water, a couple of them escaped the ties and decided to have a field day in the kitchen – the screams of b****y murder that day were enough to bring the building down and summon the knight in shining armour, my father-in-law, to the rescue!!! The crabs were then duly caught and cooked and were, of course, delicious, particularly with a serve of “the things we do for our daughters!!!” I have not eaten crab since then, and can’t recall the recipe for the curry, but the incident is etched in memory for posterity.
From memories of evil crabs back to our fish simmered in a homemade barbecue sauce. The apprentice who belongs to a family that lives by the adage “I crave some fish, but nothing that tastes fishy!” agreed to test the recipe, but only with Tilapia as that is the only fish he will eat. His slightly frustrated verdict, having been subjected to a few test iterations to balance flavours, was that it was passable for a fish dish and would have been easier if he had a proper recipe to test with! Well, hopefully the recipe has been perfected after all those iterations — do try out Ayah’s Barbecue Fish and let us know if your verdict is any different.
Notes:
1. Any firm white fish can be used for this recipe. Options are seerfish (also known as kingfish or spanish mackerel), tilapia, dory or your own favourite fish. Whatever fish you use, make sure the pieces are cut evenly in size and thickness - it not, they will cook unevenly and break.
2. I use Maggie chilli garlic sauce - you can use any ketchup based sauce with a hint of spice - just make sure the sauce is not too sweet. Your Asian grocery store should have a variety.
3. This recipe calls for a fair amount of mustard. If you don't like the pungency and slight bitterness of the mustard, feel free to halve the amount used. If you do, propotionately reduce the amount of vinegar used as well.
4. Worcestershire sauce is not a common ingredient in the Indian pantry. If you'd like a substitute, there are a variety of options available if you search the internet, most revolving around soy sauce as the main ingredient. I have personally not tried any of them and cannot recommend a substitute, but if you do find a workable option, please let us know.
5. Vegetarians can substitute the fish with slices of tofu - this works really well.
Ingredients:
300 gm white fish boneless fillets (seer / kingfish / tilapia)
1 large onion, peeled and sliced into ¼” thick roundels and separated into rings
1 large potato, peeled and sliced into ¼” thick roundels
2 tablespoons salted butter
1 tablespoon cooking oil
Marination for the fish:
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon ginger paste
½ teaspoon salt
For the sauce:
2 tablespoon mustard seeds (kadugu / rai)
3 tablespoons white vinegar
¼ cup Maggi chilli garlic sauce or equivalent
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Salt to taste (~1.5 tsp)
Pepper to taste (~1.5 tsp)
1 tablespoon sugar
Optional: 1 tablespoon water
Garnish: wedge of lemon
Method:
1. Cut the fish into 1 ½” pieces of even thickness, about 1/2 inch, or get your fishmonger to cut it for you. Wash and dry the fish and marinate with turmeric, ginger and salt for at least an hour.
300 gm white fish boneless fillets (seer / kingfish / tilapia)
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon ginger paste
½ teaspoon salt
2. While the fish is marinating, peel and slice the onions and potatoes.
1 large onion, peeled and sliced into ¼” thick roundels and separated into rings
1 large potato, peeled and sliced into ¼” thick roundels
3. Parboil the potatoes:
Place the potatoes in a pot and cook in lightly salted water. The water should just cover the potatoes.
Partially cover the pot with a lid, and then turn the stove on high heat.
Once the water starts to boil, reduce the heat slightly to keep it from boiling over (or just remove the lid), and continue boiling for about 3-5 minutes
Test your potatoes with a fork or the tip of a sharp knife – it should go in, but with a slight resistance.
Remove from the heat and drain the potatoes.
Note: Alternatively, parboil a whole potato in a pot or a pressure cooker (2 whistles), peel and slice. If you used this method, remember to salt the potatoes before pan frying them.
4. Soak the mustard seeds in the vinegar for at least 15 minutes, then grind into a coarse paste using a mortar and a pestle (or a blender). You could save yourself some time by using store bought wholegrain mustard.
2 tablespoon mustard seeds (kadugu / rai)
3 tablespoons white vinegar
5. Once the mustard is ground, mix in a bowl with the other ingredients listed for the sauce and set aside.
¼ cup Maggi chilli garlic sauce or equivalent
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Salt to taste (~1.5 tsp)
Pepper to taste (~1.5 tsp)
1 tablespoon sugar
6. Heat a shallow frying pan. Add the butter and oil. Once the butter melts, add the fish in a single layer, taking care not to overcrowd. Fry for about a minute or two, until golden brown on once side, turn over and cook till golden brown on the other side. Do not overcook. Once golden, remove from the pan, line a plate with paper and drain the fish. Set aside. If you have to fry the fish in two lots to avoid overcrowding, then do so. If you overcrowd, the fish will stew rather than fry.
2 tablespoons salted butter
1 tablespoon cooking oil
7. In the same pan, add the parboiled potatoes in a single layer (add more butter / oil if required). Fry until golden brown on one side then turn over and fry till golden brown on the other side. If you find the potato slices too large, feel free to cut them in half. Remove the potatoes and set aside.
8. In the same pan, add the onion rings, salt and pepper. Sauté until translucent. Add back the fish and the potatoes. Pour the sauce over and stir carefully until mixed through and all the fish / onions and potatoes are coated. Make sure the fish doesn’t break. Add about a tablespoon of water if the sauce is too thick.
Optional: 1 tablespoon water
9. Serve hot with some crusty bread and wedges of lemon.
Serves: 4 people
Apprentice Rating: Medium
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