Pan-fried loin of red snapper with tomato vinaigrette sauce

Ingredients:

150g red snapper or any fish fillet
100g chopped garlic
45ml oil
Salt to taste
Pinch of black pepper
30ml Worcestershire sauce
Lemon juice from half lemon
Calamari or onion rings

For the tomato vinaigrette sauce

45ml olive oil
½ onion chopped
20grms brown sugar
60ml white wine vinegar
45ml tomato ketchup
10grms tomato paste
30ml chilli sauce

Cooking Method:

Step 1. Prepare the fish and marinate in chopped garlic and oil, lemon juice, salt to taste, a pinch   of black pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Let the fish rest in marinate for at least two hours.

Step 2. Make a tomato vinaigrette sauce by adding the onion in hot olive oil, add the garlic and cook as you stir for one minute.  Add the tomato puree, a little brown sugar, chilli sauce, and vinegar and tomato ketchup. Cook in moderate heat until the paste is as thick as jam.

Step 3. Add some olive oil onto a hot pan and pan fry the fish cooking each side until you are sure it is well done and has a nice golden brown colour. Serve the fish with the sauce accompanied by vegetables of your choice like French beans and a starch of choice such as boiled sliced potatoes. Crown it with pan-fried calamari rings or flour dusted onion rings and a lemon wedge as a garnish.

Kitchen tips:

Shallow or pan frying is the method used for small whole fish, cuts or fillets that are cooked in oil or fat in a frying pan. The fish is usually coated in flour but sometimes breadcrumbs or oatmeal crumbs may be used.

When it comes to frying pans, size matters because if your pan is too small, the ingredients will crowd each other, but if the pan is too big, all those great pan juices will end up evaporating too fast and you may burn what you are cooking.

So be sure to use the right size pan for the amount of ingredients you have. Also, look for some key features in the pan such as a good heavy bottom that distributes the heat evenly, shallow with rounded sides to make food easy to toss, and an easy-to-hold handle but long enough to be comfortable to clutch. Make sure the handle isn’t slippery and is cool to the touch even when the pan is hot.

Published in May 2013