By Eric Kim, The New York Times
If you live in a small space, the lure of crispy fish skin — the bacon of the sea — can lead to fishy pillow cases until laundry day. (Totally worth it.)
But a fish dinner doesn’t have to be defined by a hard sear in a pan, oil splatter all over your stovetop, kitchen counter and clothes. For nights when you want something gentler on the cook (and the fish), you can turn to this oil-poaching method, which turns out the most flavorful, tender fillets imbued with the deep savoriness of scallions.
Cooking fish at home always begins at the store. You may already know the secret to great fish for dinner is getting to know your fishmonger, who not just sells the fish but also knows when it came in and where from. Fostering this connection is the best way to establish your own relationship to cooking fish.
“A fresh fish should have an ocean-like scent, not a strong fishy odor,” said Chris Addis, an owner of Fish Tales, a seafood market in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, adding that any skin “should be glistening and moist.” For this recipe, you may lean toward cod, halibut, black sea bass, haddock, flounder, tilapia or even lemon sole. But take Addis’ advice and grab whichever looks and smells the freshest that day.
Rather than fry that fish on high once you’re home, nestle a few fillets into a pan of hot, flavored oil. Simmering sliced scallions in olive oil over gentle heat removes their moisture, crisping them and concentrating their savoriness. In turn, the oil will be tinted a vibrant Chartreuse and perfumed with a scallion aroma. At this point, you can turn off the flame. The residual heat from that oil will softly poach the fish, leaving you with the silkiest texture — low splatter, low smell and low stress.
Think of the scallion oil, called pa gireum in Korean, as both cooking medium and irresistible sauce. If you’re a scallion fiend, you could even double the scallions and oil, and reserve half before cooking the fish for future uses beyond this simple meal: say, for frying eggs or eggplants, for whisking into vinaigrettes and for roasting vegetables.
Though this method doesn’t yield crisp skin, the pile of crunchy fried scallions in the pan, eaten with the tender white fish, is a worthwhile compromise. Be sure to dip crusty bread into that glorious scallion oil, and rest easy knowing that this lovely fish will linger in your dreams, not on your pillow.
Recipe: Scallion-Oil Fish
For the most flavorful fish, gently poach the fillets in scallion oil, which is called pa gireum in Korean and is the star of this easy, foolproof preparation. Simmering scallions in olive oil over gentle heat removes moisture from the alliums, crisping them and concentrating their savoriness. In turn, the oil will be tinted green and perfumed with an umami-saturated scallion aroma like nothing else. Be sure to dip crusty bread into that glorious scallion oil to enjoy with the tender fish. This dish is great with rice, too.
By Eric Kim
Yield: 2 servings
Total time: 25 minutes
Ingredients
Coarse kosher salt
8 ounces white fish fillets, such as cod, halibut, black sea bass, haddock, flounder, tilapia and lemon sole
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced crosswise (1 heaping cup)
Flaky sea salt, for serving (optional)
Crusty bread, for serving
Preparation
1. Sprinkle a heaping 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt over the fish fillets and refrigerate, uncovered, to brine and air dry a little, about 10 minutes.
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2. Meanwhile, add the olive oil and sliced scallions to a small cold skillet and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the scallions are dark green and some are brown, anywhere from 7 to 12 minutes. Turn off the heat but keep the skillet on the burner.
3. Gently and immediately add the fish to the skillet, cutting into two or three pieces to fit as needed. Spoon some of the hot oil over the fish. Leave the fish to cook in the residual heat on the first side, 1 to 3 minutes, then flip and cover with the fried scallions and let cook on the second side until the insides are no longer translucent, 1 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle with the flaky sea salt, if using.
4. Serve the fish immediately, directly from its pan if desired, with the bread to dip into the flavorful scallion oil.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.