Mandarin Ginger Glazed Mahi Mahi

I almost always keep a bag of mahi mahi filets in the freezer, because, well, you can't get fresh Mahi Mahi unless you live in Hawaii, I'm pretty sure.  And I do really like it.  Since I didn't feel like going out to grill this, I made a pan-fried dish, with an Asian-inspired truly off-the-cuff marinade.

Lemon-Dill Beurre Blanc over pan-fried mahi-mahi and brown rice

I have never made a Beurre Blanc before. I’ve eaten it, admired it, and always thought to myself that it can’t be as easy as a gravy (and I make many other kinds of gravy and sauce, among them my favorite chantarelle mushroom gravy which is WAY GOOD) but alas, I found that a beurre blanc is quite a cinch.


And since I still had mahi mahi in the freezer which I used in last week’s Thai-dish, I wanted to do something a little more traditional. Plus I had organic snap peas, and dill in the fridge, which just calls for traditional seasonings.

So online I went to find a recipe, and this Beurre Blanc video tutorial by Billy Parisi was most helpful. I would suggest you watch it, even if only for the cute Italian chef making it!  (Now, now, I’m happily married so it wasn’t like that.)

I’m no authority on sauce so he is definitely a guy to take a cue from. Now then, here is my variation on his sauce (since I didn’t have shallots, and added the dill.)

LEMON DILL BEURRE BLANC INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS:

Approximately 2 tbsp finely chopped white onion
2 tbsp olive oil

Sauté the onion until caramelized, and then add in:

1/4 cup white dry wine
3 tbsp or so of lemon juice

Keep simmering that until it’s “a glace” or the liquid is almost gone. At that point, add a pinch of salt and WHITE pepper (so as not to discolor the sauce) and take it off the heat, and stir in 4 tbsp of COLD butter and 2 tbsp fresh dill. Serve immediately.

Since the timing is so critical on a beurre blanc (maybe I just like to TYPE beurre blanc, because I can pronounce it all French-y in my head at the same time, and feel cultured) I want to emphasize that I started my brown rice about forty minutes earlier so that it would finish cooking, and while I was caramelizing my onions and deglacing the pan of sauce, I was pan-frying my mahi-mahi. You could use just about any mild, non-oily fish. I suspect it would be great with Sole, or trout, too. The sauce is so buttery, you just would be better off with a non-rich fish.

FRYING THE FISH—I just heated my trusty cast-iron skillet to quite hot, and seared each side until browned, and then turned the heat down a little to finish cooking the fish throughout.  If you like your Mahi Mahi rare in the middle, don't exceed 2 minutes per side.

I also served it with steamed snap-peas, which was a good match, although now in hindsight, I think asparagus would have been a better pairing.

Thai inspired Mahi Mahi

I had mahi mahi in the freezer, and a variety of other Thai-ish ingredients like cilantro and coconut milk, so I thought to myself that there must be some good way to incorporate them all into a beautiful dish. I did find this recipe on Bon Appetite, Grilled Mahi Mahi with Thai Coconut Sauce , and decided it was a good base, but since I would never BUY clam juice, uh hello.... juice from a CLAM? Yuck!... I thought I'd make some tweaks and use what I had, plus added some veggies. This is what I came up with.

INGREDIENTS:

4 mahi mahi Fillets (fresh or frozen / defrosted)

2 cups uncooked sticky rice
1 can coconut milk
2-3 tbsp Thai Fish Sauce
1 bell pepper
1/2 yellow onion OR 6-8 green onions
2-3 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp fresh grated or powdered ginger
1 lime, juiced
1 bag or 1 can of Asian bean sprouts
1 cup fresh cilantro
1-2 tsp crushed red pepper

DIRECTIONS: Let’s start at the very beginning… a very good place to start.


So take the four Mahi-Mahi fillets and season them on both sides with some salt, a couple of squirts of lime juice and crushed red pepper, and set aside for now.

Make the rice in the meantime, by rinsing two cups uncooked sticky rice in a mesh sieve until water is fairly clear, and then follow directions on the package, but substitute 1 cup of the total amount of water with coconut milk, add about 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper.

Meanwhile, back at the Bat Cave...There's some sauce happening...

Slice up approximately 6-8 green onions
Mince 2-3 cloves of garlic
Julienne one bell pepper (color is better if it is red or orange or yellow-- green would be too bitter in this.)
And sauté all that in a skillet...
When the peppers start to get soft, add a cup of coconut milk (one can of coconut milk yields enough for the rice and enough for the sauce) and 2-3 tbsp Thai Fish Sauce, 2 tbsp lime juice, 1/4 tsp grated ginger and 1/4 - 1/2 tsp crushed red peppers

Now, fire up your grill on high, and when it reaches about 350 degrees, put your fish on there and flip when each side has nice blackened grill marks on it... Grill about 2-3 minutes on each side...

At last minute or two, while fish is grilling, put about a cup of fresh chopped cilantro and 1 bag or can of Asian bean sprouts into the sauce. . . Serve together in a bowl with grilled fish and rice.

And yummmm.