Recipes Red Snapper

Marinated Fried Red Snapper (serves 4 to 6)

Ingredients:
750 gr red snapper fillets skin-on
2 medium onions
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger
1 fresh green chili, seeded and chopped
1 medium ripe tomato, peeled and chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 tablespoons lime or lemon juice
60 gr chick pea flour (besan) or plain flour
4 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 teaspoon paprika
1 egg, beaten
oil for frying
1 tablespoon ghee
8 curry leaves
4 cardamom pods, bruised
1 small stick cinnamon
185 ml yogurt

Directions:
Skin the fish; wash and dry it, then cut into large serving pieces. Place in a single layer in a big dish. Roughly chop one onion and place in a blender or food processor with the garlic, ginger, chili and tomato. Blend to a purée, then mix in pepper, salt, turmeric and lime or lemon juice. Pour the mixture over the fish, turning the pieces so that they are coated with marinade. Leave for 30 minutes. Finely slice the remaining onion and reserve.
Meanwhile mix the flour, sesame seeds, salt to taste and paprika. Scrape the marinade from the fish and reserve. Dip the fish pieces in beaten egg, then in the flour mixture, thoroughly coating the surface. Pour sufficient oil into a deep frying pan to cover base. Heat the oil and, when hot, fry a few pieces of fish at a time until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel.
Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of oil from pan. Add the ghee and fry the curry leaves, cardamom, cinnamon and sliced onion, stirring until the onion is golden. Stir in the reserved marinade; fry until aromatic, then mix in the yogurt. Simmer for 5 minutes. Spoon the sauce over the fish and serve with rice, chapatis or parathas.

Red Snapper Fillets in Hoi Sin Sauce (serves 4 to 6)

Ingredients:
750 gr red snapper fillets skin-on
4 tablespoons peanut oil
2 large cloves garlic, bruised
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger
2 teaspoons hoi sin sauce
shreds of spring onion for garnish

Directions:
With a sharp knife, remove the skin from the fish. Rinse the fillets and dry on paper towels. Heat the oil in a wok and fry the garlic until golden, then remove and discard. Put the fillets into the oil one at a time; turn each after a few seconds and move to the side of wok before adding the next. When all the fish has been fried, sprinkle with soy sauce and ginger, cover and simmer for 1 minute. Remove the wok from the heat and stir the hoi sin sauce into the liquid. Arrange fish on a platter, spoon the sauce over and garnish with spring onion shreds. Serve with steamed rice.

Red Snapper Curry (serves 4)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 kg red snapper fillets
2 slender eggplants
6 tender okra
4 tablespoons peanut oil
1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
3 green chilies, halved
2 sprigs curry leaves (about 20 dried leaves)
1 large onion, chopped finely
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground fennel
1 teaspoons ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons tamarind pulp
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 ripe tomatoes, quartered
250 ml canned coconut milk
salt to taste

Directions:
With a sharp knife, remove the skin from the fish. Cut the eggplants and okra in 5-cm lengths. Heat the oil and fry the eggplant and okra for about 3 minutes, remove from oil. Add the fenugreek and mustard seeds, chilies and curry leaves, cook for 1 minute. Add the onion and garlic and fry until soft and golden. Add the ground spices and fry, stirring, until fragrant.
Soak the tamarind pulp in 500 ml hot water for 10 minutes, squeeze to dissolve, then strain. Add to the pan with the tomato paste and tomatoes, bring to boil, add the coconut milk and salt. Add the fish and vegetables, and simmer until cooked but still holding their shape. Serve with steamed white rice.

Sautéed Red Snapper with Creamed Fennel and Onion (serves 2)

Ingredients:
1 small onion, sliced thin
1 fennel or anise bulb (about 3/4 pound), trimmed and sliced thin
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons medium-dry sherry
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/8 teaspoon fennel seeds, or to taste
about 1/4 cup water
two 1/2-pound red snapper fillets skin-on, seasoned on both sides with salt and pepper

Directions:
In a skillet cook the onion and the sliced fennel in 2 tablespoons of the butter, covered, over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, for 12 minutes, or until the fennel is just tender. Stir in the sherry and boil the mixture, uncovered, for 1 minute. Stir in the cream, the vinegar, the fennel seeds, and salt and pepper to taste, cook the mixture over moderate heat, stirring, adding the water as needed to thin the sauce if desired, for 30 seconds. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and keep it warm. In the skillet, cleaned, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon butter over moderately high heat until the foam subsides and in it sauté the snapper, starting skin sides down, for 3 minutes on each side, or until it just flakes. Divide the onion and fennel mixture between 2 heated plates and arrange a snapper fillet on each plate.

Roasted Red Snapper Fillets with Olives

Ingredients:
1/3 cup dry white wine
3 garlic cloves, sliced thin
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 1/2 cups mixed green and black brine-cured olives (preferably unpitted)
six 200 gr red snapper fillets skin-on
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 200°C.
In a small skillet boil wine with garlic until reduced to about 2 tablespoons. Add remaining sauce ingredients and salt and pepper to taste and bring to a simmer. Sauce may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Reheat sauce to warm before proceeding.
Pat snapper fillets dry and season with salt and pepper. Divide oil between 2 shallow baking pans large enough to hold fillets in one layer without touching and spread oil evenly. Heat baking pans in upper and lower thirds of oven 7 minutes. Working quickly, put fillets, skin sides down, in hot baking pans and roast in upper and lower thirds of oven 7 to 10 minutes, or until fish is just cooked through.
Transfer fillets with a metal spatula to a large platter, turning them skin sides up, and top with sauce.