There are times when I should just shrug my shoulders in defeat, lay the camera down and just go make myself a Bloody Mary. Only after the first sip would I grab a blank sheet of paper, a black sharpie marker and just draw you a picture of my dish. Because there is no such thing as a good-looking dead fish:
This yellowtail snapper just doesn’t look so happy. Ok. I know, I know. He’s not chipper because he’s fucking dead. But I’d like to think that in my cheerful little sunshiney world, my food wants to be eaten. Am I so arrogant to believe that this fish wiggled its little tail for years, dreaming of the perfect blend of spices that would enhance his natural sweetness? Debating with his schoolmates on which cooking technique brings out his nutty flavor and flaky texture: grilling or steaming?
Well, I hope I made this little guy proud - I opted for simple, smoky and grilled. After cleaning the fish, I stuffed him with fresh herbs from the garden and a generous sprinkling of Maldon Sea Salt, a gift from Melinda and Dani (which by the way is now the favorite salt in the Steamy Kitchen. poor Kosher got knocked up by Cumin in a scandalous threesome orgy with Paprika. they have all been punished and are banned to the back of the cupboard until further notice. Pepper’s pretty pissed.)
Grilling on the banana leaf does 2 things:
- Prevents the fragile fish from sticking to the grill grates
- Adds a mellow smoky, sweet flavor to the fish
You can purchase banana leaves at most Asian and Latin supermarkets - look for them in the frozen section. If you don’t have banana leaf, you can simple use a couple sheets of tin foil.
More after the jump….
