Ling Cod with garlic-ginger paste served with grilled eggplant with chili sauce.
In the Northwest, we are lucky for the bounty of seafood choices on any given day. I rarely go to the store or fish market with something in mind, but wait to see what looks good. Today it was ling cod. Ling cod, at $12.99/lb may not be the poor girl’s halibut, but let’s say it’s the struggling middle class’s halibut.
I’m told on the wrapper that a man named Bruce caught it wild, on his long line. Some may think the Northwesterners’ demand to know where, how and who caught our fish borders on obsession, but I thought the giant poster of Bruce fishing, displayed next to the fish case, was a nice touch. I was almost there with him, the wind whipping against his ruddy cheeks, holding steady on his rocking fishing boat while he caught my dinner.
I recently tried a deep fried turkey, hold the deep fry, in my Big Easy, but I wanted to see how it’d do with fish. I love cedar wraps, both for their efficient use of wood, unlike their cedar plank counterparts, but also because they act like a fish steamer on a grill. Cedar wraps are plentiful in my neck of the woods, but they are also easy to find on-line. I knew they would also work perfectly in the Big Easy basket.
The result was an incredibly moist fish in about 10 minute’s time. While you can dig in as is, the kids and I preferred scraping off the excess garlic-ginger paste from the fish and tossing with the Somen noodles before serving. The chili sauce technically is optional, but I love the stuff so much I could bathe in it, except for, ouch, chilies in the bathtub. Better to drink the stuff. Bruce the fisherman would be so proud! Here is the recipe. ~ Julie
This recipe by Julie Reinhardt, author of She Smoke, is simple and easy to prepare. Julie used a Char-Broil Big Easy oil-less infrared fryer - but you can easily adjust to prepare on your outdoor cooker. She also uses cod and you can modify the recipe to suit your tastes and local availability of fish.
Ingredients
- 2 cedar wraps, soaked about 5 minutes
- 3/4 to 1 pound ling cod, or your local equivalent
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 2 T minced ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
- 1 T soy sauce
- Thai sweet chili sauce (served on side)
- Optional
- Serve with grilled baby eggplant marinated in rice wine vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce & coriander.
- Japanese Somen Noodles or a rice noodle
Instructions
- Mince garlic & ginger, or chop in food processor. Add chili flakes and enough soy sauce to make a moist paste.
- After soaking cedar wraps, cut fish into 2 portions. Sit each piece in center of wrap, skin side down. Spread paste on fish. Wrap up and tie with food twine (though it’s fine without).
- Turn on the Big Easy for 5-10 minutes to ensure it's operating at full infrared. Place fish in basket and lower it down. (ED NOTE: Optional accessory shelves are available for purchase that position smaller items mid-way in the basket for optimum cooking.)
- It will look like a lot of space for such a little bit of fish, but actually the cook time is faster than on a grill. You are cooking it radiantly all over so there is no flippin' the fish and it's an even cook.
- It takes about 10-12 minutes for a meaty slice, less depending on the thickness of fish. Please don't overcook the fish that Bruce caught! He works hard out there at I forget which sea, with his super long line and snappy yellow rubber pants.
- Optional: Before starting fish, marinate and grill those cute little baby eggplants. While cooking fish, boil Somen noodles and drain.
- Remove fish from basket, open wraps and serve with Thai chili sauce.
Notes
You may substitute various locally available fish for this recipe. If you use frozen be sure it is completely thawed prior to cooking.