Snapshots from Asia: At the Fishmarket
Photograph by Shimin Wong
By Wan Yan Ling | The one thing that continually amazes me here is that people fry perfectly good fish. Not fish that’s starting to pong, or has been sitting for yonks in the depths of the freezer, but beautiful, glistening fillets fresh from the ocean. Back home, where only the crummiest, one-day-short-of-being-fed-to-the-trash bin specimens are given the hot oil treatment, doing so with prime fish would scandalize frugal housewives and start off a neverending chorus of "what a waste!"
You see, among the Chinese, fresh fish is exulted. It’s almost always steamed, with maybe a splash of soy sauce, ginger, some sesame oil, and a few delicate sprigs of cilantro—nothing that would overwhelm, compete with, or otherwise obliterate its sweet, delicate flavor. Which leads me to speculate that maybe Americans don’t really like the taste of fish and therefore strive to mask it with beer batter, mayo, cheese, and buttered breadcrumbs?
In Asia, the fish of choice has not been filleted and snugly cling-wrapped on a Styrofoam tray but is displayed in full undecapitated glory. Buyers unabashedly prod the fishmonger’s wares, checking that flesh is firm, eyes are glossy, and the lifting of gills exposes bright, ruby-red insides. Pails of water with bobbing lemon slices—the finger bowl’s working class cousin—ring the stall for a quick rinse. Of course, in the quest for great fish, some things are universal: It helps to be BFF with the friendly neighborhood purveyor ;)
About the author: Ling is an impoverished grad student, sourdough finger-crosser, and stone soup extraordinaire. She can usually be found procrastinating on "real work" in the kitchen or online tracking down obscure recipes, and thinks eating alone is no fun. She still believes in hand-mixing.
About the author: Wan Yan Ling, Serious Eats's overseas summer intern, is an impoverished grad student and sourdough finger-crosser living in Singapore. She can usually be found in the kitchen procrastinating on "real work," or online tracking down obscure recipes. Ling thinks eating alone is no fun, and she still believes in hand-mixing.
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4 Comments:
Steamed fish is easily my most favorite form of fish EVER! Yes, the soy sauce/ginger/sesame oil combination...is so awesome.
But fried is my second favorite because I love all fried things. :)
roboppy at 3:07PM on 07/03/07
I guess I'd make an exception for pan-fried, with crisped ginger shreds, shallots and garlic, in a wonderfully umami, fermented bean sauce (tau cheo) ;)
onedaylingers at 6:41AM on 07/04/07
I beg to differ about only steaming really fresh fish.
First of all, about the first premise, why would should anyone even consider eating fish that is not fresh. Only relegating old fish to the fryer is a VERY bad idea.
Frying fish that is less than prime is a BAD restaurant trick that gets posted as a fish special to get RID of fish.
Whatever fish (or seafood for that matter) you eat should be fresh. Period.
The author sounds like she is fairly Cantonese biased. There are all kinds of cooking methods and preparations. Steamed, baked, roasted, pan fried, grilled, salt baked, smoked, etc.
No matter the preparation, only fresh fish should be used.
I think the author has a good point to steam fresh fish, but that isn't the only preparation around.
Btw, fresh flounder (or other flatfish) filleted, seasoned with sea salt, and very quickly deep fried is fantastic. Be sure to crisp fry the bones shatter-crisp for a real treat.
This dish can be easily found in many Asian countries including China and Japan.
fatbuddy at 12:48AM on 07/05/07
Only using the very freshest, just-plucked from-the-ocean fish is ideal, but not everyone has ready access to such beauties. In my (limited) experience, steaming, poaching, and en papillote are the least forgiving of cooking methods for less-than-prime fish =p Whereas the frugal housewife can probably get away with frying (pan or deep), salt-baking, etc. fish that has been in the freezer for a bit.
onedaylingers at 1:22AM on 07/07/07