Fish Cooked on a Plate

That's the name our family gives to this well-loved recipe, adapted from Jeff Smith's China, Greece, and Rome cookbook. Despite or because of its simplicity and its improbable juxtaposition of fish fillets with tofu, it's been a favorite for many years with everyone who has eaten (or prepared) it, notably including kids. Surely the original intent was just to stretch the more expensive fish with the bean curd, but as we know this motive has led to many great and classic dishes. It seems only right to share.

Please note that this is one of those recipes that's all about the quality and combination of ingredients, so don't start out experimenting with substitutions or enhancements before cooking it as described. I've done tons of variations, all unsatisfactory. This is the version we keep coming back to. Total preparation time, including cooking, is 20 - 30 minutes.


Fish Cooked On a Plate
Serves 4

• 1 lb. freshest flounder fillets or other mild thin flatfish
• 1/2 lb. extra-firm tofu in 1/4" thick slices

• 1 small or 1/2 large clove garlic, pressed or minced finely
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated fresh ginger*
• 2 TB peanut or canola oil
• 2 TB dry white wine or fino sherry
• 2 TB good soy sauce
• 2 scallions, sliced on the diagonal - keep white portion separate from green

Put an inch of water in the bottom of a wok, lay a steaming grid over it, cover, and put over a low flame to get the steam started. Whisk together the garlic, ginger, oil, wine, and soy sauce in a small bowl with a fork. Arrange the tofu slices in a single layer on a large, deepish plate, such as a buffet plate, charger, or shallow soup plate. (Make sure it fits in the wok first.) Lay the fillets over the tofu in another single layer, more or less. Pour the sauce over the fish and tofu. Scatter the white parts of the sliced scallion on top. Put the plate in the wok on top of the steaming grid and replace the cover. Raise heat to medium-high. Cook for ten minutes without peeking. Remove the plate from the wok and scatter the scallion greens over the top. Serve with plain white rice - Jasmine or Basmati rice is not ideal here in our experience - to soak up the sauce, and a vegetable. Broccoli or snow peas are good choices.


*We always just keep a large piece of ginger in the freezer, sealed tightly in a small Ziploc bag. I just take it out and grate it as-is. It actually grates easier frozen. Once grated, it thaws almost immediately. This way we aren't always buying ginger and then throwing out the majority after it's gone bad in the bottom of the fridge.


MORE...
I got a comment asking what a "steaming grid" was. It's a simple wire rack that sits in the bottom of the wok, just high enough to keep anything sitting on it out of the water in the bottom. Note that there needs to be a little bit of space between the edge of the plate and the sides of the wok in order for the steam to surround everything (and to facilitate extracting the hot plate when the food is cooked.) Here are two photos: