Marcos Waller

Why White Fish Can Be Tricky

We are going to cut straight to the chase with this one. White fish is not the easiest thing to try to put into a picky eater’s mouth. Even some of the most omnivorous people on this planet freeze when thinking about what fish they will be cooking to add omega-3 to their diets. Salmon is usually the go-to, not to say always. We are going to change this. There are various reasons that make me uncomfortable with buying farm-raised salmon (the only one you get in most places in this world, not even mentioning my home country).

In Argentina, to get wild salmon you need to take matters into your on hands, pack your best rod and buy a ticket to Alaska. That’s why I got used to going with white fish for dinner. Merluza is the most common down there; here we can do cod, branzino, sea bass, just about anything white. Swordfish is a very forgiving one, although it is too fibrous.

Let’s address the elephant in the room. White fish is usually tasteless. I am not going to get all pretentious here and start talking about tanginess, texture, resistance, and whatnot. Most of the white fish, if you don’t know how to prepare them, are god’s way of showing us that eating animals is not always that interesting. But with a good marinade, sauce, or broth, all this changes. Here is where I come in.

Recipe: Sicilian White Fish

Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cooking Time: About 30 Minutes

Ingredients

• 4 filets of white fish (I’d recommend Cod or Branzino – Nothing too soft)
• A bunch of olives (If they are black, better)
• A bunch of capers
• 2 anchovies’ filets (optional but no less important)
• Garlic (to taste, but use a lot please)
• Half an onion
• Two cups of that red sauce that we made the other day or good tomato puree
• Red wine (use the cheapest one)
• Salt, Pepper, and Red chilli flakes

Preparation

Slice your garlic thinly like in Goodfellas. Dice your onion. Roughly chop your olives and capers. If you want to clean your fish, remove the skin. If you’d rather have the skin, we are going to brown that bad boy.

Cooking Instructions

1. Browning the Skin (optional): Put your fish in a hot pan coated with sizzling olive oil with the skin facing down. Leave it there just enough to get brown and crispy, but not long enough to burn it. Retrieve it when done.
2. Infusing the Oil: Add more olive oil in the same pan with the heat low. Add the garlic and anchovies and slowly watch them heat up and become best friends. If you burn the garlic, start again.
3. Cooking the Base: Add the onion, capers, and olives. Let them sizzle and brown, but keep the heat low. Pour in some red wine and scrape the bottom. Add the sauce and red chilli. Wait before adding too much salt.
4. Adding the Fish: Let the base simmer for 10 minutes. Add your fish: if skin-on, place it skin-up, uncovered, not touching the sauce, and cook for another 10 minutes. If skinless, dunk it in the sauce and cook covered for 10–15 minutes.

Serving Suggestions

There it is, Sicilian white fish. I usually serve it with rice, but you can do other things. What would you serve it with?