Cookbook Challenge #2: Halibut with Sake, Soy Sauce, and Ginger (Ni Mono)

It’s entirely coincidental that the second Cookbook Challenge recipe is also a fish dish. We really don’t eat all that much seafood (boo!) but we’re 2 for 2 right now: John liked this well enough to eat half a piece of fish. So maybe I’ll just keep trolling all my cookbooks for seafood recipes….

This is one that I probably picked up at a used bookstore or garage sale somewhere, knowing that I don’t have a lot of fish/seafood cookbooks and wanting to expand my repertoire. Honestly, this isn’t the way to do it. I’ve got a few things flagged for later in the year – David adores his smoker and there were definitely some intriguing treatments here – but mostly this served as an interesting reminder of how food trends change over time. I’m sure we’ll look back on the current era and roll our eyes at “artisanal” and all the microgreens and sweet dancing monkeys on a stick ALL THE DAMN KALE… but this felt pretty fussy. Lots of French sauces, multi-step garnishes, lots of cream and butter, etc. – just a bit more fabulous than I’m willing to be on most days. Some of that is probably because it’s a Bon Appetit publication, because Bon Appetit is also a bit more fabulous than I’m willing to be on most days. If Imaginary Mom is a Good Housekeeping-type of gal, this is Imaginary Glamorous Alternate Life Non-Mom cooking.

That being said, I’ll hang onto this one and tackle some of the smoker recipes later this year. I can’t imagine I’m going to be bold enough to try serving fish at a dinner party anytime soon, but I never say “Never” where food is concerned.

From “Cooking with Bon Appetit: Seafood,” copyright 1983. We served it over plain white rice with steamed snow peas and bok choy, but you could fancy it up with an assortment of Asian salads and it would be nice enough for company.

Halibut with Sake, Soy Sauce, and Ginger (Ni Mono)

8 small 1-inch thick halibut steaks (I used swai and it was great; any white fish would work here)
½ cup mirin
½ cup Japanese soy sauce
¼ cup sake
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
½ teaspoon salt

Arrange fish in a single layer in large skillet. Combine mirin, soy sauce, sake, sugar, ginger, and salt and pour over fish. Cover, place over medium heat, and simmer until fish is opaque.