Spicy red pepper and sesame basa

A simple recipe this one, inspired by the incredibly addictive and luscious gochujang paste which I seem to have become recently obsessed with. (Addictive seems to be an adjective often used for Korean food). It has the most intriguing taste, mostly red pepper and chili, but then a hit of sesame and sweetness in varying levels. The organic, artisan variety I bought from a farmers' market is really sweet, but not so much that it overwhelms. The generic Korean supermarket variety is different, a little more bitter and spicier.

It deserves to be used for much more than just Korean recipes and until recently, I only experimented with using it for other Asian dishes, such as Chinese or Thai, maybe substituting it for Thai sweet chili sauce (nam prik prao) or Sriracha sauce. Yesterday, however, I decided to try it in a recipe where it would have no other Asian friends to skip around with and play a starring role all on it's own.

Basa fish is cheap, plentiful and tasty, so much so that it's usually 'buy one get one free' at my local supermarket. I'm not talking single fillets, either, huge bags containing 4 or 5 large pieces. You'd think it would be terrible, the equivalent of the tasteless factory farmed chicken breast in the ocean world, but it's not, as long as you know how to cook it. 

Because it's frozen, often at sea, the texture can be mushy if not cooked long enough or not defrosted properly, (as I found out to my horror, trying to eat my way through a wet, spongy fillet) and sometimes the fish can have a slight lingering fungus taste, not entirely unlike mold, but, this is all eliminated if the fish is allowed to defrost completely, is well dried and cooked long enough to allow it to become meaty. (I've used fresh basa fillets before with completely different results, see here).

A popular fish preparation at our apartment is to completely cover a piece in aromatic vegetables such as onions, bell peppers and tomatoes. Sometimes we take it to Italy, adding olives and basil, sometimes Spain with oranges, lemons and saffron. For this dish we thought why not have a quick stop off at Korea en route to the Mediterranean and smother some of my beloved gochujang over the fish, then top with the usual veggies.

The flavour of the pepper sesame sauce didn't overwhelm, only emphasized the other vegetables such as bell peppers and tomatoes, but, it did give a spicy heat that was almost too much for Neil, dousing his with sour cream and yogurt. A little bit of the sesame flavour came through too, adding a little interest to the whole mix. Next time, I'll use a little gochujang mixed with something else, maybe some Japanese mayonnaise or miso paste to tone down the heat and add only a scant scattering of something else on top, maybe some kimchee or a few crisp fried onions to really let the Korean - ness come through. I served it with some couscous with dried vegetables, (recipe at bottom of post, image below) and some gochujang and chili sauce flavoured mayonnaise.

Recipe:Basa baked with Korean sauce & many vegetables

1 large piece of basa fish or other white fish, defrosted, (if frozen) and dried well

2 tbsp of gochujang paste

1/2 clove garlic, peeled and thinly sliced

1/2 bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced

1 shallot, peeled and thinly sliced

6 cherry tomatoes or 2 medium sized, halved or thinly sliced

1/2 lemon, thinly sliced

salt and pepper

2 tsp olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400oF.

Place the fish on a baking tray and spread the gochujang over the surface.

Lay all the other ingredients on top, starting with the garlic, then the shallot, pepper, tomatoes and lemons.

Season with salt and pepper and drizzle over the olive oil.

Bake for about 25 minutes until the vegetables have softened and the fish is well cooked throughout.

Recipe : Couscous with dried vegetables

1/2 cup couscous

1/4 - 1/2 cup boiling chicken stock

4 tbsp mixed dried vegetables, such as beets, zucchini, carrots and beans

3 spring onions, (scallions), sliced finely

a little salt and pepper

Place the couscous in a bowl and add the dried vegetables. Pour over the boiling stock, stir well, cover and let stand for about 5 minutes. After this time, the couscous should have plumped up and absorbed all of the stock. If there is too much liquid left, add a little more couscous, stir, recover and let stand for another 5 minutes. If the couscous is too dry, add a little more stock and cover and let stand again also.

When the couscous is quite soft and fluffy, stir well but carefully and add the spring onions.

Recipe : Gochujang spiked mayonnaise

4 tbsp mayonnaise

2 tsp gochujang

1 tsp Sriracha or other hot sauce

a little sugar if needed

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and serve with the fish and couscous