Steamed Butterfish with Thai Gremolata and Coconut Curry Braised Kale

My trip to the Farmer’s Market this past Sunday was a very rapid shop-and-go. It was raining…and cold…and I wanted to be home and cozy and be lazy all day watching football and movies. Therefore, I picked up the first fish that appealed to me and made a single loop around the vendors and headed home. My catch? Butterfish.

The culinary description for butterfish is: “Butterfish have an excellent flavor. Due to the high-fat content, the meat is dark, but turns white upon cooking”

I have also read that the key to cooking butterfish is to not overcook it. I’d say that applies with any fish – the different between a perfectly cooked, maybe even slightly undercooked and an overcooked fish is day and night. That’s why I like getting my fish fresh and use it within a few days so that I feel a bit more on the safe side cooking the fish a little bit more on the medium/medium rare/rare scale rather than tipping over to anything with the word “well.”

I feel lucky being in such a culinary/fresh produce/meat/fish area where I have access to such a wide variety of products – right at my fingertips. This was really brought to light while talking to my parents who had A) never heard of butter fish and B) likely have no access to butterfish, and if they do, it is very unlikely that it is fresh. Welcome to the country in South Carolina I guess. At least you can buy Everclear there and make homemade limoncello without having to smuggle it illegally on a plane into San Francisco…they’ve got that over San Francisco.

For this dinner – because I chose the fish, I also chose the recipe. The task of cooking was shared.

Steamed Butterfish with Thai Gremolata

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 2 butterfish filets (approx. 6-8 oz. per filet)
• 2 banana leaves (we didn’t have any so we used dried corn husks instead, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes)
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
• 1 tbsp. kaffir lime leaves

Thai Gremolata:

• 2 green onions, sliced (including the green stem)
• 1 serrano chili, seeded and chopped (use more or less depending on how spicy you want it)
• 3 kaffir lime leaves (we have a jar of chopped kaffir lime leaves that we keep in the refrigerator)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
• 2 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 2 tsp. chili-garlic sauce
• 1/2 loosely-packed cup fresh basil leaves
• 2 Tbsp. coconut oil
• 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
• Black pepper

Preparation:

1. Place butterfish filets in individual banana leafs (or corn husk…or tinfoil)
2. Sqeeze lemon juice over the fish, then sprinkle with salt. Top with kaffir lime leaves.
3. Wrap/fold the banana leaf so that the fish is encompassed within the packet.
4. Place the wrapped fish directly in a bamboo steamer, seam-side up. Cover steamer with lid and steam on high heat for 8-10 minutes (depending on thickness of the filet).
5. While fish is cooking, make the sauce by placing all sauce ingredients in a food processor or chopper. Process well.
6. Pour the sauce into a sauce pan and gently heat up. You needn't boil the sauce, just warm it through.
7. To serve, remove filet from banana leaf and place on a plate (for presentation, you could keep it in the banana leaf – depending what kind of look you are going for). Top with a few tablespoons of the thai gremolata.

We served the fish with some Coconut Curry Braised Kale and brown rice, spiked with a little coconut milk.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, minced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoons fresh grated ginger
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 pound kale, ribs removed
• 1/2 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup light coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• Salt
• Ground black pepper to taste

Cooking Instructions:

1. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy bottomed pot with a tight fitting lid such as a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until softened and beginning to brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, and curry powder, about 1 minute. Add half of greens and stir until beginning to wilt, about 1 minute. Add remaining greens, broth, coconut milk, and ¼ teaspoon salt; quickly cover pot and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until greens are tender, 25 to 35 minutes.
2. Remove lid and increase heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring occasionally, until most of liquid has evaporated (bottom of pot will be almost dry and greens will begin to sizzle), 8 to 12 minutes. Remove pot from heat; stir in lemon or lime juice and remaining tablespoon olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Though I was really excited about the coconut curry braised kale, I wasn’t as impressed with the results. I think it would be best with a super coconutty flavor – so maybe a full can of coconut milk rather than the half coconut milk/half vegetable broth. Of course, that would up the fat content but from a pure taste perspective, I think that could be a good way to go. The recipe recommends sprinkling the kale with some toasted nuts (I was thinking macadamia nuts) and I do think this would be a nice addition – adding a touch more richness and a crunch. I must say, Derek thought the kale needed some acid so he put in a bit of apple cider vinegar – and though he maintains that he only put a little bit in, I think that is the culprit in the recipe as I had tasted it beforehand…and was OK with the result (but agreed it needed something) and was not a fan afterward – that could just be in my head though.

As for the butterfish…well I absolutely love butterfish. Some stores sell it as black cod and I’m not convinced that they are actually the same fish (they may be) but they are certainly very similar with the delicate flakey layers – more akin to a salmon layer than a tilapia flake – with easily defined pieces that just seem to fall off the fish. Ohh sooo good. I loved steaming the fish as it took in some flavor from the actual fish preparation but then with the gremolata – the flavor was explosive. I would use the gremolata recipe with other applications – other fish – thai beef – calamari salad…it was really versatile and fresh.

No wine – though it was wanted, this was a Monday night meal but I am thinking a dry Riseling would be a nice pairing – feel free to try it!