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Salt & Pepper Fish with Scallion Rice

Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time50 minutes
Course: dinner
Cuisine: Asian
Keyword: cod, Fish, gluten free, gluten free soy sauce, salt and pepper, scallions, sushi rice
Servings: 2 people
Author: GFchow @ gfchow.com

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar
  • 4-5 scallions dark green parts and white parts separated
  • 2 teaspoons ginger peeled and finely grated from about one 1” piece or 2 frozen cubes of ginger from Trader Joe's defrosted
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 tablespoon gluten free soy sauce I use San J
  • 4 tablespoon neutral oil (vegetable or canola) divided
  • 3/4 lb. skinless boneless cod, cut into 4 equal parts (approx. 4-5" each).
  • 1 cup short-grain sushi rice if you don’t have sushi rice, jasmine or basmati could be subbed
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into pieces

Instructions

  • Rinse rice in cold water in a strainer until water runs clear. Drain and then transfer to a small saucepan. Pour in 1¼ cups cold water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Give rice a stir so grains don’t stick to the bottom. Cover pot and reduce heat to lowest setting. Cook, undisturbed, until water is evaporated and rice is tender, 18–20 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit, still covered, 10 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, prepare scallions. Thinly slice dark green scallion parts into rounds for the rice. Thinly slice white parts on a steep diagonal for the fish. Keep separated and set aside.
  • Mix ginger, honey, soy sauce and 2 tablespoons oil in a medium bowl. Then add cod, salt and pepper. Thoroughly coat fish.
  • Once rice has finished cooking, cook the fish. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large NONSTICK pan over medium-high heat. Add cod and half of scallion whites and cook, undisturbed, until golden underneath, about 2 minutes. Be sure to let the fish get golden brown on the first side before turning. Then turn fish and scatter remaining scallion whites over. Cook until fish is cooked through and some scallions are caramelized and some are just slightly softened, about 2 minutes more. Total cook time 4-5 minutes. Remove pan from heat.
  • While fish is cooking, combine vinegar and sugar together in a small bowl until sugar dissolves. Mix into rice. Next add butter and sliced scallion greens. Gently stir until butter melts. Season with salt.
  • Transfer seasoned rice to a platter and top with fish and scallions; pour any pan juices over.

Notes

Feel free to experiment and add lime, hot peppers, etc for added punch. Or add even more black pepper.
Try this recipe with other flaky white fish.
It's easy to double the fish portion of this recipe however you may only want to make 1 1/2 cups of the rice (instead of doubling).
If watching calories, the butter amount in the rice can be halved but don’t omit completely.