Ginger and Tamari White Fish and an Update

I had hoped to post this earlier this week, but things have been a little crazy here. I mentioned in my last post that we had not heard from family in Japan as of late last night. I'm limited in my knowledge of the Japanese language, but I couldn't wait for my husband to get home and I made the late night call (it was after lunch time there) and was able to get through. They are all fine, no one was injured and that is truly a blessing. However, my husband's uncle is from the Fukushima area and has not been able to get in touch with family. For our family, the drama is far from over.

Please continue to pray for everyone affected by the tsunami. There will be news concerning the earthquake for a while to come. Thank you to all who have been worried for our sakes and please continue to pray and donate to those still affected by this tragedy.

And now, back to how to make Japanese inspired meals.

I've been in the mood for ginger recently and I had almost forgot that this recipe was hiding in one of my many recipe files until I went hunting through them in search of ideas. Any variety of white fish, i.e. cod, tilapia, or even tuna, would work in this recipe as the sauce enhances the natural flavor of the fish without dominating it. I prefer fresh ginger in this recipe. You can use the powdered ginger, but the flavor is just not the same. The trick I use with ginger is that I buy a big piece of root and store it in the freezer. This makes it easy to use and it thaws quickly, making it easy to peel and grate right out of the freezer.

As for the mashed potato recipe, because we are a dairy free household I flavor them with miso. More to come on that later.

Ginger and Tamari Marinated Whitefish:

3 fillets of white fish, cod or tilapia work well with this marinade

4 tbsps/60ml dashi stock or water

4 tbsps/60 ml wheat free tamari

4 tbsps/60 ml sake

1 tsp/5 ml finely grated fresh ginger or 1/4 tsp/1.25ml ginger powder

1 tbsp/15 ml golden brown sugar

2 tbsp sesame oil

Place the fish in a freezer/storage bag and add in dashi, tamari, ginger, and sake. Mix the liquid contents well around the fish and marinade for at least 15 minutes. Remove the fish from the marinade and save the liquid for later.

In a preheated pan, add in the oil. Add the fish fillets one the pan and oil are smoking hot. Cook the fish 5-6 minutes per side. Once the fish is cooked through and flakes easily, remove it from the pan. Pour in the reserved marinade and add in the sugar. Cook this down until it is half the volume of the original amount. Pour it over the fish and serve.

*Another way to cook this recipe is to place all the ingredients (after marinading) in a foil packet and cook it for 25 minutes in a 425 degree oven. Be careful when opening the packet as the steam is very hot.