Pompano with Ginger and Scallions
This matters to me because...
This was a common fish and dish that I had in 2020 and early 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic. When I moved back to my parents' house in Minnesota, I would have this roughly once a week. While the dish was prevalent during a pretty stressful pandemic, I have fond memories of this dish. It will forever remind me of a special time when I was able to connect with my parents and brother beyond my grade school years.
Ingredients
- Pampano
- Ginger
- Scallions
- Vegetable oil
- Salt
- Soy sauce
2 Comments
- This was my first time cleaning a fish's internals. Though originally daunting, it wasn't as bad. I probably spent a bit more than I needed to for completeness, but I was pretty happy with the outcome. Did some slight brining of the fish before cooking it as well. Prepping meat beforehand does help--I should do more of that.
- Typically, I think the fish is steamed, but I don't have a steamer. Also, the wok I have doesn't have a lid, so I couldn't use that to steam and resorted to boiling it in a pot of boiling water. It still turned out well, though perhaps it was slightly overcooked--I think 13 minutes is enough. I did roughly 15 minutes.
2 Learnings
- I should have more water in the pot when I'm boiling the fish. It allows for a little bit more movement, and I wouldn't have been so concerned about overcooking one side, since it was so close to the stove's fire. It might be some validation bias, but it felt like one side of the fish was tougher than the other.
- There was a lot more oil at the end. The reason is that I chopped the ginger and scallions and sprinkled them on top raw. I then relied on the very hot vegetable oil to cook the garnishes on top. The problem is that I added too much, so I needed lots of oil to cook through everything. Rather than doing the "pour hot oil" method, I should probably just stir-fry it in the wok for 30 seconds.
References
My only reference was my parents. I have watched my dad clean and cook the fish multiple times and even asked him for some tips before cooking it this time. Below are references I found....after making this dish. It'll be used the next time I cook this, which definitely will happen again.