Escabeche Your Way
Recipe by Angela Wisco for the 2019 Catch and Cook Competition
A personal take on the traditional Filipino sweet and sour fish dish.
INGREDIENTS:
Fish:
Fish (whole or fillet, and whatever kind you like!)
A couple pinches of sea salt
A couple pinches of inamona (roasted kukui nut, optional)
1 lime (or some kind of citrus fruit)
Sesame oil (or other oil) to cook fish
Sauce (makes about a pint):
1-2 Red bell peppers
1-2 Shallots
A couple garlic cloves
As much habanero as you like (or other spicy peppers, optional)
2-3 Persimmons (or other delicious fruit)
Olive oil (or other oil to sauté vegetables and persimmon)
About a cup of vinegar
A couple pinches of whole peppercorns
1-2 tablespoons of honey, to taste
Sweet mirin (just in case)
Chop the bell peppers, shallots, and garlic, then sauté. Chop the habanero, but don’t sauté. Slice the persimmons, but only sauté half. Blend the sautéed vegetables, fresh persimmon, and habanero with a little olive oil and vinegar as needed to get a thick, smooth, paste-like texture.
Sprinkle sea salt and inamona on your fish, and add some squirts of lime juice. If you do the fish whole, make sure to crosshatch-cut the skin. Pan fry with a little sesame oil.
While the fish is cooking, bring the vinegar to a boil in a saucepan, then add the peppercorns, honey, sautéed persimmons, and the blended paste. Turn the stove down to medium-low heat and stir until you get a nice sweet and sour sauce, not too thick and not too runny. To adjust the level of sweet and sour and sauce consistency to your liking, add vinegar and mirin as needed. If you accidentally add too much liquid, just leave it on the stove a little longer to let it reduce.
Plate your fish as you like, and pour the steamy sauce all over it. Then eat it up!
Bonus 1: If you have fish bones, you can fry them in oil until crispy and those also go great with the sauce!
Bonus 2: Add more chopped and sautéed ingredients to the sauce for a chunkier texture!
Bonus 3: Have fun with garnishes!
Bonus 4: The best part about this dish is you can adjust and modify however you like. Get creative and enjoy!