Two Fish Stews

Say "fish stew" to most Americans and you're unlikely to get an enthusiastic response. Chowders and gumbos have gone mainstream, usually featuring shellfish. Francophiles drool over bouillabaisse. And that seems to be about where the love of fish stews ends in our culture, unless one is lucky enough to be of Portuguese descent and living on the New England coast. This is a shame. One need not be a fisherman to appreciate a simple fish stew - it's healthy, satisfying, and delicious, not to mention quick and easy to prepare.

My current favorites are based on a simple premise: onions and garlic sauteed in olive oil, to which you add wine and tomatoes, then finish by adding fish for a quick simmer. Here are two variations on this theme:

Italian Cod Stew

(Serves two)

3/4lb cod, cut into bite sized pieces (try to get all the bones out)
1 onion, chopped
3-5 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
salt, pepper and chili pepper, to taste
glass of white wine
14.5 oz can whole tomatoes, broken up by hand, with liquid
handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley

Heat a heavy bottomed pot, and pour in enough olive oil to cover the bottom. Add onions, pinch of salt, chili and pepper. Saute until onions are nearly translucent. Add garlic and saute a minute or two more. Add tomatoes (with juice) and wine, and simmer gently for ten minutes. Add fish and parsley, and simmer for 2-3 minutes until fish is cooked. Serve with bread and salad (or greens sauteed in olive oil and garlic). The remainder of the bottle of wine goes with it, too, of course.


Basque Tuna Stew

As above, with the following modifications:

- Substitute tuna for cod. Since tuna is richer you might want to use less. Also, no need to blow the cash on the sushi grade stuff here. Traditionally, fishermen made this dish with the tail

- Add a chopped green bell pepper to the onions when you saute them

- Use red wine instead of white (Rioja is perfect). Don't raise an eyebrow about red wine with fish - tuna is practically meat

- Add two potatoes, peeled and cubed, when you add tomatoes and wine. Also add 1 tsp sweet paprika. Cover and simmer gently until potatoes are cooked, 15-20 min. Tuna goes in a few minutes before serving

- Leave out the parsley

(The picture is of the Basque version. You'll notice I added some carrots with the potatoes, for the hell of it. Worked fine). Photo by Cynthia Lamb

Fish in Black Bean Sauce

I love black bean sauce. I love fish. The two together are tough to beat. This is some real Chinese food you can make at home. Any white fish will work. I like flounder, so it's what I used. You could fry it or steam it. I gave it a quick fry, then made the sauce in the same pan. The actual cooking will go by pretty quickly, so do all the prep work before you start. The fermented black beans and the rice wine should be easily found in an Asian market. They're inexpensive and keep well. This will feed two or three with rice as a main dish, or more as part of a more intricate meal.

1lb flounder fillets (or any white fish)
5-7 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 inch piece ginger, peeled, mashed and chopped
15-20 Chinese fermented black beans, soaked in 1/4 cup Chinese rice wine
1 bunch scallions, chopped
1 hot pepper, chopped (or more to taste)
pinch sugar
dash soy sauce
cornstarch dissolved in water (to thicken)
oil for frying

Fry flounder quickly in a little more oil than you need. The fillets tend to be thin, so they will cook in about two minutes. Get them onto a warm plate before they fall apart in the pan. Keep the heat on the pan. Add ginger, garlic, hot pepper and scallions and fry, adding more oil if needed to keep from burning. After another two minutes add black beans with rice wine, sugar and a small dash of soy sauce. When the liquid comes to a boil stir in the cornstarch and water slowly until sauce is as thick as gravy. Pour sauce over the flounder and serve immediately with white rice and a vegetable.