Pan Fried Fish Fillets Dinner for Two

Dinner last night for the two of us was light and easy (excuse the pun on the much advertised meals delivery service).  We had beautiful West Australian Snapper fillets fried in a pan, flavoured with ginger, garlic, spring onions and a little soy sauce.  I served them over a bed of jasmine rice with parboiled 'bok choy' on the side - a simple fare that leaves you feeling healthy and satisfied. The entire meal comes together in less than an hour and you can do it too  following procedures below.  Cooking a meal is about timing and co-ordination, multi-tasking at times. Thinking it through and having all the ingredients and utensils at hand before you start is essential. Different items on the dinner plate need to be cooked to the correct 'doneness' and served at appropriate temperatures.  Start with the item that requires the longest cooking time and in this case, the rice.  While the rice is cooking, you can get on to the vegetables.  They will then all be ready for plating up when the fish comes off the frying pan.  

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

• 280g / 10oz firm white fish fillets
• 1 cup long grain rice
• 225g / 8oz bok choy
• 2 teaspoons oyster sauce (optional)
• 3 tablespoons cornflour
• olive oil
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon ginger, peeled and sliced into thin strips
• 1 tablespoon garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 1-2 spring onions, sliced diagonally into 5cm / 2" sections
• 1½ tablespoons light soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ¼ cup water
• a few coriander leaves, for garnishing (optional)

METHOD

Rice

Instructions for cooking rice by the absorption method is here.

Bok Choy                                                                                    

1. Immerse bok choy in a sink or container of water and wash them thoroughly.  Gently open the outer leaves to get rid of any dirt.  Drain with a colander. 
2. Slice the bok choy in half lengthwise, then into halves or quarters if large.  Trim root ends but leave enough so the leaves won't all fall apart.  Rinse under the tap if you find any more dirt among the inner leaves.
3. Bring a medium saucepan of water to the boil with a teaspoon of salt.  Add the bok choy and let it come back to the boil.  Drain with a colander and return the vegetables to the pan to keep warm.  The bok choy should be parboiled, not cooked for too long, to retain their colour and crunch.  Drizzle over with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and 2 teaspoons of oyster sauce (optional).

Fish

1. Pat dry fish fillets with paper towels.  Sprinkle each side of fish with salt and pepper.  Dust fillets with cornflour.  Shake off any excess.
2. In a small bowl, combine light soy sauce, sugar and water to make the sauce.
3. Cook the fish fillets in two batches. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat until hot.  Swirl it around to coat the pan.  Fry half of the fillets on one side for a few minutes until the edges start to turn golden brown, then flip to fry the other side.  The fish is done when the flesh turns opaque and the thickest part flaks easily with a fork. Repeat with the remaining half of the fillets.  Remove cooked fillets to a plate and keep warm in the oven.  
4. In the same pan, add 1 teaspoon of oil over medium heat.  Sauté ginger, garlic and spring onions for 1-2 minutes until lightly brown.   Add the combined soy sauce, sugar and water to the pan over medium heat.  Stir to dissolve the sugar and cook for a minute until bubbling.  

Plating up

Place a few scoops of rice onto individual plates.  Arrange fish fillets over the rice, then pour over the sauce.  Garnish with coriander leaves (optional).  Leave some room on the plate for the bok choy.  Dinner is ready!