Halibut with Spicy Orange Sauce

A mild fish like halibut begs for tasty sauces.  The combination of sweet citrus, bright ginger, pungent garlic and chili sauce makes this halibut sing in your mouth!

Halibut with Spicy Orange Sauce

2 T olive oil
2 halibut steaks or 1# halibut cheeks
Small plate with 1/4 C flour
2 cloves garlic minced
1 T fresh ginger shreds

Sauce:
1/4 C fresh orange juice
1 T Tiparos Fish sauce
1 tsp Sriracha Chili Sauce by Lee Kum Kee
2 tsp sugar

Whisk sauce ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.  Have garlic and ginger ready near the pan and warm the oven slightly.

Rinse and dry the halibut.  If you are using halibut cheeks, dredge lightly in flour and set aside.  Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large, heavy sauté pan.  When oil “smiles” add fish and salt and pepper the top side.  When fish is opaque about 1/4 way up from the bottom, turn and sauté the other side, salt and pepper the top.  When fish is just opaque all the way through, remove to a heated serving dish and set aside in a warm oven. 

Over medium high heat, scrape the sauté pan to loosen crusty bits and add garlic and ginger, stirring for 1 minute.  Then add the liquid mixture and stir until sauce reduces and reaches a light syrupy stage.  Drizzle sauce over fish and serve.

Note:  Sriracha Chili Sauce has a multitude of uses if you can find it.  It is available at Whole Foods and Asian stores.  Tiparos Fish Sauce is a lighter and saltier substitute for soy sauce, used in Thai and Vietnamese cuisines extensively.  It does not give the characteristic brown color in sauces that comes from using soy sauce.

Comments

[michelle @ thursday night smackdown]

i'm holding on to this one - i love halibut, and i'm always look for new ways to dress it up. sounds delicious!