Fish Tajine

Serves 2.

Time requirement: About 15 minutes preparation and 30 minutes to cook.

What you will need:

A tajine and a heat diffuser.

2 pieces of firm fish fillets, about 4-6 ounces each, and 1-1¼ inch thick. Rockfish, grouper, halibut, or tautog are all good choices.

1 piece of ginger, about and inch long and peeled.

1 garlic clove.

1 shallot peeled and sliced.

1 thick green onion, or 2-3 thin ones, sliced.

4 small young turnips (about the size of a golf ball or an egg).

½ teaspoon ground cumin.

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.

½ cup water.

1 tablespoon mirin.

2 tablespoons soy sauce.

1 tablespoon oyster sauce. (I use Lee Kum Lee brand.)

12 flowerets of broccoli.

A handful of chopped cilantro.

A kettle of hot water on the stove top.

Preparation:

Grate half the ginger onto the bottom of the tajine. Add to it the garlic put through a garlic press, the sliced shallot, and slcied green onions.

Wash and peel the turnips. Slice each into 4 slices. Cut each slice into 4 sticks. Add these to the tajine. Sprinkle with cumin and pepper. Add the water to the tajine. Set the tajine atop the heat diffuser and turn the heat to medium. Cook covered for 5 minutes.

In the meantime, in a large bowl, mix together the soy, mirin, and oyster sauce. Add the fish and roll it in the liquid. Set it aside.

After five minutes, raise the heat under the tajine to high. Cook the tajine another 10 minutes. Check it every 4-5 minutes to assure that it is not going dry. The moisture from the cooking vegetables should produce plenty of liquid. (The kettle of water on the stove is there just in case the tajine goes dry. You will have hot water to add.) After a total of 15 minutes of cooking, the vegetables should be tender. Place around the tajine the broccoli flowerets and the fish fillets in the center. Pour the soy/mirin/oyster sauce mix over the fish. Add a tablespoon of water to the bowl and rinse the remaining soy/mirin/oyster mix onto the fish. Cover the tajine and cook 10-12 more minutes, or until the fish is done and the broccoli is tender but el dente.

While the fish cooks, warm 2 serving plates. Serve the fish and vegetables on the warm plates and divide the sauce between the servings. Sprinkle each serving with some chopped cilantro.