Asian-Style Fish and Vegetables with Pickled Radish and Cucumber

Jan 9, 2011
Pamela Steed Hill

Asian-Style Fish and Vegetables w/ Pickled Radish - PS Hill

This light, flavorful, and quick dinner features oven-steamed fish with a simple Asian sauce, shiitake mushrooms, broccoli, and a bright pickled salad.

The sweet and tangy Asian flavors of the sauce in this dish add depth to both the fish and the vegetables, and the simple, two-ingredient salad is easy and refreshing. “Pickling” here simply means marinating very thin slices of radish and cucumber in a mixture of rice vinegar and sugar. The result is a slightly sweet, slightly tangy cold salad to pair with the steamed fish and vegetables.

Asian-Style Fish and Vegetables with Pickled Radish and Cucumber

(serves 2, easily doubled)

Ingredients

For the Pickled Radish and Cucumber

1 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp rice vinegar
3 radishes, very thinly sliced
1-1/2-inch piece of English (seedless) cucumber, very thinly sliced

For the Asian-Style Fish and Vegetables

4 tbsp fresh orange juice
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 cup shiitake mushrooms, cut in half lengthwise
sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup small broccoli florets
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
2 4- to 5-oz pieces thin, boneless, skinless whitefish, such as flounder

Preparation

For the Pickled Radish and Cucumber

Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar in a medium bowl. Add the radish and cucumber slices and submerge in the liquid. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour.
Drain in a sieve before serving.

For the Asian-Style Fish and Vegetables

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Combine orange juice, soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar in a small bowl.
Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the mushrooms and stir-fry until most of the liquid is absorbed, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the broccoli, ginger, and garlic to the pan and drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Stir-fry 2 minutes.
Lay each piece of fish on a large sheet of foil. Season with salt and pepper. Divide the mushroom mixture on top of the fish and drizzle each with the orange-soy sauce.
Fold up the foil along the sides of the fish and crimp together. Fold up the ends and crimp into the side edges to form a tightly closed packet, leaving room between the foil and the top of the ingredients.
Place the packets on a shallow baking pan. Steam in the oven until the fish is cooked through and the broccoli is crisp-tender, 6-7 minutes.
Carefully open the packets (the steam will be very hot and the liquid will spill easily) and use a long, slotted spatula to move the fish and vegetables to 2 plates. Drizzle each with 2-3 tablespoons of the steaming liquid and serve the pickled salads alongside.