BBQ Fish Fillets with Asian Sauce

We are very lucky in Australia to have such a wide and delicious variety of fabulous fresh fish. I first tasted this dish at a friend's barbecue and loved it - the combination of the lovely sweet flesh of the fish with the hot, sweet and spicy tastes of the sauce were a marriage made in heaven. This might be just the dish to serve that special someone on a night you hope to get closer (a lot closer!) The heat of the sauce will melt away any inhibitions. A glass or two of white wine wouldn't hurt, either!

Preparation time: 30 minutes Cooking time: 5-6 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 large Red Emperor fillets (or similar whitereef fish)

• prepared basil pesto

• 1 lemon, zested

• olive oil

• 4 tbsp soy sauce

• 2 tsp fish sauce

• 3 cm piece of ginger, minced

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

• 1 tbsp brown sugar

• 1/3 cup fish stock

• 1 chilli, seeded and chopped finely

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 2 baking potatoes

• sour cream or butter for topping

Method:

Coat the fish with the pesto and lemon zest and chill, covered, for 30 minutes. Preheat barbecue to high. Cook the potatoes for 3 minutes in the microwave on 100% power. Remove from oven and wrap in aluminium foil and then place on barbecue for 10 minutes, turning regularly. Remove and keep warm. In a bowl or jug, combine soy sauce, fish sauce, fish stock, rice wine vinegar and brown sugar; stir until well blended. Set aside.

Heat olive oil in a fry pan over medium heat. Sauté the ginger, garlic and chilli for 1 minute. Add soy sauce mixture, increase heat and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer. Lightly oil a sheet of aluminium foil and place it on the barbecue. Turn heat down to medium, and place the fish on the foil and cook for 90 seconds to 2 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness of the fish fillet, until just opaque. Be careful not to overcook or fish will dry out.

Serve fish with several spoonfuls of saucedrizzled over. Serve with baked potato topped with butter or sour cream and a fresh garden salad of lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and crumbled feta cheese. A crispy Asian noodle salad would also work well here, such as the one listed on the packet of Chang's™ original fried noodles.

Wine suggestion: Tasmanian Sauvignon Blanc.

Extracted from Pants off Salmon by Alec Bragg (JoJo Publishing $29.99), now available at all good book stores and online at www.jojopublishing.com

Tags Alec Bragg Guilt Free Favourites