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The Delicious Appreciations of Pick Yin

Not exactly predictable.
Has enough brains for codes
(but can be completely clueless on other more important matters).
Likes her Joe (and her man?) black, her chocolate dark and her food spicy.
“Quam bene vivas refert, non quam diu.” — Seneca

Total Posts   191      Last Updated   23 November 2015 12:00 PM (GMT +8)

Friday, March 30, 2012


Greg Malouf's Aegean Fish Doctor's Stew



aegean turkish fish stew sea bass


Vijay: "I miss your cooking."
Me: ... ... "Oh..."
Vijay: "Yeah..."
Me: ... ... ... "What do you want to eat?"
Vijay: "Nothing sweet, no baking la..."
Me: ... ... ... ...

... and that's how I ended up spending almost 5 minutes turning two kitchen drawers upside down looking for a zester. Because when the man starts telling you he missed your cooking, he's sending a clear cut message. That means you haven't been cooking for quite some time and shown him enough love through the stomach. Obviously, some half-arsed effort would not do. So it had to be a great recipe, preferably one that would make him silent throughout the meal, busy making obscene expressions of pleasure rather than talking.

aegean turkish fish stew sea bass

aegean turkish fish stew sea bass aegean turkish fish stew sea bass


So the lemon peel had better look beautifully curled and not just absent-mindedly scraped off with my questionable knife skills. Despite my running the kitchen with near military precision and discipline of a respectable line cook, my organization of stuff and utensils is crap. Nothing like this woman. I have two drawers filled with all kitchen utensils, one for cooking, the other for baking, well, sort of. I thought hard and long before buying that zester. I knew I'd have trouble looking for it when needed. Once, I tried to look for a cake slicer in a hurry and couldn't locate one under my mountains of stainless steel and anodized aluminum. And I have two cake slicers, exactly the same ones, because I forgot I already have one while going though another shopping spree at Tang's I-must-have-all-of-those-things kitchen department.

aegean turkish fish stew sea bass

aegean turkish fish stew sea bass


I first learned about Aegean food from a Turk colleague. Shared by the Greek and Turks, Aegean cuisine is quite different from Turkish food elsewhere in the country. The climate and soil of the Aegean islands and coastal lands surrounding the Aegean Sea render them suitable for growing a wide range of vegetables. That, and the abundance of olive trees that feeds its olive-oil production have shaped Aegean food to be minimalistic and quite healthy. This fish stew, first made by Sherie is the quintessential heart and soul of Aegean food - its main players being olive oil and fish. We couldn't stop going on about how great it was, all the while trying not to swallow any fish bones. I flipped through Pei Lin's copy of Turquoise and knew that this would be the one Turkish food book I need to own.

aegean turkish fish stew sea bass


While I'll not be fortunate enough to dine at Greg Malouf's Momo before it closes tomorrow while he up and run to London to replace Skye Gyngell, at the very least I have this dish. Unassuming, beautifully simple, ridiculously easy to prepare and yet, fed us heartily over two meals with one and a half loaf of warm, crusty baguette. As for the zester, I've upgraded it to the top drawer along with the chopsticks and cutlery where there's less mess. Chances are though, the next time I need this I'd probably forget about the move and end up buying a new one.
Greg Malouf's Aegean Fish Doctor's Stew

Original recipe from Greg and Lucy Malouf's Turquoise: A Chef's Travels in Turkey, first seen at Maameemoomoo's Fabulous Aegean Turkish Theme Dinner
Serves 4

Note: The addition of goose fat is entirely optional, I have a jar lying around close to its use-by date so I put it into every roasted/grilled protein that goes into the oven. Dried mint still eludes me so I used some fresh dill. I believe some shaved fennel would be great too, though I'm not sure these substitutes are entirely Aegean.

  • 2 large sea bass, cleaned, each about 600-800 grams whole weight
  • salt and pepper
  • 50 milliliters extra virgin olive oil
  • 30 milliliters goose fat (optional)
  • 1 large onion, very finely diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, very finely diced
  • ½ teaspoon oregano
  • 3 bay leaves
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • peel of 1 large lemon
  • few sprigs of fresh thyme
  • few sprigs of fresh dill

Preheat your oven to its very highest temperature - I set mine to 200°C, convection fan on. If you wish, prepare the fish by trimming away the fins and removing the head (I love to present fish whole, so this part was skipped). Cut each fish in half, crosswise through the bone. Season all over with salt and pepper.

Heat the oil (and goose fat, if using) gently in a heavy-based, oven-proof pan - I used a cast iron skillet. Add the onion and garlic and sweat over medium low heat very gently for a few minutes until they start to soften. Add the oregano, bay leaves, pepper and lemon peel. Continue to cook over a low heat for another 5 minutes. Lie the pieces of fish on top of the mixture, sprinkle on the sprigs of thyme and dill (if using) and transfer pan to the very hot oven.

Cook for another 8 minutes, which should be long enough to color the fish and just cook it through. Remove from the oven and take the pan to the table to serve.



Related Posts:


Hakka Yong Tau Foo (客家釀豆腐)

Cod Teriyaki

Har Lok (虾烙): Tiger Prawns with Spicy Fermented Bean Sauce

Ibrahim's Tom Yam Kung (ต้มยำกุ้ง)

posted by PickYin @ 3/30/2012 10:43:00 AM

12 Comments on Greg Malouf's Aegean Fish Doctor's Stew

the photos are exquisite. really gorgeous photography- e brava! i love that book, too, i could flip through it for hours. that conversation you added in the beginning is really sweet :) x s

Posted by Blogger S, at Mar 30, 2012, 11:15:00 AM  

You make me want to run to the market and buy some fish already!

Posted by Anonymous Mrs Ergül, at Mar 30, 2012, 11:32:00 AM  

you know I am a big fan of Mr. Malouf... Need to try more of his dishes.

Posted by Blogger Anh, at Mar 30, 2012, 12:02:00 PM  

Aagh..my bookmarked lists are getting longer.. ;p

Posted by Blogger Ribbon and Circus, at Mar 30, 2012, 4:26:00 PM  

What a beautiful way to eat seabass. I almost always pan fry fillets or bake it whole, but I love this stew recipe - looks delicious.

Posted by Anonymous thelittleloaf, at Mar 30, 2012, 8:09:00 PM  

aduhai Pickyin.. anda telah membuat saya terliur di pagi Sabtu ;)
Gorgeous looking dish... and photos too :D

Posted by Blogger Lisa Ho, at Mar 31, 2012, 10:49:00 AM  



Shayma: Thank you, you're so sweet. I hope to cook more Aegean dishes in future.

Mrs Ergül: No need to run, the fishes won't swim away. Heh...

Anh: Yes you have constantly reminded me how great he is. I need to do that too!

Ribbon Clown: Mine is already impossible. It doesn't help that I don't cook that often.

thelittleloaf: Stews are ingenious, one pot, with drippings - all one needs to complete the meal is some bread.

Lisa: Thanks dear. Saya pun terliur juga sekarang.

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Apr 2, 2012, 2:31:00 PM  

Looks delicious. Since this is an Aegean recipe I'm guessing the sea bass is the Mediterranean sea bass (branzini) ?

Posted by Anonymous Vicky, at Apr 3, 2012, 9:43:00 PM  

Vicky: Malouf's recipe uses snapper and whiting as those are the species found locally in Australia.

I used the Barramundi (Lates calcarifer, family Latidae), also called Asian seabass, whose range is the Indo-Pacific, from Australia to India - which is found locally in Malaysia and Singapore, where I reside. I don't think I can get branzino here.

Although the recipe is Aegean - originally using turbot (we get it imported here but it's super expensive) and sea bass, the usage of fish can be varied depending on where you are.

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Apr 4, 2012, 2:55:00 PM  

Ah! I love Greg's cooking, his books are a fabulous inspiration!
Your cooking and photos are fabulous!

Posted by Anonymous Gregoire Michaud, at Apr 8, 2012, 9:55:00 AM  

Chef Michaud: As always, you are so kind. I wish I had the chance to try MOMO!

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Apr 9, 2012, 10:41:00 AM  

Super nice, as our kid would say. I should make this, but there's a great place near us where I get the whole fish every time. Still, maybe now I won't be so lazy.

Posted by Anonymous 2peasandapot, at Apr 13, 2012, 10:02:00 PM  


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