My friends used to tease me for “drinking” sauces. It is quite true, I like to bring in the spoon and soup up any delicious leftover sauces to end my satisfying meal. This is why I like creating sauces!
As for my fish dishes, I always find that the best way to cook them, and the least messy, is to have them baked! It’s quick and convenient. On top of that, it is healthy too, since you don’t add extra oil to fry them, which is not just extra calories, but with hot oil splashing all over and your kitchen smelling greasy for at least a few hours, don’t you think baking is the way to go?
So just to add more ‘panache’ to baked fish, here are 3 sauces that I have innovated. They should be suitable for any type of fish!
#1 Mediterranean-Arabic Sauce
This was inspired by another french sauce that my hubby cooked a few months ago, which was creamy and tomato based, and I can’t help but savour every last bit, even using bread to scoop it up!
For this sauce, I had added turmeric, both for the taste, and for its many benefits. Do you know that turmeric has anti-inflammatory effects? It also has anti-carcinogenic properties, and it is able to help improve your liver function.
One thing to beware of, is its long-lasting stain should you accidentally spill some sauce containing turmeric onto your linens. So, be extra careful if you’re wearing light-coloured clothes when you cook this! Or white table clothes where you serve it! :)
Ingredients (serves 2):
- 2 shallots, chopped
- 4-6 black/Greek olives, stones removed and chopped
- 1 tbsp of olive oil
- 1 tsp of turmeric powder
- 1-2 medium-sized tomatoes, chopped
- handful of parsley, chopped
- 2 tbsp of crème fraîche
- 2 tbsp of tomato purée
- 2 tbsp of white wine (optional)
- salt to taste
Steps:
- Heat up a saucepan with the shallots, olives, olive oil and turmeric and stir the ingredients until the shallots turn transparent.
- Add in the chopped tomatoes and chopped parsley, and stir for 2-3 minutes.
- Add in the wine and let it simmer for 1 minute (optional step).
- Add in the tomato purée and salt. If you find the purée a bit too thick, you might want to add some water to dilute it.
- When the sauce start simmering, turn down the heat and mix in the crème fraîche! Once it is well mixed, remove the saucepan from the flame and your sauce is ready to be served with your fish!
#2 Mustard, Garlic and Coriander Sauce
This is a sauce that you spread on top of your fish before baking and it is inspired by a recipe that came with the label of my mustard bottle. And all you need is around 20-25 minutes to have this dish ready to eat. Amazingly easy and fast!
Ingredients (serves 2):
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
- 2 tbsps of mustard
- handful of coriander, chopped finely
- a pinch of black pepper powder
- 1 tbsp of olive oil
- Sea salt to taste
- 2 tbsp of crème fraîche
- 2 slices of lemon (diagonally sliced)
Steps:
- In a bowl, mix together the garlic, mustard, coriander, black pepper, crème fraîche, olive oil and sea salt together.
- Spread this mixture on top of your fish fillets.
- Place the lemon slice on each fillet then bake for 15-20 minutes (depending how thick is your fish fillet).
Once done, you might want to serve this with boiled baby potatoes, as the bland taste is just perfect to pair it with the sauce.
#3 Black vinegar, sesame oil and ginger sauce
This sauce works well for both baked and steamed fish. If you pair it with steamed fish, just follow the steps below, then pour it over your fish before you start steaming. This allows the fish to absorb the taste while steaming, which improves the end-result!
Ingredients:
- a thumb of ginger, chopped into matchstick-shape sizes
- 4 tbsp of sesame oil
- salt to taste
- 2 tbsp of Balsamic vinegar
Steps:
- In a saucepan, heat it up with the ginger, salt and sesame oil and allow the ginger to turn brown.
- Once brown, add in the Balsamic vinegar and let it simmer.
After 2-3 minutes, the sauce is ready to be added to your fish.
TIP: If you’re not a fan of ginger, this works very well with garlic too! About 2-3 cloves of garlic can be used to substitute the ginger in the above recipe!
Now with 3 easy sauce ideas to spice up your fish, I hope you will enjoy them! Happy cooking and happy eating!
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