I spend my days photographing food, looking at food, writing about food, cooking food, and reading about food. So when it comes to dinnertime, I either want to just heat up leftovers or make something with minimum fuss. Does quick and easy mean boring? Absolutely not. I will absolutely never compromise on flavor. In fact, I see meals like this the perfect opportunity to experiment with big bold flavors. This is the first in a series of recipes where I hope to show you ways to make weeknight dinners painless, healthy, and delicious.

Tip number 1: Build up a collection of sauces, both homemade and store bought! Just as I said in my Sauces to Live By series, keeping various sauces on hand can make all the difference between something boring for dinner or something that you can actually look forward to. About 40% of the real estate in my fridge is taken up by jars upon jars of sauces – various hot sauces, multiple kinds of pesto, curry pastes, chermoula, salsas, tahini, misos, and on and on. And now that I think about it that is probably the reason why I never have enough room in the fridge for other things.

Tip number 2: Eat more seafood! Fish, shrimp, and shellfish take minutes to cook; they are imbued with so much natural flavor and they are so good for you. There are so many great ways to cook seafood too – panfried with a quick salsa, stews and soups, poached, etc.  I also always try my best to buy as sustainable as possible

This Barramundi Fish Ssam recipe combines these two tips and creates a balanced meal in literally minutes. In the time that the fish cooks on the stove or grill (3-4 minutes), you can pretty much have a tasty meal on the table. Seriously!

Barramundi is a fish that I have recently started to use. It is a very popular fish over in Australia and is often featured as the fish of the day. It is definitely an great intro level fish for anyone who isn’t too into fish. It is also sometimes called an Asian sea bass and is very neutral flavored. This is a great fish that acts as a blank canvas, soaking up any flavors that you throw at it. In addition to tasting great, it can also be a very sustainable fish. I have been getting my fish from Australis Barramundi, the largest producer of this fish in the US. They have mastered the way to sustainably farm fish, a very complex and important issue. Not so long ago, the ocean’s bounty seemed limitless. But these delicate ecosystems have suffered through the last century of industrial fishing and our earth’s waters are suffering. For the health of our planet, it is essential that we find a balance. Sustainable fish farming targets species that are plentiful and low on the food chain. These fish spawn quickly and do not require as much fish to feed their growth. Barramundi is a great example. In addition, Australis farms their fish in a controlled environment that minimizes pollution and disease. You can read more about their practices here.

For the quick and easy sauce in this recipe, we are building flavors around some great Asian condiments – soy sauce, Chinese vinegar, sesame oil, mirin, and black bean chile paste (one of those essential jars that I keep in my fridge). All of these wonderful flavors are paired with cilantro, mint, and Thai basil to create a well balanced dressing. For an added creaminess , a little bit of crème fraiche is there to tie everything together. If you don’t want to use crème fraiche, this dish is still perfectly tasty without it. Or perhaps yogurt might be a good substitute.

I will be doing several more recipes using this wonderful fish, so stay tuned!
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B A R R A M U N D I  F I S H  S S A M
serves 4 // adapted from this recipe