Soy and Sesame Grilled Grouper with a Tropical Fruit Salad

Yield: 4 servings

Wine suggestion
A Tavel rosé or a California blush with low residual sugar would be a refreshing complement.

This is a summertime dish. It is light, spicy, and a cooling foil to hot evenings.

Four 8-ounce grouper fillets, cut on an extreme bias

Tropical Fruit Salad

• 1 papaya, seeds and skin removed, cut into small dice
• 1 mango, seed and skin removed, cut into small dice
• 1/4 pineapple, core, outside skin, and eyes removed, cut into small dice
• 1/2 tomato, concassee
• 2 jalapeños or serrano chiles, stems, seeds and ribs discarded and cut into small dice
• 1/3 cup Spanish wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup red onion, peeled and diced small
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup cilantro or mint leaves, roughly chopped

Marinade

• 7/8 cup peanut oil
• 1/4 cup roasted sesame oil
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1 orange, cut in half
• >10 whole black peppercorns, slightly bruised
• 2 bay leaves

Prepare the salsa: Gently combine all ingredients and keep at room temperature.

Prepare the marinade: Combine all of the ingredients and keep at room temperature.

Prepare a hot grill and oil it. Slip the fish into the marinade for about 3 minutes. Grill the fish until just cooked through. Place the fish on warm plates and top with the desired amount of salsa. The salsa will keep in the refrigerator for about a day.

Copyright © 1996 by Norman Van Aken