Caribbean Red Snapper Ochee
by Carlos J. Collazo
(Westfield, NJ USA)
red snapper with thickened pineapple and orange marmelade sauce
I made this dish the other night following the suggested method in the what's-for-dinner-challenge. Great, tasty dish! The best part was that I made a thickened pan sauce (using the cornstarch slurry method) for the first time and actually knowing why it thickened up. The sauce was pineapple juice/chunks with orange marmalade.
I followed the dredging method outlined in the challenge - dipping red snapper filets in egg and then the shredded coconut. Then I seared them in the sauté pan, making sure that the olive oil in the pan had the convection action going before adding the filets. One problem I had though, was that due to the coconut dredging, it was tough to see the indicators of doneness, the whiteness at the edges, shrinkage, and stiffening. The shredded coconut caramelized and covered up the signs.
As it turned out, the fish was cooked just right, by all accounts it turned out flaky and moist in the end. But I didn't like the indecision I experienced. When I decided to remove the filets from the pan, it was basically guesswork!
Wondering what I could do to determine doneness in these situations. Maybe just need to make more dishes with dredged protein products and look harder to see the color change from grey to white. Not sure how though.
I also had this same problem with the Italian Shrimp Marsala and the French Filet of Sole Rochester dinnners i made. Suggestions anyone?
Another question I had was after I deglazed the pan and started on making the thickened sauce. I set the heat fairly high to speed up the gelatinization of the cornstarch and thus thicken the sauce quickly. But I started to get some violent bubbles. I remember Chef saying one time that boiling is never good, except in a few cases. I think it's because boiling destroys cell walls and thus degrades the flavor of food. But would that matter in when thickening up a sauce? I brought the heat down to a gentle simmer anyway, just in case.
Next time, i think I'll make sure to add a bit more oil to the pan for the saute (the dredged filets absorb oil).
All in all, I learned a lot and look forward to more of Chef's learning adventures!
