Porkolt, Hungarian Fish Stew

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When my boss returned from our office in Budapest, he handed me two red packets of paprika. The developers we work with over there bought them for me because paprika is the most Hungarian thing that I could think of in terms of food. I’ll just have to wait until I visit them myself to experience and taste everything else.

I read that pörkölt is like ghoulash, a traditionally peasant and comforting dish for the Eastern Europeans. The most common version is to cook it with beef, but I used fish because I saw fresh Swai fillets in my grocery store. I also wanted to spend more time eating it with a glass of bold, red wine rather than actually cooking it.

Swai, or Vietnamese cat fish, or basa, are inexpensive at $3.99 a pound. But feel free to use any other firm, white fish. Swai fish retain flavor and stay moist when cooking, so I found them ideal for this recipe.

Ingredients:
2 Swai fish fillets, sliced in smaller pieces
1 green bell pepper, seeds removed, julienned
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1 tomato, quartered
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup of regular paprika
2 tbsps of hot paprika
sour cream
salt, pepper, oil

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet and sauté garlic until golden brown and onions until translucent. Add tomato and green bell pepper and cook for 5 minutes while gently crushing the tomato. Season with paprika, salt and pepper. Remove everything to a plate and set aside.
2. Add a little bit more oil in the skillet. Cook fish fillet for about 3 minutes per side. Add the vegetables back and add 1/4 cup of water and lower the heat to simmer. You’re done when the water has somewhat reduced.
3. To serve, top with a dollop of sour cream. Eat this with rice, pasta or lightly toasted bread.

Related post/s:
I’ve made a Hungarian recipe before: Beef with Vadas Sauce and Dumplings

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Kona Kampachi With Coconut Cream Sauce

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Out of all the recipes I tried to make use of the kampachi batch that Kona Blue Water Farms generously sent me, this was the simplest, but also the most complicated in taste. The coconut cream was wee thick, but the kaffir leaves and the lime juice squirted in the end made the fish lighter. I remembered a cauliflower pilaf to serve with this and a 10-minute prep made an impressionable dish.

Ingredients:
2 fillets of kampachi
1/4 cup of coconut cream
1/4 cup dry white wine
a knob of ginger, peeled, julienned
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1 clove of garlic, minced
a handful of basil leaves, chiffonade
a handful of kaffir lime leaves, chiffonade
juice from half a lime
butter
salt, pepper, oil

1. Using a small pan, heat butter and cook shallots and garlic without browning. Add white wine and deglaze. Add the coconut cream and the rest of the ingredients and simmer for a few minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Sprinkle a little bit of salt and pepper on the fillets. In a separate skillet, heat some oil and sear fillets, about 4 minutes per side. Remove to a serving plate and top with coconut cream sauce. Squirt with some lime juice for some kick.

Related post/s:
This will be awesome with cauliflower pilaf rice
Don’t waste that fish head
Read more about why Kona Kampachi is good for you and buy from their Web site

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