Grilled Dorado with Spinach Sauce
Ingredients
1 serving
For the fish
- Dorado 1 fish
- Lime 1 (for the marinade, sauce and serving)
- Mixed peppercorns 1 tsp
- Sea salt 1 tsp (5 g)
- Dried herbs («Mediterranean herbs» mix) 1 tsp
- Ground ginger 0.5 tsp
For the sauce
- Spinach 100 g
- Water (boiling and cold) to blanch and rinse the spinach
- Heavy cream 100 ml
- Olive oil 2-3 tbsp
- Salt to taste
For the rice
- Rice 200 g
- Water for cooking
- Salt a pinch
- Curry powder on the tip of a knife
Step-by-step recipe
How to prepare and marinate the fish
Thaw the fish and scale it. It scales easily. Remove the innards and gills. The fins and head can stay. Make several deep cuts across each side, down to the backbone.
These cuts are very important. First, they let the fish take up salt and marinade well. Second, they keep the fish from curling up while frying.
Grind the spices to a powder in a mortar. Mix 1 tsp each of: mixed peppercorns (sold everywhere, very aromatic); sea salt; and dried fragrant herbs from the «Mediterranean herbs» mix: oregano, dill, coriander, marjoram, savory, parsley. Add 0.5 tsp of ground ginger; dried is fine.
Rub the dorado thoroughly with the salt and spice mixture. Squeeze the juice of half a lime and pour it over the fish on all sides. Put the fish on a plate and leave to marinate for half an hour.
How to make the spinach sauce
While the fish marinates, let’s make the sauce for the grilled dorado.
Pull the leaves off the spinach, removing the central stems if they are tough. Scald the leaves with boiling water for literally 10 seconds, then rinse with cold water.
Blend the spinach with cream and lime: put the spinach leaves in a blender, pour in 100 ml (half a cup) of heavy cream, add a little salt and 1-2 tbsp of lime juice, strictly to your taste. Blend until smooth. The finer, the better. You should get a liquid mixture of a pleasant milky turquoise color.
Reduce the sauce. Heat olive oil in a frying pan until very hot. When it gives off a distinctive smell, pour in the mixture. Without covering the pan, cook over medium heat until half the liquid has evaporated. Be sure to stir often and vigorously. As soon as the sauce is as thick as sour cream, take the pan off the heat. Let the sauce cool.
How to cook the rice and grill the dorado
I recommend rice that is not fluffy but slightly sticky. Camolino and jasmine varieties are best.
Cook the rice until done. Add a pinch of salt and a pinch of curry powder, on the tip of a knife, to the cooking water.
Pat the marinated fish dry with a paper towel and grill on a hot grill for 7-8 minutes on each side over medium heat. You can, and it is convenient to, use a grill pan, which is great for cooking fish on the grill. It fries nicely and the process is easy to control.
Always check doneness at the thickest part of the fish: the flesh near the cuts should turn white and opaque.
Serving
As soon as the fish is cooked, put it on a platter right away and sprinkle with a little lime juice. Add the rice shaped into balls, pour a little sauce over the fish and serve the rest next to it or in a separate sauce boat.
If you like, drizzle the fish with more lime juice or sprinkle with lime zest. Grilled dorado with spinach is served warm, not hot. The fish with this sauce goes wonderfully with a glass of well-chilled white wine.
Calories and macros
810 kcal
Serving ≈ 500 g
- Protein29 g14% of kcal
- Fat38 g43% of kcal
- Carbs83 g42% of kcal
100 g164 kcalProtein 5.8 gFat 7.7 gCarbs 16.9 g
Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.