Grilled fish in saffron sauce
July 22, 2015 • Category: Main Dish, Fish/Seafood
The Iranian Bazaar comes to Lebanon once a year for a week, and I try not to miss it. First of all, it is fun, it takes place in the basement of the former Holiday Inn and gets lots of traffic. Some stands are more popular than others like the nuts and spices or the rugs, displayed in hundreds. Last time, I saw a rug with the face of a popular pop artist (as well as one with the Virgin Mary) and when I asked I was told to just bring a photo and a rug could be produced in my image. What a great idea for a gift for the narcissist in the family!
Anyway, it was the occasion to stock-up on good quality saffron, since saffron is not that easy to find in Beirut and most often than not, comes in powder form, which is the lowest quality anyway.
This is a good Summer dish, the fish (any fish or fillet) should be seasoned lightly, oiled and grilled, then brushed with the saffron marinade at regular intervals.
If saffron is not in your pantry, you can substitute sumac or turmeric or cumin. Anything works with fish.
Grilled fish in saffron sauce
Joumana Accad Mediterranean, Middle Eastern July 22, 2015 Main Dish, Fish/Seafood, fish, saffron, tagged,4 servings
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Passive Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
4 fishes any type, whole can substitute fillets, such as catfish or swordfish
1/2 cup vegetable oil walnut oil would be nice
1 pinch saffron in filaments soaked in 1/4 cup hot water for 10 minutes prior
1 teaspoon sea salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon white pepper can substitute other spices like cumin or sumac
1/2 cup tomato sauce or 1 tbsp tomato paste or ketchup
1 large lemon or lime quartered
Instructions
1. Heat the grill till very hot. Season the fish (already cleaned and gutted) and brush with oil. Brush the grill with oil prior to grilling the fish on it to keep it from sticking. Grill the fish 3 minutes on each side, brushing with the sauce every 15 seconds. Serve hot with lemon or lime quarters.
2. In a small bowl, mix all the sauce ingredients, adding more tomato sauce or spices to taste. Keep a brush nearby to use when coating the fish with the sauce.
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Comments
8 Comments • Comments Feed
Rosa says:
Succulent! A wonderful summer dish.
Cheers,
Rosa
On July 22, 2015 at 10:36 am
Sylva T. says:
This recipe is amazing. My all time favorite food in the whole world to eat is fresh fish. Thank you very much Joumana…
On July 24, 2015 at 7:18 am
staging.pelago.events says:
Sweet. I definitely want to use this.
On October 31, 2017 at 9:51 pm
Mariana says:
Can’t wait to test this. But I was just wondering how different the result would be.
On May 28, 2018 at 12:20 pm
Holly says:
How do you eat this? Do you cut the middle and “split” it open, or eat the skin or??? We don’t eat a lot of fresh fish here in Arizona, but we want to start! Thanks for the great recipes and (hopefully) for your reply. ~Holly~
On August 27, 2019 at 9:00 pm
Nancy says:
Delicious dish…
On December 15, 2020 at 10:02 am
Jeannie says:
This is very special! I used quite a lot of less oil and barely any salt along with the 1 tablespoon of tomato paste. We used it all on just one big rather thick haddock fillet. It is one the very best fish dishes I have ever had. And soooo easy!! Thank you!
On October 6, 2021 at 12:06 am
Joumana Accad says:
@Jeannie So glad to hear you liked it!
On October 7, 2021 at 1:50 pm